Virgil van Dijk

[ninjamonkey]

Wouldn't say we need a centre back, it's an area that could and should be improved by replacing Otamendi but a keeper and a whole set of fullbacks is more important. Even if we get Mendy and Walker that's not enough, we need two for each position, Kolarov can cover left back and centre back so perhaps two left backs aren't on the agenda but we absolutely need two right backs, Fernandinho is not a right back and i don't want to see him there next season unless it's an emergency.

 

[Kompany is King]

We need a top centre half as well as other areas.

 

[doobyedoobye]

There must be better options than this guy surely.

 

[SWP's back]

There must be better options than this guy surely.

VVD is excellent.

 

[doobyedoobye]

VVD is excellent.

Yes but for the money quoted isn't there a better option?

 

[TexasCityzen]

Wouldn't say we need a centre back, it's an area that could and should be improved by replacing Otamendi but a keeper and a whole set of fullbacks is more important. Even if we get Mendy and Walker that's not enough, we need two for each position, Kolarov can cover left back and centre back so perhaps two left backs aren't on the agenda but we absolutely need two right backs, Fernandinho is not a right back and i don't want to see him there next season unless it's an emergency.

Might just be me, but I feel pretty certain the Maffeo will be the #2 RB going forward. My assumption of the January loan was to get him consistent gametime experience for next season. He was great in his few appearances for the first team last season.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

I dont think anyone would disagree with the need, its the who makes way that has been discussed. If we take Vinnie out of the equation to make that call, I think Ota is far more secure that Stones and Kolorov. Whether pep thinks this way, who knows. maybe, no one makes way

there is no way ota is more secure then stones. stones is peps signing and its clear from khaldoons interview they rate him very highly. if we pay 50m for a young player and then after one season hes at risk.. i just can't see it. otamendi will be the one sold if we buy someone.

 

[domalino]

Might just be me, but I feel pretty certain the Maffeo will be the #2 RB going forward. My assumption of the January loan was to get him consistent gametime experience for next season. He was great in his few appearances for the first team last season.

I think that's a good option, especially when we can go 3 at the back if he doesn't perform or isn't deemed ready for an extended run in the team or particularly big game.

 

[kaz7]

Pep has already said he is going to buy a CD to back up vinny because of his injury record,whether it's this lad it remains to be seen

As for making a mistake not buying him from Celtic lol,for one we don't have a crystal ball and two he would have trained by mp and we know what happens to them,he is being looked at now by pep as he has deveoped the skills that will suit our team,the cost is reflected every where in the prem,i just don't know why people fret about it

 

[Manchester_lalala]

Yes but for the money quoted isn't there a better option?

I don't know a better option. It's either we pay up or buy a player from abroad which is risky.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Might just be me, but I feel pretty certain the Maffeo will be the #2 RB going forward. My assumption of the January loan was to get him consistent gametime experience for next season. He was great in his few appearances for the first team last season.

He was good at the Swamp, but he was bang average bordering on poor at home to Celtic. Far from convinced that he would provide sufficiently good coverage for whomever becomes our no.1 choice at RB

 

[ninjamonkey]

Might just be me, but I feel pretty certain the Maffeo will be the #2 RB going forward. My assumption of the January loan was to get him consistent gametime experience for next season. He was great in his few appearances for the first team last season.

Don't think he's currently good enough. Back up fullbacks get more game time than any other perceived backup player, the demand on them is immense and so they are rotated almost on a game by game basis, Maffeo is nowhere near good enough at the minute to play 20-30 game for us next season.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

He was good at the Swamp, but he was bang average bordering on poor at home to Celtic. Far from convinced that he would provide sufficiently good coverage for whomever becomes our no.1 choice at RB

that was one game. i dont think thats enough to judge a young player on. he showed against united and on loan he has the potential.

 

[Neville Kneville]

It is not even on the same universe as the Utd/Pogba scenario and I don't even see how you can call it a 'miss'.

You said in a previous post that you would have taken VVD and Denayer here as 'squad players' but the fundamental reason why VVD is now in a position to command a £50 million transfer fee is because of the 1st team exposure he has received. He was guaranteed that chance at Southampton but not at us.

I don't understand your point. VVD & Denayer were a young, up & coming partnership which we could & should have brought to City, we had close links already.

We chose others instead. Denayer was pushed around & has gone backwards, VVD has improved as you would expect. He would have played plenty at City, & possibly become our main cb by now when VK was missing. I believe both he & JD would have made it if brought in together

It's a big miss imo & I recon one of many during that period.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Absolute bollocks to suggest we should have signed VVD from Celtic. With respect to Southampton, there's a reason he went to them and not to a City, Chelsea or even United. It's because he wasn't good enough at the time. Unless you're on a budget, the big clubs simply can't afford to and don't have to take gambles like that. Finding a bargain is great but it's of no real importance to us with the money we have, it's more important to get the best around. We'd sooner spend double a few years down the line for as good as a sure thing you can get in football than take a risk on someone. That's how it is for the big teams now, there's too much at stake and too much money available for it to matter about saving a bit of money by signing a player before they prove themselves. It seems some fans still have trouble adjusting to us being one of those big teams

Utter shite.

He was a bargain.

 

[doobyedoobye]

I don't know a better option. It's either we pay up or buy a player from abroad which is risky.

If that is the case then I guess Southampton asking 70 million is not as ridiculous as it sounds

 

[nmc]

I don't understand your point. VVD & Denayer were a young, up & coming partnership which we could & should have brought to City, we had close links already.

We chose others instead. Denayer was pushed around & has gone backwards, VVD has improved as you would expect. He would have played plenty at City, & possibly become our main cb by now when VK was missing. I believe both he & JD would have made it if brought in together

It's a big miss imo & I recon one of many during that period.

That's a really good post - and we would have saved a fortune!

 

[taconinja]

There must be better options than this guy surely.

Sure. Bonucci, but I think we all know how difficult that transfer would be to pull off.

 

[SWP's back]

Absolute bollocks to suggest we should have signed VVD from Celtic. With respect to Southampton, there's a reason he went to them and not to a City, Chelsea or even United. It's because he wasn't good enough at the time. Unless you're on a budget, the big clubs simply can't afford to and don't have to take gambles like that. Finding a bargain is great but it's of no real importance to us with the money we have, it's more important to get the best around. We'd sooner spend double a few years down the line for as good as a sure thing you can get in football than take a risk on someone. That's how it is for the big teams now, there's too much at stake and too much money available for it to matter about saving a bit of money by signing a player before they prove themselves. It seems some fans still have trouble adjusting to us being one of those big teams

Absolutely correct.

 

[daztrueblue91]

I don't understand your point. VVD & Denayer were a young, up & coming partnership which we could & should have brought to City, we had close links already.

We chose others instead. Denayer was pushed around & has gone backwards, VVD has improved as you would expect. He would have played plenty at City, & possibly become our main cb by now when VK was missing. I believe both he & JD would have made it if brought in together

It's a big miss imo & I recon one of many during that period.

My point is that the VVD we are after signing this window is a totally different player to the one we could have signed 3/4 seasons ago.

We have been through a transition from Mancini's safety first approach which made Lescott look like a world beater to Pellegrini's gung-ho approach which left of defenders out to dry. There are zero guarantees that VVD would have had the same progress trajectory that he has had at Southampton that he would if he would have joined City. The pressures of competing at all fronts ensures that players don't have time to make mistakes.

It doesn't bother me in the slightest that we might have to pay £50+ million on a CB we could have signed 4 years ago for a fraction of that price because that's the way of the football world.

The elite sides regularly poach the stars of the mid-clubs for big money because they know they are ready to star for the first team. The mid-clubs will offer regular game time and poach said players from clubs who are less attractive than them because they can afford to give them time and they see them as an investment. Kante, Stones, Van Dijk and Smalling are just three quick examples.

Would Chelsea have bought Kante from France and played him over Fabregas with no PL experience? Would United have signed a non-league Chris Smalling and expected him to man-mark Tevez? Would we have signed Stones from Barnsley and put him in the first 11?