In some ways it’s admirable when a person sticks to their principles at all costs, but it’s fair to say that Ed Woodward has little to no admirers within the Man United support just now.
Reports have emerged to suggest that his antics have pushed Borussia Dortmund to the point where they won’t accept any bids for Jadon Sancho anymore, and it sounds like he’s trying the same tactics with Porto over Alex Telles.
Portuguese outlet O Jogo are usually spot on when it comes to their reporting, and they’ve confirmed that Porto are in a position where they probably need to sell him, mainly because his contract expires next summer so he can negotiate with other clubs from January.
That means there’s a deal to be done here, but they claim that Man United’s opening offer of €13m was so pathetic that Porto didn’t even think it was worthy of a response.
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They go on to say that the Portuguese giants are comfortable with the current situation because they would rather lose him for free and have him for another season than take an offer like that, so United will need to come back with an offer of at least €20m before they’ll consider it.
This must be infuriating for the fans because there’s more to footballing life than saving a couple of million on a transfer, especially if that tight fistedness comes at a cost of results on the pitch.
They do suggest that there’s confidence from Telles’ representatives that the move to United will be done, but it sounds like United are continuing to enhance their reputation as a laughing stock around Europe when it comes to their negotiating skills.