Eliaquim Mangala - now official

[Plain Speaking]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

Deal might have already been done with us but held fire until Porto have found a replacement so they don't get rinsed by the club their buying from

It was announced some days ago City had reached agreement with Porto, but no agreement with Mangala. It appears we have been waiting for his preference for a while?

'Appears'

We dont know anything, and most journalists know less than that

My take was that we had agreed it when we agreed the Fernando deal, explaining why we only paid 12m for Fernando as we were paying more for Mangala because of his 3rd party ownership

There are often leaks in any transfer, because so many parties are involved. Agreed there is no certainty.
It was unlikely Mangala's camp would not agree to a double deal with Fernando because Mangala fee was likely to be under valued.

 

[jollylescott]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

I notice that Simon Mullock (who is a blue) made the valid point on twitter that it must be concerning that Mangala was behind Sakho in the French defence pecking order.

I still think the better bet is Benatia, who I think is a more polished and mature defender. Mangala strikes me as a rough diamond, and if we are challenging for the Champions League this season then I think Benatia is the safer bet.

 

[nmc]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

Isn't this more or less the same as what we heard weeks ago, with Martins Indi's name instead of Bruno Alves? Can't figure out whether Mullock is just putting 2 and 2 together or actually knows something.

Mullock is a blue and is reasonably well connected - so this might be positive.

 

[supercity88]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

I think the Mangala transfer makes more sense considering he is left sided. I know that Benatia can use both feet but when you are making a last ditch tackle, instinct takes over and you need your leading foot to be suited to the side you are playing. Mangala has the potential to be a fantastic player. As we are right now Benatia is miles ahead of him but we need to be taking a punt on young players considering our limits on transfer expenditure. Benatia's price would only go down following his arrival at City, Mangala can be a very valuable asset for us and his physique is suited to the prem.

 

[LoveCity]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

I still think the better bet is Benatia, who I think is a more polished and mature defender. Mangala strikes me as a rough diamond, and if we are challenging for the Champions League this season then I think Benatia is the safer bet.

But if you don't buy the diamonds when they're rough, another top club gets them, polishes the diamond, and doesn't let go of them.

Pepe, Ramos and Ferdinand are examples of young defenders who were signed for HUGE fees and weren't the finished product. Pepe had a dodgy start but (incidents aside) has turned out a great value for money signing for them. Ramos was one of the most expensive teens ever when Real signed him but again, great investment even though he wasn't perfect when they bought him. I'm sure there are other examples and also examples of failures... but that's hopefully where having good scouts minimizes the risk of that.

I'd be happy to see City invest heavily in a younger player. The majority of our signings lately have been top internationals or players in their prime. City made efforts to sign Isco, Gotze, Neymar and Sanchez, all ending in failure. In the big picture we need promising young players (even if they cost a fortune) to assume leadership roles when our main players slow down or retire. That includes hopefully producing our own like Lopes, but most academies don't pump out world class young talents one after another so you also have to pay for them.

If we don't start to lower the average of our squad with some of the best young players from other clubs or our own academy, the likes of Chelsea will leave us far behind in 5 or so years.

 

[chris85mcfc]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

I still think the better bet is Benatia, who I think is a more polished and mature defender. Mangala strikes me as a rough diamond, and if we are challenging for the Champions League this season then I think Benatia is the safer bet.

But if you don't buy the diamonds when they're rough, another top club gets them, polishes the diamond, and doesn't let go of them.

Pepe, Ramos and Ferdinand are two examples of young defenders who were signed for HUGE fees and weren't the finished product. Pepe had a dodgy start but (incidents aside) has turned out a great value for money signing for them. Ramos was one of the most expensive teens ever when Real signed him but again, great investment even though he wasn't perfect when they bought him. I'm sure there are other examples and also examples of failures... but that's hopefully where having good scouts minimizes the risk of that.

I'd be happy to see City invest heavily in a younger player. The majority of our signings have been top internationals or players in their prime. City made efforts to sign Isco, Gotze, Neymar and Sanchez, all ending in failure. In the big picture we need promising young players (even if they cost a fortune) to assume leadership roles when our main players slow down or retire. That includes hopefully producing our own like Lopes, but most academies don't pump out world class young talents one after another so you also have to pay for them.

It's no different to the rags signing Shaw, their all banging on about how he could be there for 10 years and they will get good use out of the money spent

Theres no reason why Mangala couldn't be the same with us

I'm not reading too much into him not starting ahead of Sakho, certainly not after Del bosque didn't take Negredo and Navas to the WC but found room for Torres and Mata

 

[razman]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

well...trusting Txiki that is all

 

[jollylescott]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

I still think the better bet is Benatia, who I think is a more polished and mature defender. Mangala strikes me as a rough diamond, and if we are challenging for the Champions League this season then I think Benatia is the safer bet.

But if you don't buy the diamonds when they're rough, another top club gets them, polishes the diamond, and doesn't let go of them.

Pepe, Ramos and Ferdinand are two examples of young defenders who were signed for HUGE fees and weren't the finished product. Pepe had a dodgy start but (incidents aside) has turned out a great value for money signing for them. Ramos was one of the most expensive teens ever when Real signed him but again, great investment even though he wasn't perfect when they bought him. I'm sure there are other examples and also examples of failures... but that's hopefully where having good scouts minimizes the risk of that.

I'd be happy to see City invest heavily in a younger player. The majority of our signings have been top internationals or players in their prime. City made efforts to sign Isco, Gotze, Neymar and Sanchez, all ending in failure. In the big picture we need promising young players (even if they cost a fortune) to assume leadership roles when our main players slow down or retire. That includes hopefully producing our own like Lopes, but most academies don't pump out world class young talents one after another so you also have to pay for them.

It's no different to the rags signing Shaw, their all banging on about how he could be there for 10 years and they will get good use out of the money spent

Theres no reason why Mangala couldn't be the same with us

I'm not reading too much into him not starting ahead of Sakho, certainly not after Del bosque didn't take Negredo and Navas to the WC but found room for Torres and Mata

I guess my logic was that Benatia has just turned 27, and therefore probably has a good five years as a top line defender.

I was thinking of our own defenders coming through the system, in particular Rekik and Jason Denayer, who is an outstanding prospect. In five years time Rekik will be 24 and Denayer 23.
My argument is that we have our own rough diamonds in those two (as well as Facey), so we can develop those three while Benatia is still a top defender. By buying Benatia it also maximises our short term Champions League prospects.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

Porto have just signed a winger,Adrian,for 15m Euro.I doubt they would spend the entire Fernando money on one player,unless they have a fair bit more to play with......?

 

[chris85mcfc]

Re: Eliaquim Mangala

But if you don't buy the diamonds when they're rough, another top club gets them, polishes the diamond, and doesn't let go of them.

Pepe, Ramos and Ferdinand are two examples of young defenders who were signed for HUGE fees and weren't the finished product. Pepe had a dodgy start but (incidents aside) has turned out a great value for money signing for them. Ramos was one of the most expensive teens ever when Real signed him but again, great investment even though he wasn't perfect when they bought him. I'm sure there are other examples and also examples of failures... but that's hopefully where having good scouts minimizes the risk of that.

I'd be happy to see City invest heavily in a younger player. The majority of our signings have been top internationals or players in their prime. City made efforts to sign Isco, Gotze, Neymar and Sanchez, all ending in failure. In the big picture we need promising young players (even if they cost a fortune) to assume leadership roles when our main players slow down or retire. That includes hopefully producing our own like Lopes, but most academies don't pump out world class young talents one after another so you also have to pay for them.

It's no different to the rags signing Shaw, their all banging on about how he could be there for 10 years and they will get good use out of the money spent

Theres no reason why Mangala couldn't be the same with us

I'm not reading too much into him not starting ahead of Sakho, certainly not after Del bosque didn't take Negredo and Navas to the WC but found room for Torres and Mata

I guess my logic was that Benatia has just turned 27, and therefore probably has a good five years as a top line defender.

I was thinking of our own defenders coming through the system, in particular Rekik and Jason Denayer, who is an outstanding prospect. In five years time Rekik will be 24 and Denayer 23.
My argument is that we have our own rough diamonds in those two (as well as Facey), so we can develop those three while Benatia is still a top defender. By buying Benatia it also maximises our short term Champions League prospects.

Aside from the fact that Benatia has to go to the AFCON, i think you are right

I would much rather sign Benatia but im just trying to find some light in the signing of Mangala and unearthing some positives

Having said that if you look at it from Denayer point of view, there is the option for him to replace Demichelis in the squad as im pretty sure he is right footed? So in a couple of years we could have Kompany and Mangala as our main 2, with Denayer, Nastasic/Rekik (think one will be sold eventually) to choose from as back ups