Manchester is RED | Fernandes considering United exit | United should target Osimhen
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Hello and welcome along to the latest episode of the Samuel Lutker show from the Manchester Evening News. My name is George Smith and alongside me of course is our Chief United writer Samuel Lutker who's now made the trip out to Hong Kong after a few days in Malaysia. Samuel, first of all, how are you? Has the weather improved in comparison to yesterday?

A little. It's pretty overcast still. I think there could be a bit of rain for the game this evening. We're doing this now because these games are utterly meaningless. And while I say meaningless, there were boos in midweek and the cut through of a completely perfunctory, soporific, Manchester United friendly still manages to go worldwide and

And millions are fascinated by it. It was interesting speaking to someone at the club about the amount of subscriptions MUTV have had or had, sorry, for the game in midweek on Wednesday. It was like 25,000 or something like that.

it just goes to show the the pull that united still still do have i i know there have been a couple of of pieces about all their support in asia is is dwindling and yeah it may not be what it what it used to be i should stress that some of these you know pieces have been written by people who are not in hong kong and and they certainly weren't in in kuala lumpur either

But there is still, as I said, 72,550 turning out for the game in midweek. Okay, it wasn't a sellout, but that's still a pretty huge crowd for, as I said, an absolutely meaningless and inconsequential nothing game where nobody... I mean, to fly 6,500 miles for a game like that when you're not going to learn anything, it's always quite strange. And some of the things even Ruben Amarin was saying yesterday, it felt...

it did feel strange what he's talking about you know saying i've met the malaysian prime minister and i have to do this i have to do that um you know they have got them jumping through hoops this week and nobody's going to sympathize with them or feel sorry for them after the season that the united have had it's almost like a i don't know a supposed extended form of detention for for the players and i think some of those players do deserve that as well but

Still, there's been a lot of news, as there are in pre-season tours with United. But even on this post-season tour, I suspect there are maybe some outlets glancing at some of the stuff that we've come across out here, thinking that maybe they should have...

should have sent in the end and you know i think some colleagues who aren't here that there were some conversations about whether they they would go it's a tricky time of of the year where it's half term week and people have commitments they have holidays and it's it's certainly not ideal and given the choice i would i would rather not be here i'd rather be at home with with my family but this is um you know work does intrude and as i said in the week it is still

a privilege to come to these places and ultimately by the end of it when you look back on it you think well yeah i am i am glad i've i've gone to this i mean you know today i'll probably walk to the stadium because it's just over an hour from where my hotel is an hour's walk i should say not an hour's drive i wouldn't be walking if it was an hour's drive away

But it's an opportunity to have a look around and as a big Batman fan from toddler age, go and see the building where he abducted Lau from in The Dark Knight as well, clap eyes on that. So that's another filming location to tick off that I've seen on my sightseeing tours.

well before you go and do your sightseeing we'll we'll have a good chat about the news that you've just mentioned but before we dive into that we must offer a shout out to our new podcast sponsor saley which is a brand owned by nordvpn that is a new e-sim service app that you can use abroad if you are desperate for an internet connection you can download saley in your app store and use our code manchester at checkout to get exclusive 15 off your first purchase for more information please go to our description box so with that out the way samuel

We'll talk about the football now and the news that you just mentioned. And we'll start with the headline news of the story that you've written only a few minutes ago with Bruno Fernandes seriously considering leaving Manchester United this summer. There's been a few rumours going around in the last couple of days of Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal showing interest in Bruno Fernandes. And you've done the story literally in the last 15 minutes that he is considering leaving Old Trafford.

This would be a big blow for United in the sense of losing a player of such importance. But if the rumours are true of a £100m offer for a player that turns 31 in September, they've certainly got to give thought to it.

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They should accept it if that money is offered to them. And as I wrote last week, nobody's off limits in terms of player sales if there's an acceptable offer. And I think that should be the way any club operate. I mean, when Lionel Messi was in his pomp at Barcelona, if they were offered...

a billion pounds by some madman out there who could afford it, then they probably would have taken it because it's just, you know, it's jaw dropping money. And you look at Fernandes, he's 31 in September. He's been a brilliant player for United, but he's also been a player who's been part of three of, in my lifetime, the three worst seasons in United's, in living memory at United. So I don't think any player can be deemed a,

And he wasn't even deemed untouchable last year when there was certainly a possibility that he would end up leaving and United were getting, some people at United were actually getting quite agitated by the prospect of it and, you know,

There was a story that came out by a colleague who was effectively asked to do, you know, Fernandes expected to stay. And then later that evening, Fernandes is on the pitch after the Newcastle home game saying, if they don't want me, I'll go, which was quite the stark contrast to what the club were trying to get out at that time. But this summer, it feels very different. I think there are a lot of people at United who,

who empathise with Fernandes, they completely understand why he'd want to go because he has been a brilliant player. He's been the player of the year in four seasons out of six. He was their top scorer again this season. Without him, relegation might well have been a genuine threat.

He's been at the club for five and a half years. I never really saw that contract signing last year as a massive statement of, oh, he's here until 2028 or 2027. It only added the two contracts he signed for United since he first joined the club.

They've only added a year to the expiry date because those two deals that he got in 2022 and in 2024, it was remuneration for how well he had done up until that point. And last year, he obviously was their player of the season again. And he's wondering, you know, or he's agents in a position to say, why isn't my client on the same or similar money to Marcus Rashford and Casemiro when they've performed as badly as they have done?

And up until, I would say, the turn of the year, Fernandes was in danger of becoming another one of these United players who got a new contract and then got too comfortable. And he was not good in the first half of the season. There was maybe a little period around Van Nistelrooy coming in as caretaker and the start of Amram's reign where it picked up a little bit.

But the turning point for him was getting sent off against Wolves on Boxing Day. And when he came back into the team, bearing in mind the game he missed against Newcastle when they were 2-0 down after half an hour, and it could have been a much uglier night than it turned out to be. They only ended up losing 2-0. But that was another game where...

Without him, you saw how much they missed him. And he came back into the team for the next match away at Anfield where everybody expected United to get pummeled. Liverpool essentially ensured the game would go ahead despite some treacherous snowy conditions outside because they thought they were going to pummel United. And they didn't. United had their best performance at Anfield in 10 years. And one of the main reasons for that was because Fernandes was back in the team and he was so influential that day.

And since then, he's not really looked back. He had a terrific second half of the season. He deserved to keep the Samat Busby statue. But it has come to a point now where he cast doubt on his future himself last week, where he said that if the club wants to cash in, maybe the club wants to cash in on me.

and United tried to make a big deal of what he said to MU TV after the game against Villa on Sunday where he didn't really say a lot at all he just said how lucky and he is to be at Manchester United and blah blah blah it wasn't it wasn't saying it wasn't him saying I'm definitely staying we're speaking it's 9 22 UK time it's it's about just under four hours is it until kickoff I think at

at the Hong Kong stadium. I mean, if there is a mix zone there tonight, I think there is, but a couple of us will just have to shout out to him. Are you staying? Are you, more relevantly, more personally, I suppose, are you going? Are you leaving? Because he's not come out and said that definitively. We had an interview with a player yesterday who unsurprisingly was not Bruno Fernandes. If he was staying, and let's face it, he would have told club staff that would have been a great opportunity for them to say,

right, let's do an interview with English journalists who've come out here. We can get that out there and put that to bed. But that's not happened. So there are people at the club who think that he could be on his way. He's still conducting himself really professionally out here, as he almost always does. I think he's been a very good captain since before he was officially made captain in 2023 because that

That first season under Ten Hag, he was effectively the skipper where he played the majority of games. And Harry Maguire was dropped after two games that season. So he was the de facto captain from August 2022. And that first win under Ten Hag against Liverpool. And yes, there have been times where he's not conducted himself as well as he could have done. And he's whinging as well.

It's driven me up the wall, driven others up the wall, and one's not had any time for it. But he's been the best Manchester United player of... Is it too extreme to say he's been the best Manchester United player since Ronaldo left? I don't think it is necessarily. I really don't think it is. Obviously, United won a couple of titles after Ronaldo left, and Wayne Rooney had one particularly great season, but Rooney post-Ronaldo...

thinking back to his form, it wasn't as consistent as Fernandes. And Fernandes, look, the United great that Fernandes deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as is Brian Robson, because before...

Before the 90s, Brian Robson was a great player in an underachieving team. And in his first, nearly, would have been what, his first nine years, nearly his first 10 years at the club, he only won two trophies, which were the FA Cups in 1983 and 1985. And Fernandes has only won two trophies, I think, at United, hasn't he? It is just two trophies. Yeah, the League Cup and the FA Cup, of course.

And unfortunately for him, he's been involved in three finals where they've lost two of them in Europa League. I remember a tweet he put out actually after they lost the semi-final of the League Cup to Manchester City in 2021, which if we're talking United near misses when it comes to trophies, that's not exactly one that springs to mind.

but he had already endured a couple of semi-final defeats with with united in his first months at the club in a very hollow fa cup semi-final defeat to chelsea at wembley because it was during covid completely soulless completely forgettable and then they of course had the when the europa league restarted they had had a couple of games in in cologne where they lost to sevilla in the semi-final and although those those matches during covid they were hollow

They were borderline meaningless as well. You look at the contrast in coverage of Liverpool ending their title drought in 2020 and then winning the title in 2025. It's completely different because of the presence of supporters. It makes an enormous difference and it makes an enormous difference to how games play out and how players play as well. But he's such a driven player and is so determined to succeed and so...

just so eager to have success and win trophies that it does mean a lot to him. Looking at his reaction the other night after Alejandro Garnacho had a pop shot that went into the running track at the stadium in Kuala Lumpur,

you know, Fernandes looked exasperated by it. And it wasn't an exasperation of someone who's like, oh Christ, why am I here? It was like, he wants to salvage the game. They're 1-0 down and he doesn't want to lose a meaningless game because that's how he's built. So he would absolutely be a loss. People at United know he would be a loss as well. But there is a way of framing it positively, which is that there is a rebuild going on. They need to

They need to deconstruct that squad. They need to find a new, they need to usher in a new era, really, of players. I don't have the faith in this hierarchy to necessarily do that. And Manchester United would absolutely be better off with Bruno Fernandes next season and the season after.

But there also has to come a point where other players in the squad step up. And it would be fascinating if he does go to see how the players react to that, because he is the player that they turn to. And as a United staff member said after Fernandes whipped in that free kick against Arsenal, which was savable, but it's still... United were absolutely unwatchable that half. And it's one bit of class that completely changes everything.

the perception of it. And that United staff member just said, where would we be without him? And that will be another, that will be pretty much the same question they will ask if Fernandes does go. But it, of course, will change to where will we be without him? It's going to be a big loss if he does depart. There's no doubt about that. But I think the element of the hundred million that's being touted is, it's an offer you can't refuse really for a player of his age. And as you said a few weeks ago, Samuel,

this squad needs a shock. It needs a sort of a big name star to go to sort of just make everybody realise that nobody's safe in this rebuild. So it would be a, it would be a big call if they made this decision. Yeah. And they would, if, if it comes to that, then they would do it amicably. I've no doubt because there's a lot of goodwill towards Fernandes where he's been such a great player. It would reflect quite damningly on them that the Manchester United captain is

wants to and is prepared to go to a Saudi Arabian club. When the money was coming in from Saudi two or three years ago, I don't think United were that worried at the time. And they've done their due diligence and they've had their discussions with people in the Saudi Pro League and they're aware of the money. I think it was John Murtagh who might have talked about

them having a decade's worth of money to back that league, to prop it up. Now, with Cristiano Ronaldo during the Euros last year, I wouldn't have known watching him. Say somebody said to me, who does Ronaldo play for in Saudi? I wouldn't have had a clue. It's something that I'd have had to Google at that time.

Al-Hilal are being put on the map purely through the link and their interest in Fernandes. It is not a league that really, if Fernandes does go there, you can't necessarily say he's a serious footballer anymore. Yet his get out is that because Roberto Martinez is such a soft touch, the Portugal coach, Roberto Martinez, of course,

he will still continue playing for the national team. His international career is not going to be jeopardised by going to the Saudi Pro League. It's not like Stephen Bergwijn, who was dug out by Ronald Koeman for moving to the Saudi Pro League. And Koeman just said, I'm not picking him anymore because he's decided to essentially not have a serious career going to Saudi Arabia, which I admire Koeman for doing that because I think more national coaches should be

Like that and of that mindset, I thought it was appalling that Gareth Southgate, who completely mishandled Jordan Henderson after he decided to clear off to Saudi Arabia. And oddly now, Henderson is getting picked, even though he's playing for Ajax, who choked in the Eredivisie by Thomas Tuchel, who says, oh, we want a leader in Jordan Henderson. Yet he doesn't want Harry Maguire, who's on an individual basis had a really good season previously.

in a very bad season for Manchester United, playing under the scrutiny of Manchester United. It doesn't make sense, but anyway. So Fernandes knows that he can go to Saudi Arabia and he'll continue playing for Portugal and then he will continue, he'll definitely be playing for them at the World Cup next year.

But really, the way that story will be perceived, by and large, if he does indeed move to Al-Hilal, would be that, look at what's happening at Manchester United. The Manchester United captain wants to go to Saudi Arabia. And that is cause, with all the mitigation, all the money sloshing around and all that, it is still cause for United to take stock and think, how the hell have we ended up here?

And they, it's not just, I remember Ed Woodward telling us years ago that with transfer, the transfer market, their aim was to get a 70% hit rate. Now during Woodward's time at the club,

I'm not even sure if they had it. Well, I'm not even sure that they definitely didn't even have a 10% hit rate this summer. It's got to be pretty much close to 100%. They cannot get it wrong. And especially with Fernandez. Okay, there's a replacement already lined up with Mateus Cunha. But you're not looking at Cunha as a leader.

He carries himself in a very different way. And when I say he carries himself, there's obviously that stat, which is that he does more walking in the Premier League than any other player. I think it is, isn't it? And you look at the other players who are comparable to him in terms of walking.

And the majority of them are centre-backs. Now, Amram has said he wants the players to run like dogs. So it's going to be an interesting question to put to him after Kunio assigned. How that's going to work out? Is Kunio going to have to adjust?

You would expect him to because he's going to be playing at a club under much greater scrutiny with much greater demands than Wolves. So there's a way for United to just dismiss it. But Kunio is not as good a footballer as he is. He's not got the aura that Fernandes has. And maybe he could...

develop that and generate that in a season at United or within a few months. If he does it within a few months, then United will be delighted because it should mean that they've actually improved a hell of a lot and they're in a much healthier position than they were for pretty much the entirety of last season in the Premier League.

But that is a concern because if Fernandes leaves, you have to ask the question, who's going to be captain? And it's not beyond the realms of possibility that it goes back to Harry Maguire, who actually led the team out against the Asian All-Stars on Wednesday night. It was the first time he was the captain for United from the start since he was stripped of it.

in July 2023. And even with that, and I say this as someone who absolutely appreciates and has marvelled at how well Maguire has done over the last 18 months, close to two years really now, that would still be regression if you were to go back to Harry Maguire. I'm not really sure, I'm not too sure if there is a standout alternative. I don't know if one springs to mind for you, George. I've been told in the past that they see

Diogo Dalot was a potential captain, which I know will not be music to pretty much any listener's ears. Me saying that, he's got admirable traits, but I'd imagine most United fans would probably rather captaincy went to Maguire. But that's another problem. And all of a sudden, you have to ask the question, is it worth them actually just going out there and signing someone?

on the basis that they would come in as the captain. It's almost like in cricket where there's been this thought process a little bit in England in recent years, certainly after Joe Root resigned as captain, where they were wondering, do we just bring in a specialist because he's got the captaining credentials? Sam Billing of Kent was touted. I think he'd only ever played one test for England. But because he was such a good captain at county level,

There was some chatter about the possibility of him coming in and assuming that role. And I think his name was in the conversation recently regarding the one day captaincy before they gave it to Harry Brooke. So it's a very different dynamic, of course, with cricket, test cricket and limited over formats as well to football.

But as I said, as much as I admire Maguire and he's a really good guy, he's become a much more authentic talker, he's become a captain without the armband. I don't think it would be good for him to take the armband back on a full-time basis and it certainly wouldn't be good for United. So all of a sudden you're looking at

you're probably having to look at someone external. Or can you give it to Casemiro? I don't think you can because I don't think he should be a regular starter for United next season. That is a tough one. I must admit that is a really tough one. Maguire seems like the obvious one, but...

Could another one. Obviously, injuries are an issue for him, but Lissandro Martinez, a bit of a mentality monster, maybe. Another injury issue, unfortunately, but a good shout, certainly when he's fit, he would be a worthy shout. When he's fit, he probably does fit the criteria quite well, I would say, but it's certainly not an easy one. So we'll see what happens on that score, if Fernandes goes, of course.

But elsewhere, Samuel, on the transfer front, yesterday we had the story that Liam De Lappe is now leaning towards joining Chelsea. Obviously, United, Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton have all been monitoring him and speaking to him. I agree with what you tweeted last night in the sense that it doesn't feel like an enormous blow for United in the sense that

I think at this juncture, United need a proven goal scorer, somebody established. Liam De Lappe, yes, did very, very well this season in a relegated team, 12 goals, respectable return. But at this juncture for where United are at now, they need somebody more experienced, more proven and more established.

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Yeah, I've been quite consistent with this in that I think that

They need a proven goal scorer. They don't need potential. Liam Dillap was born four days after Rasmus Hoyland. I've never, ever said that he should be United's main target. We obviously have to write stories that reflect United's stance. They're informed. It's not our opinion. If we're asked to give an opinion, and I was asked on the panel maybe a month ago or so, and I said it should be

even though it'd be costly, there'd be a lot of money, there'd be a lot of baggage as well, possibly. But I'd go with Victor Osman if it's at all possible. And that is an avenue that United still absolutely have to explore because he is a proven commodity. He's someone that they were looking at two years ago.

Would he be a certainty to succeed at United? No, I don't think any player is. I think the only one I'd have been absolutely certain of going to United and tearing it up in recent years was Harry Kane, but United lost the nerve there and we've covered that chapter and verse. But de Lappe, my other concern would have been if de Lappe come in, was that he played for Manchester City.

And it would not have taken long for United fans to have gone off him if he was going through spells that Hoyland went through last season. I mean, you can be certain that if he goes back to Old Trafford next season with Chelsea, that you'll hear City reject. It's an absolute certainty. Now, Chelsea fans, I'm sure, can have their own chant, a variation on the United reject chant, because that's what De Lappe has done.

But it's not a blow whatsoever. It wasn't a blow for United the other night that Jadon Sancho scored in the Conference League final. It was great for United because it might increase slightly the possibility of Chelsea actually paying that fee to sign him permanently. United have got a lot of expensive problems on their books as it is. And also I felt with De Lappe, it was just a cop-out, the 30 million release clause clause.

that Jason Wilcox had watched him develop at Manchester City. I thought they were cutting corners there. So I think it's good news for United. I don't think it's a negative whatsoever. Looking at how Nicholas Jackson scored his goal for Chelsea the other night, I can completely see why they want a striker as well. That hat-trick he got against Tottenham last season is one of the clumsiest and ugliest hat-tricks I've ever seen since Dirk Kautz against United at Anfield in 2011.

And Jackson actually did well last season, but he's not kicked on. And again, the difference in scrutiny and attention between Chelsea and United, I've not heard a lot about Jackson's goal drought this season in comparison with Hoyland's because Jackson plays for Chelsea and Hoyland plays for Manchester United, who are still a far bigger club.

than Chelsea, despite the success that Chelsea have had over the past 20-odd years. And Chelsea have a model there where they are buying quite a lot of young players and they do like to stockpile young players as well. But clearly, I think De Lappe would go in there as their starting striker. But I don't necessarily think that he's right for Chelsea. Chelsea were looking at Osserman last year, weren't they? And again, as I said earlier,

There's a lot of money that would have to be paid for Osserman, not just to him, not just to Napoli, but to the agent as well. And there's baggage there, given some of the ructions he had with Napoli, which can be a combustible environment when you've got Dino De Laurentiis as president and Antonio Conte comes in as coach as well. It's not exactly like you're going to a yoga retreat there. And he had to get out, which was to go to Turkey because, you know,

galatasaray had the money i think there's a tax incentive as well for players to go there whether it's permanently or on loan but osman is a player who absolutely merits a a big club and playing in one of the the big leagues and he's he's done it in france he's done it in italy i think he'd be very well suited to england and also i think some certain players if united are to sign players from abroad rather than the premier league

they do have that benefit of being able to not ease their way in, but there are those big gaps between games that they're going to have. They're going to have free midweeks. They're going to have, Amrim can coach them to within an inch of their lives. And I would, whatever the cost of Osman, I would take him any day of the week over, over Liam de Lappe. Liam de Lappe has admirable attributes. He could be an excellent striker. He put himself about against United at Portman Road and Old Trafford this season.

He wound them up as well at times. He's got a nasty streak, but he's absolutely not the striker that United should be going for. Absolutely not. They need someone who's proven, not potential. They would risk making the same mistake they made with Hoyland.

I agree. I did a piece yesterday where I sort of outlined how it wasn't necessarily a big blow as you posted on your ex-account as well, Samuel. But I think that the big problem here is obviously they pinned their hopes on Dilap. It was seen as sort of an easy route to a striker, even if not the right one.

But I think this could be where we see the pitfalls and the limitations of not getting into the Champions League for next season and being able to attain a world-class striker who can come in and hit the ground running. So that's where the big problem is going to be. Somebody like Victor Osserman, I agree, would be perfect. Victor Yocarez as well. But are players of this ilk going to choose a club that hasn't got European football? I suppose finances, though, could dictate a lot and they could easily be persuaded if the books are quite big.

In what regard, in terms of whether they'd be able to finance a move for Osserman? Both finance a move and sort of attract them without the thrill of European football, if you like. I think Osserman's, he's possibly dug himself a bit of a hole where, you know, I imagine most people would have expected him to have left Napoli permanently by now. And nobody would have expected him to have ended up at Galatasaray last year.

So certain clubs, even though there's a big market for strikers this summer, other clubs are looking at Giocares or Benjamin Sesko, or in the case of Chelsea, they're going to De Lappe because they've maybe been put off by Osserman and he would not be a risk-free signing. And Amrim said again in the week that there's only so much United can do in the transfer window.

because of of the psr issues and the struggles that they've had to comply with it but if they get 100 million pounds for fernandez and you look at the other players who they want to sell they could sell they should sell they they could easily finance a move for osman and of course they're becoming a little bit more creative with the whole can we pay in installments over over this amount of time osman's

worth I don't think is as any it's certainly nowhere near as high as it was two years ago after Napoli won the title with Luciano Spalletti as coach where he was pretty much unattainable for any European club because of the costs at the time he was he was just out of everyone's reach which is why

United had two strikers, top-tier strikers, looking at Osman and Kane, and they deemed that neither of them were unattainable, which was nonsense because Kane clearly was. And then it was second-tier strikers, Rangon Kolo, Moani, or Rasmus Hoyland. They went for Hoyland. Out of that quartet, did they get the weakest striker of the lot? Unfortunately, I would say that they did. But it's needs must now. Two seasons running, they've ended up with a minus goal difference. When they lost...

the Premier League title to Manchester City in 2012 on goal difference.

What did Sir Alex Ferguson do? He went out and signed Robin Van Persie because he needed someone who was absolutely going to guarantee that they were never, ever going to lose the league title on goal difference again, as long as he was manager. And Van Persie's goals won them the title. So sometimes you've just got to do what you've absolutely got to do. There's no point thinking, let's think for the long term because Liam was watched by Jason. He's 22. He's got a release clause. He's got a high ceiling. Lee Carsley likes him.

he's going to play at the under-21s. No, nonsense. He's just...

factually he's not good enough for Manchester United if he signed for Ipswich Town last summer he's not good enough for Manchester United now and I'm not talking about just this Manchester United team because it's a bad team and obviously is De Lappe better than Hoyland yes but you're talking about Manchester United being a credible force again Liam De Lappe is not at this stage good enough for this Manchester United team he is not what they need they need someone proven and

And some of the murmurs from people at United are, well, you know, what strikers out there are there? Okay, I get it. It's not a crowded field. It's not like it was yesteryear. But it's Manchester United and they are Manchester United. And sometimes they've just got to act like they're Manchester United rather than trying to be...

trying to be clever about it, or as I said earlier, cutting corners. And I think that's what they were doing with De Lappe. It was get two forwards in who have release clauses. That's essentially the budget without sales. And we've boxed off those two deals. I don't think they should ever have been looking at De Lappe. And in the end, it's better for them that the situation has ended quite quickly because De Lappe wanted it sorted before he goes off to the under 21 Euros deal.

with England. And it's a lot better that United have got clarity on this matter in May rather than with Frankie Dion, where it was running until mid-August. And then all of a sudden Brentford inflicts the worst result on United that, not result, but it's certainly the worst performance I've ever seen from a Manchester United side. And it's Christ, okay, let's just pay 70 million for Casemiro and let's pay...

100 million euros for this guy with bleach hair who's playing in the Eredivisie because he played for the manager. That sounds a good idea. Yeah, okay. Chuckle the money at that. And for a season, it worked out reasonably well. But obviously long-term, it's been a complete and utter disaster. So at least they've got that clarity. But I go back to what I've said many a time

There's no evidence that anyone should have any faith in the hierarchy to get it right. And they've got to pretty much get everything right this summer, particularly if they lose a couple of big players that ideally they would not want to lose. With Garnaccio, in an ideal world, he would be at United for a very long time. In an ideal world, Fernandes would see out his contract, but it's not working out that way.

And that piles more pressure onto United, where they've got two influential players who could lead what could or should be a mass squad exodus. Most certainly. And I think, obviously, you mentioned there Fernandes, Garnaccio. If those two were to go, they're going to bank United as a very tiny sub, be more than enough to buy somebody like Victor Osserman, for example.

I've just looked at his numbers, Sammy. He's scored 84 goals over the last three seasons. Two seasons at Napoli, one for Galatasaray. Very proven. 36 goals this season. So if it was, say, if you were in Omar Barada's shoes, for example, would he be the striker you would be going for? If you had a clear run at him, he would be the one. Yes, and United's...

unfortunately for them because they try to cut corners with de la if they go from de la to osman they're going from one extreme to another it's someone who's unproven has a release clause plays for a relegated team to someone who was valued at more than 100 million euros a couple of years ago is a proven goal scorer but is also someone who comes with with a lot of baggage they're two very different personalities they're almost polar opposites on the striker spectrum if you like

And of course, if United were to actually go for Osman, everybody says they're panicking because they didn't get De Latt. But this is where United have got to be maybe a little bit transparent and try and get it out there that Osman is the guy that we were prepared to turn to next. But they might not do that. They might go for someone else. By the time this podcast is aired, they might have flown to...

some other country and gone for some striker that I've never heard of. I have absolutely no idea what they're going to do. I hadn't, before the Euros last summer, I hadn't heard of Joshua Xerxe. Now, I'm sure there'll be some listening to this who are appalled by that, but let's face it, I'm not going to spend my free time watching Bologna playing in Serie A. And I go back to this point that there are certain players to target at United and

where it's completely advisable to go out there and sign someone nobody has heard of. When they signed Javier Hernandez in 2010, obviously nobody outside Mexico had heard of him, but they were not signing Javier Hernandez to start for the team. They were signing him when they had Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen as their strikers. What they're trying to do now, it feels like with certain players, is unearth these, or not unearth, but you know,

Get these players in almost on the cheap. And let's face it, Xerxe comparatively was cheap. He was another one who had a release clause last year. And they thought that he was a striker and it turns out he's not a striker. And he was the only attacking signing they made in the summer.

after they'd finished the season eighth with a minus goal difference so really it's not a surprise that United have ended this season just gone with a worse goal difference and lower in the league because they've done absolutely nothing to sort out their attack they signed a striker who's not a striker whose goals goalscoring record was not it was not compelling

It was so similar to Hoyland. The only difference was that Xerxe cost half the price because he had a release clause. And of course, because of PSR and the financial mismanagement of the club over years, they are compromised with certain deals. And that's why they're having to look for these players. But in that case...

Maybe, and I think he could be a very good player for United, but in that case, don't pay up to 70 million euros for Lenny Oro, a centre-back, who was 18 at the time that he signed for United. It's needs must. And this summer, the absolute must for them

is a proven striker. It is someone who has got a very good goal scoring record in Europe. And I don't mean someone who's banging them in in the MLS or the Brazilian League or a member of the Asian All-Star Squad or anything like that. It is someone who...

i've heard of frankly and i know that sounds a little bit insular but manchester united have just ended the season 15th with a minus 10 goal difference they need a striker who has a proven goal scoring record and a striker with a proven goal scoring record is someone that literally every football fan has heard of yeah that's the key and like yourself samuel i'd never heard of joshua zerkzy till last summer i'd never heard of rasmus hoyland until he was beginning to be linked with united i'll hold my hands up and admit that

But I agree with you. I'm not an expert in European football, but if these players you think are good enough, you will have heard of them, like Victor Jokeres, Jonathan David, another one at Lille, who have done it consistently in the last few years. So I fully agree with you. They are looking... Your Javier Hernandez point is a very good comparison to make. At that point, he was coming in to be a support striker for the squad, whereas now, obviously, they need a leading marksman to be the face of the attack. So fully agree with that.

But just moving away from transfers and talk of the summer, Sammy, and going back to the tour, the game with Hong Kong coming up in a few hours' time, fingers crossed it'll be a much better spectacle than what we saw on Wednesday. It was quite painful to watch at times. United not great at all. But there was some positive signs from some of the youngsters, at least. I thought Jack Morehouse looked particularly bright, showing a willingness for the ball, and he looked like a player who's got something about him. Yeah. Christ.

That kind of sums up the game. Often, certainly on tours, you don't get monitors in the press box, so it's not like you can always look back on them. And even someone from United admitted that the first half, and they're working with the club and

they're in the press box they admitted that they didn't actually see much the first half because they were having to write up something else that um that had uh that their desk had asked them to do and it did feel like that it felt like you know you don't have to be paying a great deal of attention to this because there's nothing to learn from it the game was played at walking pace

and yes it's it's very good for youngsters to get this exposure and get get a taste of it it was quite amusing more me more this is what I mean when you come these trips like the football games are the most you don't learn anything from them really it's everything around it that is far more interesting than than the matches and a couple of us I don't know if I said on the podcast the other day we're in a lift

and there were some united players in there and they were they were not particularly senior players we had our lanyards on so you know if they they might have known that we were press if they'd um if they'd had a look but uh but already they were like asking you know if you've got any more to say and it's like yeah this and they've they've not even had a kick in the first team they're already getting ground down by the commercial obligations and activities and

It's like, you know, this welcome to Manchester United, really. It's very different to going into Carrington every day and training and being in an environment that you're accustomed to. It's a real eye opening experience when you come to these parts of the world and you see the intense demands of commercial activities on tours where you've got sponsors who are

so enthusiastic and unfailingly cheerful. And if you're a senior player, you've just had the worst season of your career in terms of where the club have finished up. And you're at risk of being known for that for the rest of your career, unless something drastic happens next season.

and yeah the words yeah there's there'll be a big piece on the site later on about the postseason tour but there's a one word that's been used to describe the players feelings and it's about being out here and it's not it's not a positive word uh it's it's not a swear word either but i don't want to to you in case this podcast goes out before the um before the p the written piece the the time on that is still still to be decided but

The match in the week was just, you work up a sweat in Malaysia just sitting down because of the humidity. And even when I got back to my hotel one night, because it was so sweltering, even with the air conditioning, the night manager was just, it was quite late because the game ended quite late. The night manager was actually having a quick catnap.

And it's, there was the temptation to do that during the game even because it's just nothing of no, do I care that X passed to Y passed to Z had a shot that went over? Does anybody in the world care that? Do they want that information? No. So in the end, I think I don't know how I did it getting like, I don't know how many words it was in the end, but it might've been bordering on 900 words for my piece.

And it worked weirdly. It worked out quite well in the end, but with an hour to go and I'd done about 400 words, I thought, Jesus, Jesus, what the hell am I going to write about here? So weirdly in the end where, and also there was the threat of penalties as well, because someone had to lift the Maybank challenge cup. And in the end it, it,

where United lost and they got booed. The story kind of wrote itself and there were some other little interesting things observing the post-match procession that made for a follow-up piece as well and a lot of colour that we were able to see from just being there and justifying our existence, whether it was observing from the press box, going to a mixed zone, seeing what fans were saying, sorry, hearing what fans were saying,

But whilst we were just before we left the stadium, I noticed in the reflection of just this little room by the press conference room, the Maybank Challenge Cup was just propped on the table. And I said to my colleagues, oh, look, the trophy's in there. And there were some very pleasant people in there who were like, oh, yes, yeah, yeah, here it is. And my colleague Paul Hurst said, oh, can we have a picture with it?

and so someone picked it up and put it in my hand so we had the pictures out there it's it's on my instagram account but i think the caption was like you know at least at least some from manchester got their hands on the the maybank challenge cup so uh you make the most of uh these these tour experiences and as i said earlier the the football is often the the

it's the thing that ruins it in a way you're enjoying yourself and there's even going to the hotel for the commercial activities or just observing things like that

It all lends itself to a piece. But when it comes to the football, there's a reason why we've gone this long on this podcast without talking about it. And you've prompted me very kindly and diplomatically to talk about it. And we've decided not to because it's just pointless. And it's certainly my tour wrap piece that will be going out later on. I don't think there's anything that actually reflects on what happened in the games because all the interesting stuff

that we've seen and been told or heard about has happened either side of these matches. Well, I think that just about says it all, doesn't it, Samuel, about these tours? It really does. But three hours to go and we've got one more game to go and then we have reached the finish line for the season.

So that does bring an end to this episode of the Samuel Lucker Show. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel or wherever else you get your podcasts from. Make sure to leave a like and maybe a comment as well. Samuel, you're off next week, so there won't be an episode of the Samuel Lucker Show, but the rest of the team will be on hand to bring you a couple of podcasts. So make sure you subscribe for when those drop. And we'll catch you again soon for more coverage from the Manchester is Red podcast.