Koulibaly will only be 29 when Laporte, Cancelo and Mendy are 26. He's 3 years older, it's really not a big deal.
He could play next to them for the next 4/5 seasons easily, and that's long term in football these days.
Plenty of chance to shift a foreign spot in Jan, plus of course we can just leave someone out of the 17 if necessary.
If Koulibaly is gettable, and De Laurentis talks reality money, then I hope to god we get the deal done.
Wow, Cancelo and Laporte have exactly the same birthday? Thats kind of amazing.
Sort of took the air out with that one.Have you heard of the birthday problem?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem
In a group of 23 people, the chances of 2 people sharing the same birthday is 50%. For a football squad of 30 players it's about 60%.
That doesnt account for years, but given our squad is only going to be made up of 18-35 year olds, it's a restricted range, so I would estimate there's about a 3.5% chance of 2 people having the same birthday and same year.
Sort of took the air out with that one.
Although I think he is an absolute beast, I struggle to see we would pay these kind of money and for a soon-to-be 29 year old. It's not the kind of business we do. I know the age is not much, he could be fit for another 3-5 years. But one of the best CBs in the last decade (Sergio Ramos) is 33 today and has been on decline the past two years. So I wouldn't assume Koulibaly to stay at the top level another five years.
I would be super happy if he came, obviously, but I think Skriniar could be an even better option. 4 years younger (24), tall as Koulibaly, and he is definitely top quality.
We'll see what happens but there are only two January options really: Skriniar and this guy. Ruben Dias is taking a risk, and we don't want another John Stones. Nathan Ake, I pray we don't buy him.
This team has been without a dynamic true defensive presence for years. We have gotten by but it has been a weak point from the full backs to center backs. Our offense has made up for our shortcomings. Mangala was a bust, Stones was a hopeful signing but simply is not making the grade. Otamendi has had good showings and honestly I've liked him but he is not reliable and his mistakes have been disastrous. Laporte is clearly our best defensive get in recent memory and will pay dividends moving forward but he needs a competent presence next to him. We can't hope for Garcia or THB to be ready anytime soon as they won't be. We can't gamble on prospects who might be the next big name. If we have the chance to purchase a bonafide CB now who will be at that level for 3 to 5 years we should put the money on the table. We see the consequences of not covering for Kompany's departure and he was well past being first choice when he moved on.Yep. It's hard to come by centre halves these days but he isn't the only one out there either.
We don't need to panic, our calm and decisive transfer strategy works, despite our current season - no need to do away with it because of the flaps of a few supporters. Laporte coming back will ease it quite a bit me thinks.
This team has been without a dynamic true defensive presence for years. We have gotten by but it has been a weak point from the full backs to center backs. Our offense has made up for our shortcomings. Mangala was a bust, Stones was a hopeful signing but simply is not making the grade. Otamendi has had good showings and honestly I've liked him but he is not reliable and his mistakes have been disastrous. Laporte is clearly our best defensive get in recent memory and will pay dividends moving forward but he needs a competent presence next to him. We can't hope for Garcia or THB to be ready anytime soon as they won't be. We can't gamble on prospects who might be the next big name. If we have the chance to purchase a bonafide CB now who will be at that level for 3 to 5 years we should put the money on the table. We see the consequences of not covering for Kompany's departure and he was well past being first choice when he moved on.
If we settle, we'll pay the price.