Kalidou Koulibaly

[blinkblue]

If we're bringing in someone of this caliber and for this fee then it would make sense to sell both Stones and Otamendi to try to recoup some of the money and then bring back Tosin, who's been performing excellently on loan at Blackburn.

Centre back options of Laporte, Koulibaly, Fernandinho, Garcia and Tosin would be a perfect balance in my opinion.

 

[Easy]

I confess I don’t know anything about Koulibaly as I don’t remember ever seeing him play. Having said that, am I the only one who thinks £70m (if that’s the true figure) is absolutely ridiculous for a 29 year old. We would get two, maybe three years out of him at best.

I think we can do better than that.

Van Dijk is also 29 years old in a couple of weeks, he’s also one of the best in the world as is Koulibaly.

 

[domalino]

I confess I don’t know anything about Koulibaly as I don’t remember ever seeing him play. Having said that, am I the only one who thinks £70m (if that’s the true figure) is absolutely ridiculous for a 29 year old. We would get two, maybe three years out of him at best.

I think we can do better than that.

You think CB's are done at 32?

He's got no injury history, If he's top class I don't see why he wouldn't still be top level at 34/35 like Fernandinho, Ramos, Pique, Carvalho, Terry, Puyol, Maldini, Nesta etc. etc.

 

[BlueBrain]

Phil Foden

Rodrigo
Gundogan

De Bruyne OR Bernardo


when is the last time Fernandinho played DM?

Foden will very easily over take Gundogan in the pecking order for attacking midfielder.
Gundogan will quickly become a bench player as a back up DM, like the first half of the 18/19 season. He didn't want to resign because of that.


Midfield is as much of a priority as Centre-Back.

Midfield attacking options - 2 positions

KDB - 28
Foden - 20
Bernardo - 23
Gündogan - 29


Midfield defensive - 1 position

Rodri - 23
Gündogan - 29
Fernandinho - 34

we’re good here for 2-3 years. How is this in anyway a priority position?

 

[Easy]

No. Between £50 and £70 million seems standard these days for a top player and he’d eliminate THE problem position for us. Rest him or Eric for cup matches and games against the Bournemouth and Villa standard clubs to give Garcia experience. Sell Stones or Otamendi to free up a place and wages. Job done.

Exactly. Stones and Otamendi both need to go.

signing Koulibaly is perfect because it locks up the right sided CB position for a few years. Gives us the best CB pairing in Europe. Also gives a clear pathway for Garcia, Taylor H.B. and Tosin. Brilliant move.

 

[blueparrot]

Midfield attacking options - 2 positions

KDB - 28
Foden - 20
Bernardo - 23
Gündogan - 29


Midfield defensive - 1 position

Rodri - 23
Gündogan - 29
Fernandinho - 34

we’re good here for 2-3 years. How is this in anyway a priority position?

Fernandinho is now a centre back. He won't be going back to midfield and think this will be his last year. Gundogan is only a defensive midfield option to rotate with Rodri, he may go this summer, if not probably the summer after.

 

[ws01]

Too much money at an advanced football age. Our strategy is there for a reason and it's designed to sign quality players at a younger age for a sizeable fee, and keep them over the majority of their career.

If we can get him for much less than what's being quotes, by all means. Otherwise, we're going to be a lot better off in the long run getting a high quality player between 20-25 for the same price or slightly more.

Exactly. Stones and Otamendi both need to go.

signing Koulibaly is perfect because it locks up the right sided CB position for a few years. Gives us the best CB pairing in Europe. Also gives a clear pathway for Garcia, Taylor H.B. and Tosin. Brilliant move.

Tosin will be 23 in September mate - not sure if he can be grouped with a bunch of guys in their teens.

 

[mike1923]

Too much money at an advanced football age. Our strategy is there for a reason and it's designed to sign quality players at a younger age for a sizeable fee, and keep them over the majority of their career.

If we can get him for much less than what's being quotes, by all means. Otherwise, we're going to be a lot better off in the long run getting a high quality player between 20-25 for the same price or slightly more.



Tosin will be 23 in September mate - not sure if he can be grouped with a bunch of guys in their teens.

would you take van Dijk if we were offered him for 90million tomorrow?

 

[ws01]

would you take van Dijk if we were offered him for 90million tomorrow?

No, and for the exact reason I've described. When you have a strategy that's proven to work and work well, you don't panic and veer away from it the minute results don't go your way.

CB is not the main issue here - it's the protection from the midfield. It usually generally is whenever we have defensive issues. Buying an expensive CB will not address our problems that have arisen this season.

 

[ws01]

You think CB's are done at 32?

He's got no injury history, If he's top class I don't see why he wouldn't still be top level at 34/35 like Fernandinho, Ramos, Pique, Carvalho, Terry, Puyol, Maldini, Nesta etc. etc.

He's been injured twice this season.

 

[domalino]

He's been injured twice this season.

Hes had one injury which cost him a month and a tiny one in the same area probably from returning too soon which cost him 2 weeks, and it's his first in about 5 years.

That's not an injury history.

 

[blinkblue]

Toson will be 23 in September mate - not sure if he can be grouped with a bunch of guys in their teens.

Still a few years younger than Stones and one
far less wages. Plus we'd be able to recoup a bigger fee for Stones than we'd get for Tosin. Tosin being homegrown and a fan of club is also a benefit and also he just seems generally much more reliable than Stones to step in when we need him.

 

[domalino]

No, and for the exact reason I've described. When you have a strategy that's proven to work and work well, you don't panic and veer away from it the minute results don't go your way.

CB is not the main issue here - it's the protection from the midfield. It usually generally is whenever we have defensive issues. Buying an expensive CB will not address our problems that have arisen this season.

This seems like incredibly weird logic. The problem according to you is that our defensive midfield exposed our weak defence and you think the solution is to fix the defensive midfield so it can cover for the weak defence.

The obvious answer is just to get a proper CB who doesnt need as much defence from midfield, and then you can actually press the advantages that Rodri and Gundogan give you in midfield over a guy putting out fires.

 

[Great Kompany]

No, and for the exact reason I've described. When you have a strategy that's proven to work and work well, you don't panic and veer away from it the minute results don't go your way.

CB is not the main issue here - it's the protection from the midfield. It usually generally is whenever we have defensive issues. Buying an expensive CB will not address our problems that have arisen this season.

I think it is not this simple. We have an approach but it has hardly worked out in helping us create a robust backline right. We have bought Mangala Ota Stones Mendy Cancelo and Walker for at least 200 mils. If Van Dijk is available which is a world-class proven talent then why not go for it. We don't shy about spending money right. We all know how much already we have spent in defence.

These signings Koulibaly or Van Dijk immediately improves our team. And let's not forget most of our defence targets even right now are going to cost upward for 50 mil. So why not buy another world-class proven talent unless we are getting some younger excellent defender cheaper!
Worked well for Liverpool

 

[Cellarite]

No, and for the exact reason I've described. When you have a strategy that's proven to work and work well, you don't panic and veer away from it the minute results don't go your way.

CB is not the main issue here - it's the protection from the midfield. It usually generally is whenever we have defensive issues. Buying an expensive CB will not address our problems that have arisen this season.

You could’ve lined up Nigel de Jong, Patrick Vieira, Fernandinho, N’Golo Kante and Claude Makalele in front of Otamendi and Stones at Carrow Road and we’d still have been lucky to escape with a draw.

 

[ws01]

Hes had one injury which cost him a month and a tiny one in the same area probably from returning too soon which cost him 2 weeks, and it's his first in about 5 years.

That's not an injury history.

Maybe you're trying to say he's had no significant injuries, because he's had injuries and therefore an injury history mate.

Still a few years younger than Stones and one
far less wages. Plus we'd be able to recoup a bigger fee for Stones than we'd get for Tosin. Tosin being homegrown and a fan of club is also a benefit and also he just seems generally much more reliable than Stones to step in when we need him.

I like Tosin and hope to see him part of the squad at some point as he's done very well on his loan spell, but when you consider Garcia is 19 and getting fairly regular first team minutes, he needs to get into the Prem ASAP either with us or another team on loan if he's to kick on.

 

[ws01]

This seems like incredibly weird logic. The problem according to you is that our defensive midfield exposed our weak defence and you think the solution is to fix the defensive midfield so it can cover for the weak defence.

The obvious answer is just to get a proper CB who doesnt need as much defence from midfield, and then you can actually press the advantages that Rodri and Gundogan give you in midfield over a guy putting out fires.

Weird logic? What a bizzare statement. It's logic shared by many on here and football in general. I've never said they're weak defenders, that's you putting words in my mouth. They're made to look weak because they're too often left high and dry.

Defending is best when it's done from the front and the middle. That is exactly how we defend at our best, how the Dippers have managed to run away with the title this season, and generally how the best teams defend. If you're a knife through hot butter through those two areas, it doesn't matter how good your defenders are - you'll leak goals.

We won the league in an absolute canter two seasons ago with the main pairing CB of Stones and Otamendi - the very two players most seem to want to get rid of. That should tell you everything.

 

[ctid1894]

No. Between £50 and £70 million seems standard these days for a top player and he’d eliminate THE problem position for us. Rest him or Eric for cup matches and games against the Bournemouth and Villa standard clubs to give Garcia experience. Sell Stones or Otamendi to free up a place and wages. Job done.

I disagree with this for two reasons. Firstly is his recent injury record (he's a very big, very heavy man so his resilience to injury at his age is always going to be susceptible from now on given his style of play e.g. Kompany, Richards). Secondly the benefits of a left footed centre back enabling quicker build up play down our left hand side, crucial to breaking teams down who defend in numbers.

 

[Cellarite]

I disagree with this for two reasons. Firstly is his recent injury record (he's a very big, very heavy man so his resilience to injury at his age is always going to be susceptible from now on given his style of play e.g. Kompany, Richards). Secondly the benefits of a left footed centre back enabling quicker build up play down our left hand side, crucial to breaking teams down who defend in numbers.

“From now on” suggests that there’s a point in time when fitness becomes a concern. Kompany had injuries throughout his time with us and Richards is 32 now and also had injuries throughout his 20’s.

As for breaking defensive teams down, we haven’t had a problem in the last 3 seasons so don’t see a left footed centre back as integral to our attacking.
And anyway, we’d have the choice of Laporte or Koulibaly against every “smaller” team.

 

[meeesh]

Get him in and chuck a couple in as part ex -Stones will do as the Italians like a punt with mediocre defenders,put Mendy in as well for me