Two days left in the window, and Manchester United have spent the week being offered left-backs the way a man who has mentioned needing a car once gets offered cars. So this week we published a page on the small print that decides these things, and it opens with the strangest transfer ever completed: the one where nobody bought anybody.
The clause Barcelona could not refuse
New on the site this week: release clauses, Spanish buy-out clauses and buy-back clauses are three different deals that get reported as one, and the difference is who pays and who gets a say. An excerpt, from the part about August 2017:
Neymar’s 2017 move is the proof at scale, twist included. La Liga refused the €222m cheque when Paris Saint-Germain’s lawyer presented it, citing financial fair play, so Neymar’s own representatives walked into Barcelona’s offices and paid the €222m in the player’s name to terminate the contract unilaterally. Barcelona, who had spent that summer insisting he was not for sale, confirmed the payment the same day (Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, August 2017). The world record was not a negotiated fee. It was a resignation letter with 222 million euros stapled to it.
Read it → https://thearchv.ca/explainers/release-clause-vs-buy-out-clause/
£148m
That is what Manchester United have spent up front this summer, and every pound of it went on midfielders: Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba. Baleba’s deal was confirmed this week, up to £70m to Brighton and Hove Albion, and he arrived carrying an ankle problem and missing from the published squad numbers. Meanwhile Fiorentina made a formal bid for Joshua Zirkzee on Thursday, four days before the deadline, so the club that spent £148m fixing one position may spend the last 48 hours selling a striker. The window shuts on Tuesday 1 September.
Read it → https://thearchv.ca/desk/
Who is second in the Premier League after two games?
Hull City. Six points, level with Manchester City, and yes, that is the same Hull City who went into this season having played Manchester United ten times in the Premier League without winning any of them, then beat them 2-0 on opening day. Two games is two games, and the table in August is a rumour rather than a document. But a promoted club sitting level with Manchester City is the kind of rumour worth clipping and keeping.
Read it → https://thearchv.ca/desk/
The left-back hunt, in three doors
The position Manchester United did not spend the £148m on is the one they now need. This week: Newcastle United’s head coach Matthias Jaissle was asked on camera whether Lewis Hall could leave and shut the door twice. Alejandro Balde told Barcelona he is staying to fight for his place. And an enquiry about Ian Maatsen came back from Aston Villa in the shape of a new contract offer for the player. Three doors, three different sounds of closing, and David Raum now leads the list of names actually offered. Two days.
Read it → https://thearchv.ca/desk/
One from the archive: Friday marked fifteen years since Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal at Old Trafford, 28 August 2011. Some anniversaries are for the neutrals.
That is the week. Deadline day is Tuesday, and if it produces a left-back, a striker sale, or both at 6.55pm, we will take it apart next Sunday. If there is a final, an era or a clause you want explained next, reply and tell us. We read every one.
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