Virgil van Dijk

[Manchester_lalala]

Will be one of the best signings of the window. Liverpool beating us and Chelsea to him is a big statement.

Yep.

 

[Stoned Rose]

He's a good player no doubt.

Those thinking Liverpool have 'beat' us and Chelsea to his signature are embarrassing themselves.

There's no way he would choose Liverpool over either club.

The names will have been used for leverage nothing more.

CB is in hand don't worry.

 

[Salfordian Blue]

Liverpool beating us and Chelsea to him is a big statement.

They have to make their statements through signings.
Regular declarations sound like a Scotsman loosing a fight with a bucket of phlegm.

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

We've always been accused of throwing money away, at least since ADUG, but now that other clubs are prepared to pay more for players than we do then hopefully rabid newspaper headlines about City's spending will become a thing of the past.

 

[Fred_Quimby]

We've always been accused of throwing money away, at least since ADUG, but now that other clubs are prepared to pay more for players than we do then hopefully rabid newspaper headlines about City's spending will become a thing of the past.

Where on earth did you get that idea from? Things will never change. Did they change when the rags paid a fortune for their shower of sh1t? 'enough said.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Is Alderweireld not an option? Even if the £25m release clause wasn't true, would he command a higher fee than the rumoured Van Dijk one?

 

[Manchester_lalala]

Is Alderweireld not an option? Even if the £25m release clause wasn't true, would he command a higher fee than the rumoured Van Dijk one?

Around the same.

 

[Edwin Edwin]

Adarabioyo staying/leaving is irrelevant..Out on loan if he signs a new deal at best.
Lol..Kolarov..Did 'okay' at times last season but right now he shouldn't even be a City player let alone an option at CB cause he's left footed..Can swallow his last year as backup LB not a CB.
Nico..An Enigma..Maldini on Tuesday,A Sunday league defender on Saturday..An option not a stalwart in our defence.
Stones..Has A LOT to learn..Not first choice YET for next season,2019 definitely.
VK..Obv our best CB by miles but going into a fourth consecutive year banking on his fitness is suicidal..Could easily break down in Sep when the window's shut leaving us with Stones + Otamendi. Should actually be a bonus having him if we have a new CB who's not a major drop off from VK.
Basically saying to sustain our title ambitions we have to sign a CB to start alongside VK..New fullbacks will actually help us more in the attacking side by creating overloads..So gaps will still appear at times.Else,we'll fall off again...Can't rely on outscoring your opponents every time,maybe in the PL vs the 'bottom' clubs but in Europe,no way.A new top CB is a must.

 

[GeorgeHeslop'sTackle.]

If not paying the extra gives us a better chance of getting Mendy/Laporte, I'm not too arsed to have pulled the plug tbh.

If, on the other hand, both go elswhere & we see the likes of f*ckin' Ryan Shawcross being signed instead, I'll be somewhat miffed

 

[Tricky_Trev]

He's a good player no doubt.

Those thinking Liverpool have 'beat' us and Chelsea to his signature are embarrassing themselves.

There's no way he would choose Liverpool over either club.

The names will have been used for leverage nothing more.

CB is in hand don't worry.

Honestly, I think it's more embarrassing to adopt the rag cafe approach of "we mustn't have wanted him" than to accept that maybe, just maybe, a player actually wanted to play for a club other than City.

 

[Salfordian Blue]

we see the likes of f*ckin' Ryan Shawcross being signed instead, I'll be somewhat miffed

Unless Pep is replaced, body snatchers style, that isn't going to happen.

I think he'll go all in for Bonucci, who hopefully realises that his current side have plateaued.

 

[Blue Coop]

Hard to judge this until the end of the summer. It feels like a good buy for Lpool, but if we end up with Bonucci for £50m then it makes them look silly. If we end up with nobody then we could regret it. Context is everything, and the summer has only just begun.

 

[BringBackSwales]

Will be one of the best signings of the window. Liverpool beating us and Chelsea to him is a big statement.

Hopefully another team that can finish between us and united

 

[bobmcfc]

Not arsed

 

[MaccBlueSS115]

Hard to judge this until the end of the summer. It feels like a good buy for Lpool, but if we end up with Bonucci for £50m then it makes them look silly. If we end up with nobody then we could regret it. Context is everything, and the summer has only just begun.

Great post, we need to bide our time & see what happens. Then we can judge the success of our defensive signings.

 

[Blue_Rossy]

for van d, it will be a van persie excuse! Little boy told me to play for giddypool etc. No other reason for choosing the dippers as they do fuck all every season. Shower of shite there team tbh. Only thing I can think off is hes been promised games week in, week out. Small teams do that ;)

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

İ can't believe that everybody upset here because we missed on Southampton player.

We signed Vincent Kompany from the approximate German equivalent of Southampton, Zabaleta from Espanyol, Spanish Dave from Valencia, Joe Hart from Shrewsbury, Leroy Sane from Schalke, Gaz Baz from Aston Villa......you see where I'm going with this? They all turned out to be superb buys

 

[southamptonblue]

Hard to judge this until the end of the summer. It feels like a good buy for Lpool, but if we end up with Bonucci for £50m then it makes them look silly. If we end up with nobody then we could regret it. Context is everything, and the summer has only just begun.

That certainly wouldn't make them look silly.....can't see the fuss about Bonucci at all, everyone mentions the space to cover behind attacking fullbacks yet he was slow when he was the right side of 30.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Not signing a centre back for the new season would be as much of a mistake as starting with the same goalkeeper options in my opinion. Fortunately that's not a choice because Willy's left.

Van Dijk, although not the be all and end all of options in that position, is still a superb player and going from seeing his name linked with us to reading mentions of Mangala on here again is depressing.

Yes, Otamendi finished the season in good form and yes, I believe Stones will eventually go on to become a top level centre back but our quality in that department more or less hinges on Kompany staying fit and that's not good enough for a team wanting to compete at the top.

Thankfully, it's early June.

Correct in all respects

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Adarabioyo staying/leaving is irrelevant..Out on loan if he signs a new deal at best.
Lol..Kolarov..Did 'okay' at times last season but right now he shouldn't even be a City player let alone an option at CB cause he's left footed..Can swallow his last year as backup LB not a CB.
Nico..An Enigma..Maldini on Tuesday,A Sunday league defender on Saturday..An option not a stalwart in our defence.
Stones..Has A LOT to learn..Not first choice YET for next season,2019 definitely.
VK..Obv our best CB by miles but going into a fourth consecutive year banking on his fitness is suicidal..Could easily break down in Sep when the window's shut leaving us with Stones + Otamendi. Should actually be a bonus having him if we have a new CB who's not a major drop off from VK.
Basically saying to sustain our title ambitions we have to sign a CB to start alongside VK..New fullbacks will actually help us more in the attacking side by creating overloads..So gaps will still appear at times.Else,we'll fall off again...Can't rely on outscoring your opponents every time,maybe in the PL vs the 'bottom' clubs but in Europe,no way.A new top CB is a must.

Spot on