Kalidou Koulibaly

Besides kicking down Messi last night, he did he do? I only saw bits and pieces but I think he looked good.

He went roaming in midfield sometimes, Otamendi style & his passing was sometimes shit. He was cruising a bit at times & then folks who don't want him added a load of other stuff on, to make it appear worse.
 
I’d love to know what Laporte makes of KK. We need Aymeric to be more free to be involved in offensive play and not covering his new CB partner’s mistakes.
Sorry to add to those who see more ‘Mangala’ than ‘Vinny’ in KK. I hope my fears are proved wrong if we make this £++ signing. In Txiki and Pep I trust.
 
He went roaming in midfield sometimes, Otamendi style & his passing was sometimes shit. He was cruising a bit at times & then folks who don't want him added a load of other stuff on, to make it appear worse.

My biggest concern from last night's game was his tendency to go walkabout but that should be easily managed.

The worst thing he did IMO was make a very poor unforced error to concede a corner but that was a product of a right footed player playing left sided CB; if City buy him, he'll play on his natural side.

Whilst he was at fault on the penalty incident for getting caught on the ball, I thought the decision to award a penalty was a joke - many will disagree - because he was in possession of the ball had his eyes on it and was simply trying to lamp it, the connection with Messi, who tried to knick the ball, was entirely unintentional and unavoidable in that instance. Whether Messi actually made contact with the ball, I'm not sure. I'd be livid if city had had a pen awarded against them in similar circumstances.

I've not seen lot of KK but I've seen him have good games. He did some good work last night but you don't judge a player on one of just a few games and City will have done their homework.

The question that City need to make the right call on is whether or not this is a player who is in decline? Those who have seen more of him seem to think his form has dipped but at 29 years of age, he should not have peaked as a CB yet.

If City buy him, I'll judge him on what he does for us and I'll give him time to settle in before rushing to any judgement. I also won't care a fig what we pay for him so long as it does not prevent us doing other business that we want. HHSM can worry about the cost.
 
He went roaming in midfield sometimes, Otamendi style & his passing was sometimes shit. He was cruising a bit at times & then folks who don't want him added a load of other stuff on, to make it appear worse.

I've never seen a centre back charge down the opposition goalkeeper before, I'll give him that!

We need someone who brings a calming influence to the defence. Koulibaly looked out of form, erratic and low on confidence last night.

If the club decide he's the best player to partner Laporte then obviously he gets full support and hopefully he'll be a great signing. He's vastly experienced and very highly rated, but at this point there are a few question marks about him and when you're talking about a £65 mill plus player that doesn't inspire confidence. I think people are entitled to be a bit concerned about that.
 
I’m starting to have second thoughts on this. Koulibaly was one of the best defenders in the world up to a season or two ago. Incredibly consistent and hardly made a mistake. But this last season has been very different. Given his age, it’s entirely possible that he is now on the decline. Reminds me of Sanchez, where most of us chose to ignore the early warning signs.

I don’t think we can afford another colossal mistake in this position. I’m now leading towards Soyuncu, given that he is somewhat proven in the league and has the pace that we desperately need. There is definitely still considerable risk, but at least he doesn’t have age going against him. Leicester will ask for a lot of money, but I don’t think that will be a barrier for us.
 
My only concern is his age, at 29 I don’t really know if I want to spend 90 million on a player at that age
 
My only concern is his age, at 29 I don’t really know if I want to spend 90 million on a player at that age

Can only presume you are calculating in US dollars, but even if you are, I think you’re overestimating how much we’d be willing to pay.
 
KK has been a target for us for a couple of years now so I think the research has been done and dusted. City would know whether this is a flash in a pan or a constant decline. If it is the former it does come down to the reasonable fees now. I do hope City give a deadline to Napoli for this business to conclude like the one Dortmund gave to rags. 10 Aug "You in or Out"
 

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