Two Manchester United transfer choices revealed by merciless Nottingham Forest after baffling £90m decisions

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Manchester United’s decision to sell Anthony Elanga for £15m while rating Alejandro Garnacho at £70m illustrates the kind of errors that define their transfer missteps.  Manchester United are terrible at signings. That is no surprise. Their terrible history of post-Ferguson acquisitions is painfully familiar. However, they are arguably inferior in every facet of player sales, and insufficient emphasis is placed on how that disastrous failure has been more persistently harmful than subpar recruitment to their prospects for a significant rebuild.  They have never earned over £100m in a single season from player sales (four Premier League teams achieved this in just one season). They are the sole Premier League club whose highest sale happened prior to 2011. They still consider David Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid in 2003 as their fourth-biggest sale ever, and two players ahead of him – Angel Di Maria and Romelu Lukaku – were sold at a loss compared to their initial signing fe...

Man City confirms a £50 million midfield acquisition that will greatly help Barcelona

• Nico Gonzalez left Porto to join Manchester City.

• Forty percent of the £50 million transfer money will go to Barcelona.

• The 23-year-old midfield player is expected to strengthen Pep Guardiola's team.

Nico Gonzalez's £50 million move from Porto to Manchester City has concluded the Premier League winners' costly January transfer window.

City had previously signed forward Omar Marmoush and the center-back trio of Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, and Juma Bah for a total of £127m, before focusing on acquiring a midfielder. 

Nico has agreed to a four-and-a-half year deal with City until 2029, with this transfer window playing a significant role in the team's long-term squad reconstruction after the harsh truth of a disappointing season thus far. 

Nico is viewed as a 'six' or 'eight' whom City expect will strengthen their midfield and aid in mitigating the effects of missing Ballon d’Or champion Rodri. 

The city initially aimed to acquire the ex-Barcelona talent for significantly lower, approximately €40m (£33m), but Porto insisted that the agreement must reflect Nico's €60m (£50m) release clause. This is because Porto must pay Barcelona 40% from a sell-on clause, which amounts to €24m. 

City are not thought to have activated the release clause, indicating they haven't needed to pay the entire transfer fee initially, but have consented to pay the total sum in installment payments. 

Nico established his reputation at Barcelona in the 2021/22 season following his graduation from La Masia. He participated in 37 matches, but was loaned to Valencia and subsequently sold to Porto in 2023 for just €8.5m. 



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