Kylian Mbappe

[goalmole]

You have Pep Guardiola and he's earlier in his tenure while also having the image of being the biggest (second now) money club and that is never going to change yet you won't pull the trigger on the biggest prospect since Neymar for image/value reasons? FOH.

What the hell are you doing Khaldoon? Worried about value? How much value would winning the CL have?

Would we be guaranteed to win the CL if we had Mbappe, moreso than say ,Sanchez. Personally, I don't think so. I think Sanchez would make a bigger immediate impact than Mbappe, although Mbappe would be the long term choice. Another thing that makes me a bit wary about Mbappe is his impact on dressing room harmony if he comes on big wages aged 18, it would obviously depend on his character as a person, but if it turns out that he's the Billy big bollocks type, it could sow discord. Other than that I'm not fussed either way.

 

[Marvin]

Funny how we have to hope for exactly this in connection with Alexis Sanchez, but with Mbappe we have to hope that Monaco behaves like Arsenal and refuse to sell to a domestic competitor and instead sell cheaper to a foreign club. One would think one of the 2 deals will come off, if logic plays any role :-)

PSG are not in for him. I think we are the only club who are in for him, but Barca worry me. He's not priority 1 for them, but they may work down their list and come to him. Coutinho put in a transfer request but that doesn't mean he will go.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

You are on form!

I know TH seemed to think we were never in for VVD but it does seem a bit odd that we weren't / aren't.

I'm a bit torn on this because I accept that our owner is entitled to want value for money on what he spends and the accountant in me applauds such things. However, the City supporter in me wants a huge statement made and wants Pep to have the best possible set of players so that we can blow a hole the like of which has been seen since dinosaurs became extinct in the Premier League and have a great chance of tearing through (most of) the UCL like a T.Rex dining on a tethered goat.

Does seem harsh though to criticise our club for being principled and disciplined.

I feel exactly the same. In some respects I'd almost welcome a bit of prudence, just to undermine the boring accusation that we alone apparently are attempting to buy success. On the other hand though, I want to utterly destroy this league like never before and leave Mourinho and Wenger 25 points adrift, and to then rub it in the faces of Charlie Nicholas, Jeff Stelling, big nose Thompson, Rob Beasley, Jamie Jackson, Cascarino, and all the other utterly bitter and thick media cnuts who never stop sniping at us. Mbappe and VVD would give us an unbelievable squad and guard against the extreme likelihood of Vinnie (and to a lesser extent Kun) missing half the season through injury. Starting a campaign of this magnitude with just 3 centre halves (and one of them with an appalling injury record) and 2 strikers, would be a ludicrous and unnecessary gamble

 

[Neville Kneville]

More than but both cant cope with the demands of 4 competitions plus internationals as well as go both injury and suspension free.

But how many clubs can boast more than two world class goalscorers & also have players like Sané, Sterling, Bernardo Silva ? Also KDB & D Silva who have played in a front 2 ?

What City already have in attack, is imo, is beyond anything that's ever been seen at club level. Then we have kids to bring in to rest players when required.

We really shouldn't 'need' another. If we fancy having one, that's a different matter, but any manager should be able to provide a world class attacking unit for about 100 games out of that lot imo.

Most managers at any club would 'manage' with that lot.

 

[kimbanor]

I feel exactly the same. In some respects I'd almost welcome a bit of prudence, just to undermine the boring accusation that we alone apparently are attempting to buy success. On the other hand though, I want to utterly destroy this league like never before and leave Mourinho and Wenger 25 points adrift, and to then rub it in the faces of Charlie Nicholas, Jeff Stelling, big nose Thompson, Rob Beasley, Jamie Jackson, Cascarino, and all the other utterly bitter and thick media cnuts who never stop sniping at us. Mbappe and VVD would give us an unbelievable squad and guard against the extreme likelihood of Vinnie (and to a lesser extent Kun) missing half the season through injury. Starting a campaign of this magnitude with just 3 centre halves (and one of them with an appalling injury record) and 2 strikers, would be a ludicrous and unnecessary gamble

I think a lot us city suporter feel the same. Nothing would make me more happy the and end of the season having blown the league with 20-25points, but if we were VVD Mbappe, the media would still say that we have "bought" the league.

I feel much more confident that with our team this season, that we will win PL and possibly CL (if margjns and little bit of luck on our side)

As long as we get PL and one more (FA or EFL) most of the media, will eas up on there Biase, and should we able to Win The CL the "Elit" (Barca, RM, Bayern and Juve) will acccept us a Major contenter. and PEP I dont belive will be Trule happy and feel he have fufild his desire at city before he gets both in one season.

Me at end of the season, EPL and one more...hehe[emoji23]

 

[Marvin]

But how many clubs can boast more than two world class goalscorers & also have players like Sané, Sterling, Bernardo Silva ? Also KDB & D Silva who have played in a front 2 ?

What City already have in attack, is imo, is beyond anything that's ever been seen at club level. Then we have kids to bring in to rest players when required.

We really shouldn't 'need' another. If we fancy having one, that's a different matter, but any manager should be able to provide a world class attacking unit for about 100 games out of that lot imo.

Most managers at any club would 'manage' with that lot.

When Toure and Aguero were in their prime. City failed to make much impression in the Champions League. Mbappe is not a golden bullet. He is a young player but I am not sure about Aguero or Sanchez. Both look on their way down to me, and City's forward line was stultified last season until Jesus played.

We can't possibly address every single weakness in one transfer window. We've gone a very long way though.

I agree with comments above that ideally City need a forward and a central defender but given the sums involved these are probably dreams and hopes rather than realistic ambitions. Mbappe is moving into realistic territory at the moment for the moment, but as someone said yesterday the pendulum will swing many times.

 

[CityStu]

But how many clubs can boast more than two world class goalscorers & also have players like Sané, Sterling, Bernardo Silva ? Also KDB & D Silva who have played in a front 2 ?

What City already have in attack, is imo, is beyond anything that's ever been seen at club level. Then we have kids to bring in to rest players when required.

We really shouldn't 'need' another. If we fancy having one, that's a different matter, but any manager should be able to provide a world class attacking unit for about 100 games out of that lot imo.

Most managers at any club would 'manage' with that lot.

I think that what we're missing, now that Kelechi has been sold, is any pressure on those front two. I don't think that pressure necessarily needs to come in a £150m package like Mbappe, or even Sanchez, but if either Aguero or Jesus start to lose form they know that the only pressure on their positions will come from players out of position (like Sterling) or youth players.

Difficult to find those players who aren't pointless fillers (like Rodwell or Delph), are happy to play a back up role primarily though. Someone like Javier Hernandez would have been perfect, but it seems he's gone to West Ham to be the main man.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

I think that what we're missing, now that Kelechi has been sold, is any pressure on those front two. I don't think that pressure necessarily needs to come in a £150m package like Mbappe, or even Sanchez, but if either Aguero or Jesus start to lose form they know that the only pressure on their positions will come from players out of position (like Sterling) or youth players.

Difficult to find those players who aren't pointless fillers (like Rodwell or Delph), are happy to play a back up role primarily though. Someone like Javier Hernandez would have been perfect, but it seems he's gone to West Ham to be the main man.

May as well kept kelechi in that case.

 

[CityStu]

May as well kept kelechi in that case.

I disagree. Kelechi's at a stage where he needs very regular football to see if he can push on into that elite striker bracket. Somewhere like Leicester should be great for that and we have the buy back clause if he does really start to perform.

We'd want either an established player who would be happy to play second fiddle or a youth player who'd be happy with occasional game time to try and prove himself (like Kelechi 2 years ago).

 

[Neville Kneville]

I think that what we're missing, now that Kelechi has been sold, is any pressure on those front two. I don't think that pressure necessarily needs to come in a £150m package like Mbappe, or even Sanchez, but if either Aguero or Jesus start to lose form they know that the only pressure on their positions will come from players out of position (like Sterling) or youth players.

Difficult to find those players who aren't pointless fillers (like Rodwell or Delph), are happy to play a back up role primarily though. Someone like Javier Hernandez would have been perfect, but it seems he's gone to West Ham to be the main man.

Really though, the pressure should be from Sané Sterling & Bernardo Silva.

It should not just be Jesus plus Aguero taking two places it should also be Jesus vs Aguero, fighting for one place whilst Sane Sterling Silva DeBruyne Silva Foden Diaz & imo Pat Roberts are all considered for the other attacking places.

Also, we are judging all this in context of Pepball rather than football.

If we really wanted another option up front to best give us a chance of winning trophies, it wouldn't be Mbappe or Sanchez, it would be Diego Costa.

Then we can play any style. We have the players to feed & play off a traditional centre forward, like we've never had before.

If we truly wanted to cover all the bases, we'd buy a proper cf not another tricky shortarse.

 

[CityStu]

Really though, the pressure should be from Sané Sterling & Bernardo Silva.

It should not just be Jesus plus Aguero taking two places it should also be Jesus vs Aguero, fighting for one place whilst Sane Sterling Silva DeBruyne Silva Foden Diaz & imo Pat Roberts are all considered for the other attacking places.

Also, we are judging all this in context of Pepball rather than football.

If we really wanted another option up front to best give us a chance of winning trophies, it wouldn't be Mbappe or Sanchez, it would be Diego Costa.

Then we can play any style. We have the players to feed & play off a traditional centre forward, like we've never had before.

If we truly wanted to cover all the bases, we'd buy a proper cf not another tricky shortarse.

If we were still playing a 433 then I'd agree. But in the 352 we've seen through much of preseason, I'd suggest that any of the other players you list would be seen as out of position in those front two roles. That said, I still think there should be a place for the 433 as 3 CBs seemed overkill against West Ham.

I think I have heard some Llorente rumours. Can't help but feel he'd end up as more of a Bony signing than a Dzeko or Negredo though.

I'd also quite like to see Nmecha given an opportunity or two this season. He's not nearly as good technically as some other academy players, but he seems to have a knack for scoring and he should get chances aplenty from the creative talent we have.

 

[ADegenerate]

Would we be guaranteed to win the CL if we had Mbappe, moreso than say ,Sanchez. Personally, I don't think so. I think Sanchez would make a bigger immediate impact than Mbappe, although Mbappe would be the long term choice. Another thing that makes me a bit wary about Mbappe is his impact on dressing room harmony if he comes on big wages aged 18, it would obviously depend on his character as a person, but if it turns out that he's the Billy big bollocks type, it could sow discord. Other than that I'm not fussed either way.

Yeah, I think Sanchez would make a bigger immediate impact but I wasn't necessarily referring to this year as the year we won CL. I was basically calling bullshit on the hunting for value as an excuse. There's another angle to value that people overlook, their may be little positive value but it's a mistake if you pass on it move. We've done it with Walker and probably mendy. It basically can be a major error via inaction.

A lot of people are saying they won't be fussed if we don't land Mbappe but I'm not sure they're factoring in Agueros replacement in one or two seasons enough. Morata (who I think will bust here) came for an insane price. They're will be no 'value' on proven forwards anytime soon either baring the rare exception (Jesus). I personally think it's a gamble that you can't pass up on (Mbappe). Not only is it a neutral value move but it could have positive value even at £150m. Complete bust...? highly unlikely. The phenoms (Neymar's / Jesus / Mbappes) rarely just completely bust, under Pep very low probability.

The wages and ego could be an issue but I think the club has already ok'd that portion of it.

 

[Jazzman]

I think I have heard some Llorente rumours. Can't help but feel he'd end up as more of a Bony signing than a Dzeko or Negredo though.

Never understood this rumor. The guy is 32, weighs 90 kilos and is as far as I can see about as far away from being a Pep player as you can possibly be.

 

[Neville Kneville]

If we were still playing a 433 then I'd agree. But in the 352 we've seen through much of preseason, I'd suggest that any of the other players you list would be seen as out of position in those front two roles. That said, I still think there should be a place for the 433 as 3 CBs seemed overkill against West Ham.

I think I have heard some Llorente rumours. Can't help but feel he'd end up as more of a Bony signing than a Dzeko or Negredo though.

I'd also quite like to see Nmecha given an opportunity or two this season. He's not nearly as good technically as some other academy players, but he seems to have a knack for scoring and he should get chances aplenty from the creative talent we have.

I actually think all of them could play 2nd striker as good or better than Jesus or Aguero.

I've always had my doubts about Nmecha but it can't be argued that he scores goals & again, if a kid does well, imo he should get game time irrespective of whether he's considered to be a future wordbeater or not.

All he has to do, is come on & score. If he ends up signing for Steve Bruce 6 months later, it doesn't matter, he's done his bit.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Never understood this rumor. The guy is 32, weighs 90 kilos and is as far as I can see about as far away from being a Pep player as you can possibly be.

The 'Pep player' bit is what makes these threads a bit daft imo though.

We talk about desperately 'needing' another striker. But it can't be one who can do something vastly different, it has to be one who does the same.

The thing the opposition would least like, is City to suddenly give them an entirely different set of problems to deal with.

 

[matdusud]

From le Parisien

New summer saga maybe not over


If the prodigy of Monaco dreams of joining Paris, the operation is unfeasible this summer, according to internal sources.


After plucking his hair for the assembly to recruit Neymar, the PSG made calculations in the framework of Kylian Mbappé. Paris managed to convince the young striker of Monaco (18 years), but the cost of this arrival (nearly 180 M €) is almost impossible to reconcile with the rules of financial fair play. These require a deficit of less than 30 M € over three seasons.



Internal sources strongly affirm that the transfer of Kylian Mbappé is impossible to close this summer, contrary to the information of several foreign media reports of imminent officialization. This operation would not fit in with the financial fair play, as the experts asked for in recent weeks.


The same voices at the PSG explain that the club must already make a big sale this summer (Lucas or Di Maria, probably, in addition to Aurier) to keep track of its track following the arrival of Neymar for 222 M € . The entry into the accounts, even spread out over 5 seasons, of a new operation XXL, would force the PSG to sacrifice some of its best elements each summer.

 

[CityStu]

I actually think all of them could play 2nd striker as good or better than Jesus or Aguero.

I've always had my doubts about Nmecha but it can't be argued that he scores goals & again, if a kid does well, imo he should get game time irrespective of whether he's considered to be a future wordbeater or not.

All he has to do, is come on & score. If he ends up signing for Steve Bruce 6 months later, it doesn't matter, he's done his bit.

But I don't know if we need a 'number 10' from those front players considering we'll have at least 2 creative players in the midfield and very attack minded wing backs. We need more players in the box to finish at the end of our attacking moves.

Never understood this rumor. The guy is 32, weighs 90 kilos and is as far as I can see about as far away from being a Pep player as you can possibly be.

He's not bought many similar players in the past, but he's certainly utilised them. Just watched a video of Mandzukic's goals for Bayern in 13/14; he's very different from Aguero and Jesus and quite similar to Llorente. Of the 18 goals in the video, 16 were scored with his first touch. Neither Kun or Jesus can play as that kind of target man.

 

[Healdplace]

I do wonder if PSG are deliberately letting journalists run with the idea they are about to sign Mbappe whilst denying it themselves as they have no plan to sign him but also want to stop us from signing him.

They seem to have targeted, or been press linked with targeting, some of our main player options. I don't think they were interested in Sanchez but were happy to let us think they might be.

Perhaps the same with Mbappe.

Why? Because they have made a huge statement this Summer with the plan to step up to the top table with the old guard in CL terms.

Basically it was them or us could do that as the opportunity was there.

They may be quite happy now to just interfere with our plans this Summer as us signing Mbappe could legitimately given them a run for their money in the top table jumping this year.

So any leaks, false stories etc etc that drives the price up and makes us walk away helps them even if nobody else signs Mbappe.

 

[almir]

Just bring back dzeko :P

boy, it's scary how many dzeko would score with current support from flanks.

 

[JCB001]

But I don't know if we need a 'number 10' from those front players considering we'll have at least 2 creative players in the midfield and very attack minded wing backs. We need more players in the box to finish at the end of our attacking moves.



He's not bought many similar players in the past, but he's certainly utilised them. Just watched a video of Mandzukic's goals for Bayern in 13/14; he's very different from Aguero and Jesus and quite similar to Llorente. Of the 18 goals in the video, 16 were scored with his first touch. Neither Kun or Jesus can play as that kind of target man.

Are you kidding ? how may goals has Kun scored with tap ins at the near post