Old Trafford Lounge

Local Bilbao newspaper El Correo, who have demonstrated the best connected reporting in Spain on this throughout, insist that representatives traveled from Laffer's Bilbao offices to Madrid and were representing both Ander Herrera and Manchester United in an attempt to get the deal done. They had not just turned up Only Fools And Horses style to try and become rich, they probably already are.
If you were a football club, or a footballer, wanting to employ experts on Spanish football law in Bilbao, then Laffer would be who you'd choose. To think that partners from the firm turned up in Madrid without having any encouragement to do so is frankly laughable.
We contacted Laffer on Tuesday morning to get their side, not expecting much given they're a legal firm and will be careful about how they approach such situations. Not for them to fire around accusations about the behaviour of others. Clearly frustrated by the reporting of the situation in Spain and England right now, the firm were unable to comment other than to say they were having a meeting and after that may be able to speak on the matter, perhaps not best to hold breath.
It's correct to say that Manchester United didn't send anyone to Spain, but that doesn't in turn make the partners from Laffer impostors. El Correo insist that Laffer are a prestigious firm highly respected in Bilbao and there's little reason to doubt that, the newspaper just think the whole move for Ander Herrera was a mess from start to finish.
They claim that Manchester United offered €30m on Thursday and wanted to pay this over four installments, a situation which was always going to be unacceptable to Athletic Bilbao. For them a Basque player has his own value, given their recruitment policy it's far harder for them as purchasers in the transfer market and this is reflected when they sell a player they'd rather stayed.
There's also the famous Basque stubbornness. When Fernando Llorente was intent on leaving the club because he wanted a new challenge, and more money, he quickly became person non grata with Los Leones. There was no turning back and little room for reconciliation, the situation helped neither the player or club but demonstrated that Athletic Bilbao have strength in such matters even if those principles may seem unreasonable at times. What Manchester United valued Herrera at, and it's clear it was less than his clause, doesn't really matter. Whether he's actually worth €36m or €10m less is irrelevant to the Basque club, that was the price and if Manchester United wanted the player then that's what they had to pay.
Understandably there's anger in Spain at the situation and Manchester United's reputation has been damaged. El Correo claim that some people connected to the deal think it was a case of either Marouane Fellaini or Ander Herrera when it came down to the wire, and that the big Belgian won out. They say the club's credibility in the transfer market has been damaged.
Reports that Manchester United weren't sure what they had to pay are incorrect. There are four copies of a player's contract, one of which is held at the Spanish league and they would have informed Manchester United what the amount was. Tax issues could have been overcome, with the help of Laffer, but the realisation that a training fee would have to be paid to previous clubs was another late hurdle and an added cost of around €1.8m.
With the hours running out, Manchester United walked away and concentrated on securing Fellaini with a late move for Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao falling through despite the best efforts of Jorge Mendes.
There have been errors in the Herrera deal and the player feels a promise to him was broken, there is some anger from Athletic Bilbao fans towards the midfielder but it's nowhere near the Llorente level and the irritation will no doubt move toward Manchester United instead. Laffer were not impostors, they may have not been able to give Manchester United and Ander Herrera the answers they wanted but they have a history in this field, a successful one.
A naivety in thinking Athletic Bilbao would in the end reduce the price to please Manchester United and accept staggered payments could be to blame or it could simply be that the club were never going to pay what the Spanish club wanted whether the deal came to a head in June or three hours before the close of the transfer window.
Nobody wins. Least of all Laffer Abogados who are, almost certainly unfairly, being painted as scam artists throughout the European media

I could cope with being a normal club, a normal club couuld have done everything better for the past 4 months. Its the fuccking shambles we've been for the past months I have a problem with.

I imagine we're probably going to get sued by Laffer as well, if that article is true, pissing off a law firm isn't the smartest thing to do.

What is a "normal club"?

They don't though, normal clubs do fucking stupid stuff like that all the time.

Badly run clubs, maybe. None of our domestic or European rivals, with the exception of Arsenal, who we comfortably out Arsenaled yesterday have been as bad as us this summer.

Doing 'fucking stupid shit' doesn't make you normal, it makes you a laughing stock.

Every clubs is a laughing stock at some point though (trust me being a Newcastle fan I know), all the top clubs have done it in the past 10 years. In England at least.

Everton deny reports that midfielder Marouane Fellaini paid £4m of the transfer fee to ensure his move to Manchester United went ahead.

Reports suggest that the 25-year-old Belgium international agreed to forgo a sizeable loyalty payment to force through his dream move.

But Everton's director of communications Alan Myers has tweeted: "For those asking: No Felli did not pay £4m of the transfer fee! The buying club will pay £27.5m."