Centre back options

PW said:
I think the club will be a little more cautious when buying our next centre half, as they will need to balance age, with experience and quality, which reduces the number of players that will fit the bill. A ready made centre half, at the right age, who can slot in and perform at the highest level are rare and will unquestionably cost an absolute fortune. A player of this stature will no doubt already be at an established and successful club, which in itself will make recruiting the player difficult. It will be interesting to see who they have in their sights.
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Difficult balancing act, to get the right age & quality.

You could see the potential for disaster in Davinson Sanchez' performance for Spurs yesterday. He's a real potential talent but they are flying by the seat of their pants by actually playing him in such a crucial position.

This is why VVD is such a no brainer to me. He is proven.

If we signed him & he was a bit of a disappointment for the money, he would still be a Premier League level, fairly solid, 'disappointment for the money', & still a very useful player.

If he reached his peak level, he would be worth more than we paid, in 12 months.

And then, being secure with a group of cbs, the next one we signed after VVD, could afford to be a gamble on 'potential'.
 
Neville Kneville said:
Difficult balancing act, to get the right age & quality.

You could see the potential for disaster in Davinson Sanchez' performance for Spurs yesterday. He's a real potential talent but they are flying by the seat of their pants by actually playing him in such a crucial position.

This is why VVD is such a no brainer to me. He is proven.

If we signed him & he was a bit of a disappointment for the money, he would still be a Premier League level, fairly solid, 'disappointment for the money', & still a very useful player.

If he reached his peak level, he would be worth more than we paid, in 12 months.

And then, being secure with a group of cbs, the next one we signed after VVD, could afford to be a gamble on 'potential'.
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I have seen Davinson play prior to the Spurs move and was not impressed. Was surprised to see Spurs make him their record signing. He has potential but can easily flop, I feel something is missing with him. de Ligt will have a much better career. He is a very interesting option IMO.

I agree on VVD, no brainer to sign him. Like it or not we need someone to replace Kompany and he would be the perfect fit. £42m for Davinson who played one season for Ajax makes £70m on VVD looks like excellent value. I just have a feeling the club doesn't want to spend such a large some on CB, we got it severely wrong with Mangala, and spent a lot of Otamendi (good value overall) & Stones (will be a bargain). Our record signing is still De bruyne I believe, it just seems to me that the club is ready to spend big money on an attacker but probably feel there is better value than spending £70m on a CB, hopefully I am wrong as VVD is the complete modern ball playing CB.

Apparently we are interested in Lucas Hernandez, I haven't seen much of him but I'm sure he will cost at least £40m. Can play LB which is crucial.

Milan Skriniar is also one to look out for, is 22 and plays for Inter, Spalletti is a great manager and I think Inter will do really well this season.

Next Summer will again be an important window for us. CB and DM being the main target positions to fill and probably LB. Ideally we sell Mangala next summer for £10m (will only have a year left on his deal) and Otamendi for £20m+.
 
decmancity said:
I don't think Pep would want to throw him into our defence without having an experienced head alongside him, Kompany simply cannot be relied on and as much as Otamendi is doing a good job overall he cannot lead a defence.

A good player however and has great potential.
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King if the North?
 
pee dubya said:
Not seen him play a full match myself, but there's a Jamaal Lascelles hype machine building up, he'll be in the England squad soon i'm sure. Could he be a potential HG target for us? Or is he just a solid PL, physical defender?
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I was thinking of him too. What's his ball-playing skills like?
 
Think we're at the point where we need to consider buying one in January, I was all for waiting till next summer but we just can't rely on Kompany.

At the moment, if we get an injury, we're either playing someone out of position, playing Mangala who doesn't suit how we play or Adarabioyo who he doesn't seem to have confidence in starting league games yet but will probably play against Wolves.

Question will be can we get someone who plays our style and isn't cup tied in the Champions League. Think someone younger would be ideal for now and then possibly sign a top class centre half next summer.

Laporte would be my choice, wasn't ready last time we wanted him but surely that's understandable. I know we don't want to return for players that originally have said no but think he would be ideal. Was injured in the summer, so obviously wanted to recover in Bilbao, time to return in for him?

Laporte, Sanchez and possibly a left back (Bertrand?) in January. Not sure what that does to our foreign quota though.

Van Dijk is the other obvious option.
 
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MCFC1993 said:
Think we're at the point where we need to consider buying one in January, I was all for waiting till next summer but we just can't rely on Kompany.

At the moment, if we get an injury, we're either playing someone out of position, playing Mangala who doesn't suit how we play or Adarabioyo who he doesn't seem to have confidence in starting league games yet but will probably play against Wolves.

Question will be can we get someone who plays our style and isn't cup tied in the Champions League. Think someone younger would be ideal for now and then possibly sign a top class centre half next summer.

Laporte would be my choice, wasn't ready last time we wanted him but surely that's understandable. I know we don't want to return for players that originally have said no but think he would be ideal. Was injured in the summer, so obviously wanted to recover in Bilbao, time to return in for him?

Laporte, Sanchez and possibly a left back (Bertrand?) in January. Not sure what that does to our foreign quota though.
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I agree with you, I'm just not sure if 3 big signings in January is realistic.
 
Neville Kneville said:
Difficult balancing act, to get the right age & quality.

This is why VVD is such a no brainer to me. He is proven.

If we signed him & he was a bit of a disappointment for the money, he would still be a Premier League level, fairly solid, 'disappointment for the money', & still a very useful player.

If he reached his peak level, he would be worth more than we paid, in 12 months.

And then, being secure with a group of cbs, the next one we signed after VVD, could afford to be a gamble on 'potential'.
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This is exactly my take. It really does look like a no brainer. We have a huge VVD shaped hole in our squad and we seem to be unsure about him. If ever there was a City player at another club this is him.
 
We need another CB. We know that. The question is, do we need 2? With Kompany clearly done.

The next 2 windows i predict we go for:

DM to replace Yaya
LB cover for Mendy
Sanchez
And 1-2 CB's.
 
Mouctar Diakhaby linked, anyone know anything about him? Not too many professional games under his belt yet.
 
Andouble said:
Mouctar Diakhaby linked, anyone know anything about him? Not too many professional games under his belt yet.
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From what I've read, he's tall, powerful, fast French defender of African descent. Rumoured to be a good passer as well. Basically another Thuram/Abidal lookalike. Have no idea about his quality, but his profile in general is almost ideal for LCB playing in City's 4-1/3-2/2-3 makeshift defence. Would gradually replace Stones' partner, be it Vinny or Ota. The only quality that he lacks is left-footedness.

Mertens' quote on 22 yo Milan Skriniar after Napoli-Inter 0-0 stalemate:

 
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Sounds daft and probably is but could Pep not convert Delph into a centre back. He seems to have done alright as a left back and it isn't the first time a midfield player has gone into defence.
 
In January we need Van Dijk or Laporte and a left back, maybe Bertrand.

That way we have cover at left back, centre back and centre mid (Delph could cover for Fernandinho more if we had another left back).
 
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Rammyblues said:
Sounds daft and probably is but could Pep not convert Delph into a centre back. He seems to have done alright as a left back and it isn't the first time a midfield player has gone into defence.
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No height and not the strongest in the tackle.
Were we to get an injury at centre back I reckon Walker or Danilo may cover rather than go for Mangala or Tosin
But that's a guess.
 
Cityfan said:
No height and not the strongest in the tackle.
Were we to get an injury at centre back I reckon Walker or Danilo may cover rather than go for Mangala or Tosin
But that's a guess.
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Interesting that you mention Danilo as cover for CB. I've thought the same. Good distribution, comfortable on the ball, tall enough and quick enough to get himself out of the odd lapse. Wherever he plays, he's a decent player who we're not utilising enough at the moment imo.
 
MeatHunterrr said:
Clearly need CB in January. Mangala simply not good enough to be even half decent back up. Kompany never fit.
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OMG - all through the summer I was one of those saying that I would be happy to see Mangala given a chance etc.

But on Tuesday ......................
 
Not a chance Chelsea let that happen unless theres a massive Conte fall-out! Even then I doubt they'd let him come to us.
I like him and have since I saw him in their EDS squad, pretty sure it was against us a couple of years ago.
 
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