Definitely not. He had a passable game in the second leg, but in the first one I would easily say that Neuhaus was their best player (and one that we have also been linked with. I bet Pep would love to have him)
Locatelli could not make it at Milan, his agent is just working hardI much prefer Manuel Locatelli who we were also linked with (also a year younger)
The way he left Rodri on his arse and almost singlehandedly got them into our box for arguably their best chances says something in itself.I was blown away by Zakaria in first leg, he single handedly kept them respectable. I’d recommend checking it out again. His work rate and timing was fantastic. City dealt with him far better in second leg.
Denis Zakaria - Stats 20/21 | TransfermarktZakaria would be an excellent signing given age and profile. Not to mention he was easily the best Gladbach player alongside Neuhaus vs us. He's been consistent over the season as well. Has great ability to win the ball back and keep hold or distribute.
Since last year
Seen this idea floating around and I can’t get my head round it. Gundogan has been excellent in his attacking role and now people want to stick him at DM to accommodate Grealish? I’m confused.Just throwing this out there, but I don’t think we will replace Fernandinho (if he leaves this summer) with another defensive midfielder. A few reasons why, firstly Gundogan is likely to revert back to being a 6 if the links to Grealish are accurate. Also, the incredible talent that is Romeo Lavia needs to be factored in. Why sign Zakaria and effectively block Lavia’s City pathway? It doesn’t make sense. We’d lose him and regret it. It makes far more sense to go next season with Rodri and Gundogan as the main options, with cover from Cancelo, Zinchenko, Doyle etc and then Lavia is 18 years old and probably starts training permanently with the first team like Foden was at that age. So yeah, no DM signing this summer is my preference. Effectively, Fernandinho is ‘replaced’ by Grealish, with Gundogan dropping deeper.
Just a guess but I’ve said before that I suspect we may not even sign a traditional specialist DM to replace Ferna but look for someone who, like him, is a good all rounder/box to box player with both attacking and defensive attributes and who can be coached into the DM/deep lying role but retaining their other talents. Someone like Tielemans would fit that profile better than a destroyer type such as Ndidi.Seen this idea floating around and I can’t get my head round it. Gundogan has been excellent in his attacking role and now people want to stick him at DM to accommodate Grealish? I’m confused.
I like Tielemans a lot but he cannot defend.Just a guess but I’ve said before that I suspect we may not even sign a traditional specialist DM to replace Ferna but look for someone who, like him, is a good all rounder/box to box player with both attacking and defensive attributes and who can be coached into the DM/deep lying role but retaining their other talents. Someone like Tielemans would fit that profile better than a destroyer type such as Ndidi.