Virgil van Dijk

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domalino said:
Saying you want to bring kids through but when there's nothing at stake and it's not sink or swim is just a longwinded way of saying you don't want to bring them through, because it's creating a scenario that never exists. There's always something at stake, it's always a bit of a gamble and it's always sink or swim.
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It's a philosophical point, and I accept that opportunity would be limited to 3 or 4 games a season were that conventional wisdom (of blooding youngsters in the cup competitions) to be followed, but I can assure you there's nothing I'd love more than City to bring someone through rather than pay £50m for them. I'd be happy enough in this instance for Maffeo to be tested out in the Premier League on a carefully chosen basis, but what I'd be decidedly less comfortable about is a situation whereby Walker (or whomever we buy) gets injured and a 19 year old kid, with the grand total of 3 first team appearances to his name, is our only back up. It'll be interesting to see which way Pep goes....
 
Exeter Blue I am here said:
It's a philosophical point, and I accept that opportunity would be limited to 3 or 4 games a season were that conventional wisdom to be followed, but I can assure you there's nothing I'd love more than City to bring someone through rather than pay £50m for them. I'd be happy enough in this instance for Meffeo to be tested out in the Premier League on a carefully chosen basis, but what I'd be decidedly less comfortable about is a situation whereby Walker (or whomever we buy) gets injured and a 19 year old kid, with the grand total of 3 first team appearances to his name, is our only back up. It'll be interesting to see which way Pep goes....
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He's not our only back up though. Fernandinho can play there, and he'll be on the bench a lot as Yaya is clearly the preferred single pivot and Gundogan will probably end up there.

Plus we can easily go 3 at the back, it's a formation I think everyone expects to see more next season and one which Pep will probably be experimenting with even if Walker stays fit.
 
blueparrot said:
Not a medical person but isnt cruciate ligament in the knee, his injury was ankle ligament wasn't it ? There was talk he could have started before the end of the season but there was no point risking him.
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He damaged a ligament in the sole of his foot mate. Was a routine op apparently, just with it being in such a tricky place takes a while to heal.
 
Neville Kneville said:
We did actually sign Mangala & Otamendi, after Savic & Nastasic.

Van Dijk was no gamble compared to those. Imo Denayer was one of the best kids in europe at that time & the two together were wrapped up like a Christmas present for us. A genuine cb pairing who improved each other's game when together.

I can understand one or two clubs being wary of VVD as he was a bit reckless (but Bobby Moore compared to Otamendi) but in our situation, playing next to our own kid (who had half the top clubs in europe sniffing) it was negligence imo.
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I'm not sure who you're blaming here, can you be more specific?
 
Neville Kneville said:
We did actually sign Mangala & Otamendi, after Savic & Nastasic.

Van Dijk was no gamble compared to those. Imo Denayer was one of the best kids in europe at that time & the two together were wrapped up like a Christmas present for us. A genuine cb pairing who improved each other's game when together.

I can understand one or two clubs being wary of VVD as he was a bit reckless (but Bobby Moore compared to Otamendi) but in our situation, playing next to our own kid (who had half the top clubs in europe sniffing) it was negligence imo.
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He was one of the best prospects in the City youth set up IMO. "One of the best kids in Europe" is stretching it massively though. He wasn't even close
 
minnesota blue said:
Made his debut for a very good Belgian team at age 19. He was trending the right way two years ago...
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All about opinions. Mine is that he wasn't good enough for us then and he isn't good enough for us now. And at some point on this board responsibility for a player's failure to develop to the initially anticipated level, needs to be lain at doors other than City's IMO.
 
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