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

By Damerex -
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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...
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Pep Guardiola assesses Man City's prospects of triumphing over Real Madrid in their Champions League clash

By Damerex -

• Man City heads to Spain for the second leg of their playoff match on Wednesday. 

• Real Madrid triumphed in the initial match in Manchester with a score of 3-2, thanks to two late goals. 

• Pep Guardiola was not particularly hopeful regarding City's prospects. 

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola stated that his team has only a "1%" chance of progressing to the Champions League round of 16 before the second leg of their play-off against Real Madrid on Wednesday evening. 

Everything might have turned out quite differently. The current Premier League champions held a 2-1 advantage against Madrid with fewer than ten minutes left in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium last Tuesday, prior to two late goals that dramatically shifted the dynamic of the entire matchup. 

Facing a 3-2 aggregate deficit before this week's crucial game in the Spanish capital, City must either beat Madrid by two goals in regular time or win by one goal and then succeed in the following penalty shootout. Guardiola was not excessively hopeful. 

"The margin for victory in [the] Bernabeu in that situation is well-known; if you inquire before the match, the likelihood of advancing, I don’t know, is about 1%, it’s very low," the City manager lamented, before stating: "Yet as [long] as there's a chance, we will make an effort, that's guaranteed." 

City surged to a 4-0 win against Newcastle United on Saturday, suggesting a late resurgence in form, but Guardiola emphasized how subpar his team has been against their high standards. "This season, the truth is, we have been far, far away," the Catalan coach confessed. 

"Our performance and results this season have been extremely, extremely poor, and despite today's one good game, it won’t alter the perception, the truth, about the team as it currently stands, and we are still not doing well on a daily basis." 

Madrid have not been particularly remarkable either. The Spanish powerhouses drew 1-1 with Osasuna over the weekend and have suffered seven defeats in all competitions this season—over three times their total losses for the whole 2023/24 season. 

The availability of Erling Haaland will significantly influence the city's likelihood of success in Spain, as he netted two goals for the English champions in their loss to Madrid last week. The iconic forward hobbled off in the match against Newcastle due to a concerning knee injury, but Guardiola swiftly addressed worries about a lengthy sidelining. 



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