João Palhinha

[Blue_Lightsaber]

We just need to strengthen the gene pool of our squad, as I just don't think Nunes, Kova & Philips are what we need to maintain last season's level.

Kova for Gundo: obvious downgrade
Doku for Mahrez: ??
Gvardiol for Laporte: ??
Nunes for Cancelo: since Cancelo averaged 5.5 assists and 20 defensive gaffes a season.. I'm not sure where this will end up.

Younger but I think the one thing really hurting us is shooting ourselves in the foot and also no one can cover for Rodri. Last year Kalvin didn't haunt us other than the Carabao Cup as Gundo covered there, but this year we have no one.

Desperately need a DM.

 

[blueparrot]

Kova for Gundo: obvious downgrade
Doku for Mahrez: ??
Gvardiol for Laporte: ??
Nunes for Cancelo: since Cancelo averaged 5.5 assists and 20 defensive gaffes a season.. I'm not sure where this will end up.

Younger but I think the one thing really hurting us is shooting ourselves in the foot and also no one can cover for Rodri. Last year Kalvin didn't haunt us other than the Carabao Cup as Gundo covered there, but this year we have no one.

Desperately need a DM.

Everybody knows that but the the difficult bit is who ? Put it this way pre Rodri/ Fern the best Pep style DM in football was Busquets, who did barcelona ever find to back him up ? Who would sign for Barcelona knowing their job was Busquets understudy. From memory they never found anyone that could play instead of Busquets without a big drop in quality, still haven’t.
That is exactly our our problem trying to find and get the right player.

 

[Dribble]

Kova for Gundo: obvious downgrade
Doku for Mahrez: ??
Gvardiol for Laporte: ??
Nunes for Cancelo: since Cancelo averaged 5.5 assists and 20 defensive gaffes a season.. I'm not sure where this will end up.

Younger but I think the one thing really hurting us is shooting ourselves in the foot and also no one can cover for Rodri. Last year Kalvin didn't haunt us other than the Carabao Cup as Gundo covered there, but this year we have no one.

Desperately need a DM.

Apparently Doku was on our radar before Mahrez left for Saudi.

Gvardiol for Laporte? I think we got Eric's best years, & Gvardiol is still young & yet to feature much in his best position.

Aside from the Portuguese connection, Cancelo & Nunes play in different positions, so I don't get the comparison. I saw nothing of Nunes at Sporting or Wolves to suggest he's what we needed, & since he's arrived he's still shown me nothing.

He was a panic buy after we dropped out of the Paqueta deal & failed with an 11th hour bid for Ezé. Both would be a huge upgrade on Nunes imo.

As for CDM, we're apparently showing interest in André & Pahlinha. I'd prefer André, but wouldn't say no to Pahlinha. However, I can only see 22 year old Andre's stock rising further.

His style of play is so mature for one so young, it's unbelievable. I'll be seriously gutted if we don't get him.

 

[Silva2021]

Apparently Doku was on our radar before Mahrez left for Saudi.

Gvardiol for Laporte? I think we got Eric's best years, & Gvardiol is still young & yet to feature much in his best position.

Aside from the Portuguese connection, Cancelo & Nunes play in different positions, so I don't get the comparison. I saw nothing of Nunes at Sporting or Wolves to suggest he's what we needed, & since he's arrived he's still shown me nothing.

He was a panic buy after we dropped out of the Paqueta deal & failed with an 11th hour bid for Ezé. Both would be a huge upgrade on Nunes imo.

As for CDM, we're apparently showing interest in André & Pahlinha. I'd prefer André, but wouldn't say no to Pahlinha. However, I can only see 22 year old Andre's stock rising further.

His style of play is so mature for one so young, it's unbelievable. I'll be seriously gutted if we don't get him.

That is exactly what we need in Andre, one of those signings where most have not heard, they come in at a young age and look absolute quality for a fairly modest fee.

Not seen Andre to know he’s the one but would be ideal if he was.

 

[Dribble]

That is exactly what we need in Andre, one of those signings where most have not heard, they come in at a young age and look absolute quality for a fairly modest fee.

Not seen Andre to know he’s the one but would be ideal if he was.

I hadn't heard of André until last week, but I've been blown away by him in that short space of time.

On seeing him, my immediate thoughts were "Fernandinho" & "The player we thought we were getting with Philips". If André is like this age 22, imagine him in 3-4 years time under Pep's tutelage in the Premier League & Champions League?

If we can hopefully progress to the CWC final on Friday, we'll see exactly what Andre's about against our level of opposition.

He was first on several metrics yesterday like turnovers & blocks etc, but he also made two outrageous blind flicks which were either incredibly good, or plain ole lucky.

Either way the flicks & tricks came off, relieving the attacking pressure on Fluminense & setting up attacks of their own in one movement. He also kept things effective & simple, staying in position like a defensive shield.

In my opinion the likes of Fernandinho, Kompany, Yaya, Aguero, David Silva, KDB, Bernardo, Walker, & Akanji are the best pound for pound buys City have ever made. At only £30m, this kid has the potential to be a modern day Akanji-like steal for us.

https://thehardtackle.com/transfer-news/2023/12/17/manchester-city-enter-andre-trindade-chase/

 

[Keeper!]

Kova for Gundo: obvious downgrade
Doku for Mahrez: ??
Gvardiol for Laporte: ??
Nunes for Cancelo: since Cancelo averaged 5.5 assists and 20 defensive gaffes a season.. I'm not sure where this will end up.

Younger but I think the one thing really hurting us is shooting ourselves in the foot and also no one can cover for Rodri. Last year Kalvin didn't haunt us other than the Carabao Cup as Gundo covered there, but this year we have no one.

Desperately need a DM.

We need at least one more top class central midfield player and probably 2 if Phillips finally leaves.

 

[richards30]

View attachment 101759

I hadn't heard of André until last week, but I've been blown away by him in that short space of time.

On seeing him, my immediate thoughts were "Fernandinho" & "The player we thought we were getting with Philips". If André is like this age 22, imagine him in 3-4 years time under Pep's tutelage in the Premier League & Champions League?

If we can hopefully progress to the CWC final on Friday, we'll see exactly what Andre's about against our level of opposition.

He was first on several metrics yesterday like turnovers & blocks etc, but he also made two outrageous blind flicks which were either incredibly good, or plain ole lucky.

Either way the flicks & tricks came off, relieving the attacking pressure on Fluminense & setting up attacks of their own in one movement. He also kept things effective & simple, staying in position like a defensive shield.

In my opinion the likes of Fernandinho, Kompany, Yaya, Aguero, David Silva, KDB, Bernardo, Walker, & Akanji are the best pound for pound buys City have ever made. At only £30m, this kid has the potential to be a modern day Akanji-like steal for us.

https://thehardtackle.com/transfer-news/2023/12/17/manchester-city-enter-andre-trindade-chase/

yeah i was impressed by him mate and like you say at 22 would be perfect to bring in and work with Pep and Rodri now and at £30m is a no brainer imo.

 

[Vester]

In my opinion Palhinha has undoubtedly been class in PL since he joined from Sporting. Signing Palhinha would mean we with him and Rodri have the DM position sorted for the next 5 or so years, which is a long time in football. He might be 28, but Fernandinho was the same age when we signed him and he lasted almost a decade. I also believe DM is probably the most important and hardest position to play in our system, evident by the fact that our win rate drop drastically every time anyone but Rodri play in that position. I'm all for signing 21-23 year olds, but if there is any position I think the experienced option might be the better one, its DM.

If its between Palhinha and Andre, I would consider Palhinha as the safe option and Andre as the riskier option with more upside. Personally, I'm more confident in that Palhinha is ready to contribute from day 1 in comparison to Andre. I also think the team desperately needs a midfielder that's ready to contribute from day 1, which would make Palhinha my preferred option of the two. With that said, I'm not against signing Andre at all and if Txiki is convinced Andre is as good (or better) as Palhinha right now, I would happily see him in our beautiful colors as well.

 

[Haaland94]

Judging by the Andre to Fulham reports, Palhinha it is? This calls for a mandatory YT video :).



I am all for it. He must know Nunes very well since they played in the Sporting midfield for 3 years together, and of course, Bernardo and Ruben from the national team. If we go for him, it would mean he came highly recommended.
Who knows, maybe strengthening our Portuguese contingent with the recent addition of Nunes and (hopefully) a future addition of Palhinha will convince Bernardo to see out his new contract with us :). Finally, we lost a Joao, so time to replace him ;).

 

[richards30]

Judging by the Andre to Fulham reports, Palhinha it is? This calls for a mandatory YT video :).



I am all for it. He must know Nunes very well since they played in the Sporting midfield for 3 years together, and of course, Bernardo and Ruben from the national team. If we go for him, it would mean he came highly recommended.
Who knows, maybe strengthening our Portuguese contingent with the recent addition of Nunes and (hopefully) a future addition of Palhinha will convince Bernardo to see out his new contract with us :). Finally, we lost a Joao, so time to replace him ;).

If not Andre and he goes to Fulham then surely like you say its Palhinha for us?