De Bruyne?

[razman]

From the Telegraph

Manchester City prepare £40m Kevin De Bruyne opening bid
It is expected that City will have to break their transfer record to land De Bruyne, who Wolfsburg have valued at £57m

By Matt Law

 

[citizens_1976]

Whilst I agree with you about the two man midfield, the rest is nonsense which constantly gets spouted. If you take Yaya out, we wouldn't play with 10 or wouldn't have Fernando etc as the long term replacement. We miss him if he misses a game, just as we miss Silva or Aguero, but if he hadn't joined or if he was to leave, we'd find a quality central midfielder to replace him, just as we'd replace Aguero. Pogba is obviously seen as an option, but there will be others.

To claim that we only won stuff because he was playing is a disservice to the rest of the squad. You could just as easily claim we'd have won more if he'd been replaced by a quality player who gave us 90 minutes each week, rather than a few moments of brilliance few others could do. Both are hypothetical arguments which no one can prove.

He has been a crucial part of our success though. He has scored important goals, one being in the FA Cup final, 2 against Newcastle in the 2nd to last game of season, 1 in the Carling Cup against Sunderland and not to forget all the other important goals in Pellegrinis first season in charge. He may lack the work ethic of a Milner or a Zabaleta, but the quality he possesses should never be underestimated by our fans. He is one of the best players to ever represent this football club and will go down as one of the greats. Whether you say we might have been just as good with someone else in midfield, we can't exactly prove that, but all I know is that his goals played a massive part in us winning the trophies we did. When Yaya is at full flow, there are very few midfielders in the world I would take over him. Just imagine our midfield without him right now, it's not worth thinking about.

 

[citizens_1976]

From the Telegraph

Manchester City prepare £40m Kevin De Bruyne opening bid
It is expected that City will have to break their transfer record to land De Bruyne, who Wolfsburg have valued at £57m

By Matt Law

Sounds like De Bruyne wants out to me, but without trying to make a massive fuss about it.

 

[thesilvalining]

Not a chance will he cost 57m

 

[The Doctor]

The charade begins........opening bid for KDB going in this week

 

[Man city fan 72]

Ah, the old preparing a bid bollox. How the fuck do they know we're ' preparing' a bid, and how do you prepare a bid anyway?. Fee probably agreed already I think, and no way will we pay 57m.

 

[pudge]

Ah, the old preparing a bid bollox. How the fuck do they know we're ' preparing' a bid, and how do you prepare a bid anyway?. Fee probably agreed already I think, and no way will we pay 57m.

Money doesn't grow in neat stacks within a suitcase for Txiki to slam down on the table to be fair.

 

[Worst Case Ontario]

At least some papers are linking us with KDB, so it must be lot closer than Pogba dream

 

[McfcMK]

Hope this won't be our last signing of the window.

 

[TonyM]

Before you make a bid you obviously need to put all the money in posh suitcases, arrange security and organize a secret meeting place for the exchange, usually a bridge at night.

 

[Claytop]

Wonder if Wolfsburg are bracing themselves yet..

 

[blue oli]

Before you make a bid you obviously need to put all the money in posh suitcases, arrange security and organize a secret meeting place for the exchange, usually a bridge at night.

Troll rag

 

[Cityisland]

Troll rag

Eh?

 

[The Doctor]

Troll rag

We use Ray Donovan!

 

[KDBsmum]

that article doesn't make much sense. Why would city make an offer of 40m£ if in the same article they claim that Wolfsburg demands 57m£??

 

[Silva_Spell]

We finished the season strongly with:

Aguero
Milner - Yaya - Lampard - Silva
Fernandinho​

Rather than having a player in a number 10 roll we had 2 (Yaya and Lampard) in CM, or slightly further forward than a normal CM position, with the licence to close down the opposition CBs and DM/s. It worked a treat with defensive cover from Dinho whilst also scoring an average of 3 per game. Yaya looked much more of a threat, his 2 goals vs Swansea as an example. In fact, if you rewatch the Swansea game it's a good example of how Yaya and Lampard closed down high up the pitch.

The question is can De Bruyne replace Lampard in this position? Obviously De Bruyne is fitter, more mobile and a better plllayer than 37 yr old Lampard but does he have the attitude and workrate?

Aguero
Sterling - Yaya - De Bruyne - Silva
Fernandinho

On paper it's a big improvement in an attacking sense at least.


In an ideal world I'd want us to upgrade the DM position but with Sterling and Silva drifting inside we could really do with a quality LB, and one far more athletic than Kolarov. On the right side Zabaleta can get up and down to an extent, but De Bruyne would drift out there as well so it's more the left side that'd need looking at​

 

[cleavers]

A reminder to all posters not to copy and paste full articles, due to the threat of legal action from the mirror scum.

 

[East Level 2]

According to a couple of people at work he's been piss poor pre-season. No pace, no defending, nothing to indicate he's a big improvement. This has come from from Blues and rags.
So is it just the usual looking rusty after the summer or do we seem to be looking at a player that won't cope with the higher pace and physical demands of the Prem.
Genuine question; I don't watch much foreign football and haven't seen the friendlies where he's alleged to have been so poor.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

According to a couple of people at work he's been piss poor pre-season. No pace, no defending, nothing to indicate he's a big improvement. This has come from from Blues and rags.
So is it just the usual looking rusty after the summer or do we seem to be looking at a player that won't cope with the higher pace and physical demands of the Prem.
Genuine question; I don't watch much foreign football and haven't seen the friendlies where he's alleged to have been so poor.

Friendlies mean fuck all, mate.

 

[The Doctor]

We finished the season strongly with:

Aguero
Milner - Yaya - Lampard - Silva
Fernandinho​

Rather than having a player in a number 10 roll we had 2 (Yaya and Lampard) in CM, or slightly further forward than a normal CM position, with the licence to close down the opposition CBs and DM/s. It worked a treat with defensive cover from Dinho whilst also scoring an average of 3 per game. Yaya looked much more of a threat, his 2 goals vs Swansea as an example. In fact, if you rewatch the Swansea game it's a good example of how Yaya and Lampard closed down high up the pitch.

The question is can De Bruyne replace Lampard in this position? Obviously De Bruyne is fitter, more mobile and a better plllayer than 37 yr old Lampard but does he have the attitude and workrate?

Aguero
Sterling - Yaya - De Bruyne - Silva
Fernandinho

On paper it's a big improvement in an attacking sense at least.


In an ideal world I'd want us to upgrade the DM position but with Sterling and Silva drifting inside we could really do with a quality LB, and one far more athletic than Kolarov. On the right side Zabaleta can get up and down to an extent, but De Bruyne would drift out there as well so it's more the left side that'd need looking at​

Don't forget Mr Pogba