It’s been opened 12 days and we’ve signed two. We cannot get Aouar now until the week starting August 16th, assuming we win next Saturday, and Koulibaly will likely be dependent on tonight’s result.
Serie A is slated to begin on September 19th, so the week after us, but Ligue 1 is due to start much earlier, August 21st.
If all goes well, we could announce Ait-Nouri this coming week and Aouar/Koulibaly in the fortnight after, but as I say, results and promised ‘holiday time’ might have an impact on when they come. It might also be a bit unseemly to announce we’ve signed Aouar days after eliminating his team, hopefully, so we may have to wait.
Are we really after Ait-Nouri and Aouar? Not convinced myself.
Have there been any genuine links to us signing this kid?
I’d love it to be true as he looks like a very good prospect in a position we need filling, but at the moment there seems little more to this than pure speculation on here.
If all goes well, we could announce Ait-Nouri this coming week and Aouar/Koulibaly in the fortnight after, but as I say, results and promised ‘holiday time’ might have an impact on when they come. It might also be a bit unseemly to announce we’ve signed Aouar days after eliminating his team, hopefully, so we may have to wait.
What constitutes ‘a genuine link’? :-)
I posted links from France on his specific thread, which acknowledged that a host of English clubs are interested in him. However, he only came to England for one day and visited only us and that lot; in the current climate, you would visit all truly interested clubs in one trip, I’d imagine. A few days later, after his visit, that lot quietly extended the contract of their own young fullback, who already had years on his contract. Angers know he is leaving and have already signed his replacement, which suggests they’re convinced they’re getting the payment. We’re currently on solution six to cover Mendy and don’t have an academy solution of his calibration or age; similarly, we haven’t been mentioned with anyone else, other than the ridiculously overpriced Chilwell.
My logic tells me that there’s more to this than speculation and that we’ll sign him, but time will tell.
Don't know much about Ait-Nouri. But i'm really hoping we sign Aouar (as well as Koulibaly). The lad is a special midfielder. The more i watch clips of him. The more i think he could play all the positions Gundogan has played for us. As a Pivot or the "8" position.
That said, you do realise that we have Zinchenko/Otamendi/Stones that we want/need to sell, to make space?
For me, Aouar will play the Silva role. They’re both incredibly clever at playing between increasingly tightening lines and neither gives the ball away. De Bruyne and Foden need more space and Gundogan needs the chessboard in front of him.
Zinchenko might stay another season (or Napoli/Everton-Ancelotti fancied him when at Naples), Otamendi will likely go to Valencia (has to be a reason Torres was so cheap), and Stones should land in London (Arsenal with Arteta). All guesses. We’re going to be taking hits, undoubtedly, but that’s the price of a comparatively poor season, to date. Sound plausible?
Think Zinchenko/Mendy has to go if we want another LB. And Otamendi has to make way for Koulibaly. Another midfielder/Forward can take Silvas position.
But i don't see anything close. And i think we have to have a deal in place for these players before we sign their replacements.
Thanks mate - hadn’t spotted the links, so this sounds more promising than I understood.
My understanding was that Ake has been brought in both as back up to Laporte and as rotation with Mendy, so we probably wouldn’t be looking at another this year.