However I truly believe that with this aspect no club in the Premier League is safe. Manchester United could not hang on to Cristiano Ronaldo just as Arsenal and other big English clubs could not, and would not, persuade their players to stay if Real Madrid or Barcelona come knocking. You can offer your players all the money in the world but for many the opportunity of trophies and the glory of playing for the greatest teams on the planet is too much to turn down. In that respect, no teams in the Premier League, or England for that matter, are in a position to turn down a transfer bid if a player really wanted to go.
Ambition
Your club might not have the reputation of a renowned winner, of one of the top clubs in the world where your players are guaranteed success but if you feel you are headed that way then you have the chance to hold on to your players. Take Tottenham’s exploits over the summer with Modric. Yes he had only recently signed a new contract, but the reason they refused to sell him was because they thought they were on to something big with the squad they have.
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Would Spurs have really had the right to block Modric’s move to Chelsea if they were not able to convince him that he could be playing Champions League football at Spurs next season, and that he could be challenging for trophies at Spurs. This is not an argument that will last forever, there is a non-specific time limit on it, but for a year or so at least it gives them the moral position to turn down the advances of ‘bigger’ clubs for your players and deny them greater opportunities.
If you then consider Pardew’s statement then you would say that perhaps Manchester United are the only team to have the financial clout, reputation and ambition to hold on to their players, whilst the rest of the top teams have enough in their locker to fend off potential poachers, for January at least.
Written by Hamish McKay for FootballFancast.com. Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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“If you then consider Pardew’s statement then you would say that perhaps Manchester United are the only team to have the financial clout, reputation and ambition to hold on to their players, whilst the rest of the top teams have enough in their locker to fend off potential poachers, for January at least.”
Apparently Pogba is off to City as fast as his agent can wangle it, so no, United are not the only team able to fend off unwelcome poachers – that would be City due to the almost unfeasible wealth of the owner – take the case of tevez for example – he’s going nowhere until City’s valuation of him is met.
Stop reading the Daily Star