Surely Koulibaly would have something to prove as our record signing, and having only ever won one Coppa Italia. Doubt he’d just be here for one last payday.
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Kalidou Koulibaly
- Thread starter Matt Diablo
- Start date
We tried he choose Liverpool..Realistically we should of stumped up the money for Van Dijk but that's in the past. Koulibaly will improve us give the lad a chance. We let Savic go too when we should of kept him too.
Fair enough, but let's be honest, if going for a defender like Koulibaly goes wrong as well then we're just cursed in buying defenders who either turn shite or are injury prone.You're talking £20m plus a season for five years, that's a huge gamble considering there's no contingency plan if it doesn't work out. No one else is going to pay his wages to move on, so you're potentially stuck with a player (because of his age) for a long time, just look at Arsenal with Mesut Ozil. He's 31 on big wages and no one wants to touch him despite his unquestioned ability to be a match winner on his day. If Koulibaly fails at City, you're in the same boat.
All these fancy names that aren't on market like Upamecano or Koundé are too young and have had 1 or 2 good seasons with little experience, signing them could be an equal mess (do get value for them moving on, but a failure would be useless and their value recouped would mean nothing in the bigger picture). There has to come a time where the club changes policy to sign an experienced player who would not only help the backline but potentially be a leader. We have a fairly young squad in general, barely any players who's age is a big concern. Sometimes experience like this is necessary, I just hope, like most that if he comes he is great and more.
This would be Koulibaly's chance to win major trophies. What we do not need s an upand coming player, but a leader at the top of his game.I prefer young and hungry with something to prove
Did you watch City last season? We're crying out for a player like this.
Koulibaly is made for us. He is the only defender I have seen who one on one has destroyed Salah. And he's perfect for the Premier League. City fans will love him....if we sign him
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I think the point is that they are both considered to be among a very small group of elite central defenders.I don't think Koulibaly is as good as Van Dyke.
True. The point was more about his age though, and why it shouldn’t be an issue in itself.I don't think Koulibaly is as good as Van Dyke.
No you can't guarantee any signing (including Messi) and that's why every signing is a calculated risk. If we're happy to pay €70m for Koulibaly, I'm not going to complain because I will get to experience watching another top player. My personal opinion however is that he is way too expensive and represents too big a risk at the €70m plus talked about. I think there's better options, although I won't go into that because it's all subjective and I know my opinion wouldn't be popular and to be honest it's late and I'm ready to go to bed.Agree but if we take that into account, we can't really guarantee any signing will come good, just have to trust it really.
But this guy isn’t like signing Van Dijk. He comes with all the caveats of signing someone from a foreign league, a league where Smalling, Ashley Young and Sanchez look world beaters. He then comes with the down side of being 29, coming off a comparatively bad season, and needing to adapt to a new system.Would you take van Dijk if he was available this summer?
He may turn out well, I hope he does because we desperately need, at the very least, a competent centre half, but this isn’t like signing Van Dijk.
These things don’t need to be immediately definitive by comparing him to the best defender in our league.
At his age it’s a huge gamble at the price quoted, in a Covid market, and in our system there’s no certainty that he’ll be the answer.
The scepticism is well merited in my opinion and deserves to be debated.
A younger player is much easier to sell on if it doesn't work out, that's just common sense. If Ozil was 25 and not 31, someone would probably take a gamble, at his age now I highly doubt anyone will.The wages, rather than his age, would be the biggest problem in that scenario. It’s the same risk with any big signing we make, regardless of age. There are only a handful of clubs able to pay the wages we do, and most of them are direct rivals of ours.
We tried he choose Liverpool..
Not exactly we walked away due to the fee. Still not the brighest decision.
There's a clip on the "All Or Nothing" documentary where the management team are laughing about the fee.