Eliaquim Mangala

[TrueBlue1705]

We'll get him in the Summer for half the price; it's not a realistic valuation.

With Chelsea, Man Utd, PSG, Monaco and Barca all supposedly interested I doubt we'll get him cheaper in the summer. It's an exercise in beating the other top teams in the world to one of the most sought after young players ......

 

[J3SUS]

Could he possibly be turned into a ball winning mid this team is crying out for?

Having his physical presence infront of the back four constantly to plug the hole and break up play , It wouldnt require hollywood passing ability as people like silva like the ball at their feet and ferna and yaya are very adept at carrying the ball to the forwards.
It could work as it wouldnt remove him from his comfort zone too much but he is young and adaptable.

 

[BigOscar]

Could he possibly be turned into a ball winning mid this team is crying out for?

Having his physical presence infront of the back four constantly to plug the hole and break up play , It wouldnt require hollywood passing ability as people like silva like the ball at their feet and ferna and yaya are very adept at carrying the ball to the forwards.
It could work as it wouldnt remove him from his comfort zone too much but he is young and adaptable.

I can't see any sense in even trying that tbh. Limited ball winning midfielders are dirt cheap, so I can't see why on earth we'd buy the most expensive CB in world football to bodge him there, especially as we could really do with him at CB instead

 

[J3SUS]

Could he possibly be turned into a ball winning mid this team is crying out for?

Having his physical presence infront of the back four constantly to plug the hole and break up play , It wouldnt require hollywood passing ability as people like silva like the ball at their feet and ferna and yaya are very adept at carrying the ball to the forwards.
It could work as it wouldnt remove him from his comfort zone too much but he is young and adaptable.

I can't see any sense in even trying that tbh. Limited ball winning midfielders are dirt cheap, so I can't see why on earth we'd buy the most expensive CB in world football to bodge him there, especially as we could really do with him at CB instead

Imo there are few players that have the combined physicality and devensive skill of Mangala and with the way the team is set up dedicated protection for the back four would dramatically reduce the amount of goals conceded.

 

[CAPTAINKIPPAX]

With such a highly regarded list of possible suitors for his signature it's obvious he's a bit special and the centre half position is an area of concern to us, it's obvious also with so many big clubs after him that his fee is never going to drop only increase so it really comes down to whether the kid is motivated by future success or the filthy lucre because basically to me a club with unlimited resources, still in the running for 4 trophies and full of world class players should put us in pole position for his signature..............or am I missing something ?

 

[Big Dave Watson]

With such a highly regarded list of possible suitors for his signature it's obvious he's a bit special and the centre half position is an area of concern to us, it's obvious also with so many big clubs after him that his fee is never going to drop only increase so it really comes down to whether the kid is motivated by future success or the filthy lucre because basically to me a club with unlimited resources, still in the running for 4 trophies and full of world class players should put us in pole position for his signature..............or am I missing something ?

Yes. You are missing the fact that nobody was ever going to be coming in during this window. We don't seem to have learned lessons from the summer after the title win about 'not standing still' even from a position of strength.

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

With such a highly regarded list of possible suitors for his signature it's obvious he's a bit special and the centre half position is an area of concern to us, it's obvious also with so many big clubs after him that his fee is never going to drop only increase so it really comes down to whether the kid is motivated by future success or the filthy lucre because basically to me a club with unlimited resources, still in the running for 4 trophies and full of world class players should put us in pole position for his signature..............or am I missing something ?

Yes. You are missing the fact that nobody was ever going to be coming in during this window. We don't seem to have learned lessons from the summer after the title win about 'not standing still' even from a position of strength.

Not learned lesson? - cant agree with that. The main point is that we will acquire a certain level of players this summer and not January - the main issue being that the best players are usually cup tied for the champs league, and with it also being a WC year the best players do not want to be moving clubs mid-season in case their form dips and they will leave themselves not being picked for the respective countries

I very much doubt it that Txiki, Feran and Pellers will not have already sounded out who they want to bring in come the summer

 

[Big Dave Watson]

With such a highly regarded list of possible suitors for his signature it's obvious he's a bit special and the centre half position is an area of concern to us, it's obvious also with so many big clubs after him that his fee is never going to drop only increase so it really comes down to whether the kid is motivated by future success or the filthy lucre because basically to me a club with unlimited resources, still in the running for 4 trophies and full of world class players should put us in pole position for his signature..............or am I missing something ?

Yes. You are missing the fact that nobody was ever going to be coming in during this window. We don't seem to have learned lessons from the summer after the title win about 'not standing still' even from a position of strength.

Not learned lesson? - cant agree with that. The main point is that we will acquire a certain level of players this summer and not January - the main issue being that the best players are usually cup tied for the champs league, and with it also being a WC year the best players do not want to be moving clubs mid-season in case their form dips and they will leave themselves not being picked for the respective countries

I very much doubt it that Txiki, Feran and Pellers will not have already sounded out who they want to bring in come the summer

Normally would agree about the waiting till summer bit but worst case scenario we could get to summer empty handed after a promising season if we lose certain key players to injury. If we lose players like Yaya, Fernandinho, Zabaleta or Kompany at key moments we are struggling for cover, just look at yesterday's first half when 3 of them weren't in the team. Mourinho has identified that he needs an extra DM and has acted on it with Matic now while Chelsea are in a position of strength. If you could guarantee that we wouldn't lose any of the 4 key players I have mentioned between now and the end of the season I wouldn't be concerned but add potential injuries to Rodwell, Jovetic and perma crock Richards and we could be very light at key points. Who's to say also that Nasri will make a full recovery? All I am saying is that a CB and DM in this window would make perfect sense given the position we now find ourselves in with everything still to play for.

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

Yes. You are missing the fact that nobody was ever going to be coming in during this window. We don't seem to have learned lessons from the summer after the title win about 'not standing still' even from a position of strength.

Not learned lesson? - cant agree with that. The main point is that we will acquire a certain level of players this summer and not January - the main issue being that the best players are usually cup tied for the champs league, and with it also being a WC year the best players do not want to be moving clubs mid-season in case their form dips and they will leave themselves not being picked for the respective countries

I very much doubt it that Txiki, Feran and Pellers will not have already sounded out who they want to bring in come the summer

Normally would agree about the waiting till summer bit but worst case scenario we could get to summer empty handed after a promising season if we lose certain key players to injury. If we lose players like Yaya, Fernandinho, Zabaleta or Kompany at key moments we are struggling for cover, just look at yesterday's first half when 3 of them weren't in the team. Mourinho has identified that he needs an extra DM and has acted on it with Matic now while Chelsea are in a position of strength. If you could guarantee that we wouldn't lose any of the 4 key players I have mentioned between now and the end of the season I wouldn't be concerned but add potential injuries to Rodwell, Jovetic and perma crock Richards and we could be very light at key points. Who's to say also that Nasri will make a full recovery? All I am saying is that a CB and DM in this window would make perfect sense given the position we now find ourselves in with everything still to play for.

can understand your oint, the only issue again is that the players required to come in at the level we need would more than likely want to wait until the summer for a move because of the WC. The exception being mata to old toilet because he needs to start playing week in week out to get a chance of making Spain's WC squad.

I would rather us wait till the summer to get the targets we actually want rather than having to bring in someone on a whim - that said if we could get matuidi/mangala etc then of course it would be fantastic

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Yes. You are missing the fact that nobody was ever going to be coming in during this window. We don't seem to have learned lessons from the summer after the title win about 'not standing still' even from a position of strength.

Not learned lesson? - cant agree with that. The main point is that we will acquire a certain level of players this summer and not January - the main issue being that the best players are usually cup tied for the champs league, and with it also being a WC year the best players do not want to be moving clubs mid-season in case their form dips and they will leave themselves not being picked for the respective countries

I very much doubt it that Txiki, Feran and Pellers will not have already sounded out who they want to bring in come the summer

Normally would agree about the waiting till summer bit but worst case scenario we could get to summer empty handed after a promising season if we lose certain key players to injury. If we lose players like Yaya, Fernandinho, Zabaleta or Kompany at key moments we are struggling for cover, just look at yesterday's first half when 3 of them weren't in the team. Mourinho has identified that he needs an extra DM and has acted on it with Matic now while Chelsea are in a position of strength. If you could guarantee that we wouldn't lose any of the 4 key players I have mentioned between now and the end of the season I wouldn't be concerned but add potential injuries to Rodwell, Jovetic and perma crock Richards and we could be very light at key points. Who's to say also that Nasri will make a full recovery? All I am saying is that a CB and DM in this window would make perfect sense given the position we now find ourselves in with everything still to play for.

I think we'll end up buying better players than Matic, and I'd rather wait to sign world class players than just very good ones.

That being said we built the foundations last summer, now I want us to go out and blow everyone out of the water with 3/4 world class signings that will just leave everyone reeling.