Less fun name: Danny Welbeck. 9 at 20, only 1 at 21, rebounds to 9 at 22, but then a fairly poor career until… he scored 10 last year for Brighton.

Yeah talks don't really get me going. We had talks with Everton for Branthwaite. I saw his tweet, but I'll get excited when details start coming out.

Here's the tweet, just so everyone else can see it.

🚨 Manchester United plan for new talks for Carlos Baleba in the upcoming days.

Man United believe Baleba is keen on the move and personal terms won’t be an issue.

Contacts follow on Brighton side as deal remains very difficult, but United will try.

🎥 https://t.co/1zRtkdAggD pic.twitter.com/zfgWip1jCC

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 11, 2025

The S*n are reporting that PSG would accept 26m for Donnarumma. That...would be very hard to pass up if United could manage it.

"My only thought on this is I wonder if PSG would be apt to do a cheaper transfer just so he doesn't walk to Real Madrid for free."

LFG

Dre_00 said:

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The S*n are reporting that PSG would accept 26m for Donnarumma. That...would be very hard to pass up if United could manage it.

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Please God, deliver us from Onana

no movement on Baleba yet. but, we did sign another youth player. I do like the renewed focus on our youth squads and developing talent.

Quote:

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Manchester United agree deal for Ben Lyne
Now, the Mancunians are pushing to get the deal over the line for another Wolves talent, this time with a view to strengthening their youth setup.
According to Academy Scoop, an excellent source for youth football, United have "reached an agreement" to sign highly-rated forward Ben Lyne.
Academy Scoop adds that several Premier League clubs showed interest in Lyne.
The Wolves under-15 forward is capable of playing as a left winger and through the middle.

Under Ineos, signing the best up-and-coming talents has been central to the club's recruitment plans.
Earlier this summer, United completed the signing of young forward Enzo Kana-Biyik. To ensure the Frenchman's development is not hampered, United sent him on loan to Swiss Super League side, Lausanne-Sport.
Meanwhile, Ineos-owned OGC Nice have shown interest in signing Chido Obi on a season-long loan. The Dane joined United's academy from Arsenal last summer.

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City going for Donnaruma. He's obviously an upgrade on Onana, but I don't know how we can move Onana this late, or pay both their wages. And I'm a little Baleba drunk; I really hope we can get it done. I don't know that we'd have the money for both (then again, apparently they've found a bunch laying around so who knows).

🚨 Manchester City made contact with PSG to ask for Donnarumma deal conditions.

Current PSG request around €50m, deemed too high + deal would only be possible if Éderson leaves.

Chelsea are NOT in the race. Gigio will soon clarify his position — info follows @FabriceHawkins. pic.twitter.com/qnD1mV4peq

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 12, 2025

as much as I don't like Onana, i'd rather find a way to get Baleba done. certainly would love to have both.

Obi on a season long loan to Nice? Not sure he's shown that he's able to hold a staring spot in Ligue 1. And that would leave the forward line very thing if/Hojlund leaves.

If Baleba were to come and replicate the same play he had with Brighton last year and not get injured, United would have the talent to finish top 6 this season if everyone remained healthy.

I know, that's a ton of ifs.

Maybe a better way of saying it...Baleba is probably the best player United could ask for to fill the area of their greatest need (IMO) and has been their greatest need for years.

I had to search to find this, and it was a mediocre aggregator referencing something called soccernet.ng. Maybe they are reliable, but I've not heard of them before. None of the journalists I follow on Twitter have said anything yet.

Dre_00 said:

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The S*n are reporting that PSG would accept 26m for Donnarumma. That...would be very hard to pass up if United could manage it.

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Lot different than the 50m number Fabrizio Romano is reporting. Maybe price has gone up with a lot of interest.

Or the S*n is just full of **** like they always are.

Probably a little of column A and a little of column B.

Fabrizio's tweet said 50M, but he only has a year left on his contract and they dropped him from the Supercup squad. And he's on pretty big wages. And it's late in the window. I doubt he goes for a lot in transfer fee. I think he could potentially say "F it, I'll go on a free," sit out, and still stay number 1 for Italy. So PSG aren't in a strong bargaining position.

50mm for a player not in the squad with a year left is not real.

See what I mean. Ain't no way PSG is getting 50mm unless someone goes Simple Jack.

🚨⚠️ Luis Enrique: “Donnarumma is out of the squad as it’s my own decision. I am 100% responsible”.

“I want a different kind of goalkeeper and I made this decision. Gigio is one of the best GKs in the whole world”.

Donnarumma will also clarify his position soon. 👀🔜 pic.twitter.com/czTj4BD69q

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 12, 2025

I don't know who you are trying to convince, I agree they can't get that much. I just said that was the number Fabrizio had in his tweet, which I assume he got from PSG (since no one else would really have an interest in floating a really high number).

United seemingly briefing that we aren't interested; lots of similar tweets coming out close together:

Strong push back from Old Trafford against link with Donnarumma. Goalkeeper not a priority for Man Utd.

— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) August 12, 2025

An agreement for Rasmus Højlund to join AC Milan on loan (£5.2m loan fee, £38.8m buy option) is getting closer ⏳

Højlund is opening the door to a move to the Serie A side with talks ongoing 🗣️

[@FabrizioRomano] #MUFC pic.twitter.com/LGCdoildU3

— Stretford Paddock (@StretfordPaddck) August 13, 2025

Hmm… first this…

Sir Jim Ratcliffe as he cut the ribbon on @ManUtd training ground improvements: "This is one of the most recognised brands in the world, it stands shoulder to shoulder with Coca-Cola and Apple. The club has to compete at the highest level that is appropriate to the size and…

— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) August 8, 2025

And now…

Two iconic Reds, United ❤️

We are delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with Coca-Cola 🤝

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 13, 2025

(Not that I'm complaining… we need Baleba money lol)

So we have money again? When does the salad bar open back up again?

So….deal with Apple imminent?

I don't know, kind of weird with Qualcomm's Snapdragon brand as our shirt sponsor since Apple kind of competes indirectly against Qualcomm in phones and computers (indirectly since Apple products have Apple processors obviously; they aren't selling them to device manufacturers). But I'm sure the club would happily take money from both.

Anyway, I've nerded this up enough…

Apple TV deal?

I mean, that would be a little weird too since EPL is Peacock and Apple TV is MLS. So it would be like, "These guys on another service. But, we have Messi! And Son! Beckham is an owner!" But who knows.

I'm assuming a behind the scenes show of some sort. Drive to Survive style on Apple TV. Obviously no games.

Plus these clubs and leagues have no loyalty. The community shield was on espn+ not peacock.

It's possible (though highly unlikely) that Apple could lease the rights to some/all United games from Peacock.

Oh the club will take money from anyone, we have absolutely no shame lol. The question is whether Apple would want to advertise when our shirt has a big logo of a chip that is only in android phones and Windows computers. Like, I don't know how excited Ford would be about a deal back when we had a big Chevy logo on our shirts. Not quite the same, but similar. But if they want to, cool, we should take the check.

I wouldn't be too surprised to see clubs sell their broadcast rights individually when the contract ends, kind of like MLB's regional rights deals. But I don't think NBC would be excited about gutting their contract in the middle.

Showstopper said:

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I wouldn't be too surprised to see clubs sell their broadcast rights individually when the contract ends, kind of like MLB's regional rights deals. But I don't think NBC would be excited about gutting their contract in the middle.

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Old Trafford Field at Apple Stadium

Stretford End brought to you by AirPods

deadbq03 said:

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It's possible (though highly unlikely) that Apple could lease the rights to some/all United games from Peacock.

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That's because the Community Shield is an FA game and espn has the FA rights to Championship, FA Cup and maybe L1 and 2.

I could see Apple TV becoming the "Official Home of MUTV" or something like that in the relative short term. I doubt anything beyond that would be easy to do.

No. I mean actual leasing of rights. It happens frequently. A notable recent example is college football playoff games getting leased to Turner from ESPN.

Not saying a deal should/would happen, but it's likely possible, unless the NBC deal with EPL forbids it. And there are economic reasons a deal could make sense… if MUFC home games got leased out, would fans drop their Peacock subscriptions? Not likely because they'd still want to watch away games. The deal would screw fans into getting two subs and add leasing dollars to NBC's pocket.

(And just FYI, Paramount has the EFL leagues' rights now)

deadbq03 said:

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No. I mean actual leasing of rights. It happens frequently. A notable recent example is college football playoff games getting leased to Turner from ESPN.

Not saying a deal should/would happen, but it's likely possible, unless the NBC deal with EPL forbids it. And there are economic reasons a deal could make sense… if MUFC home games got leased out, would fans drop their Peacock subscriptions? Not likely because they'd still want to watch away games. The deal would screw fans into getting two subs and add leasing dollars to NBC's pocket.

(And just FYI, Paramount has the EFL leagues' rights now)

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Thanks. I knew paramount had something else other that UCL but couldn't remember what it was. I just have allllll the subscriptions.

I've had espn plus for like 6 years because I wanted to watch Tranmere host United in thr fa cup. My wife's granddad played for tranmere and I've never seen the inside of Prenton park.