Kalidou Koulibaly

[ctid1894]

Our 4 CB's last season played

55 games (Laporte)

39 games (Stones)

33 games (Otamendi)

26 games (Kompany)

If you seriously think a 19 year old with no experience is going to turn his nose up at starting a minimum of 26 games, you're living on another planet. Not taking into account Fernandinho's 35 and covers other positions so if Garcia is a prodigy he could easily end up as 3rd choice.

And where else is a teenage CB with no experience going play that much? In the Champions League and going after trophies? No where.

It's not just one season though, if we sign a CB then the chance of them signing a 3 year contract or less is very small.

 

[domalino]

It's not just one season though, if we sign a CB then the chance of them signing a 3 year contract or less is very small.

So you think hes going to refuse to be 3rd choice CB for Manchester City at 20 years old playing 30+ games a season in 2021/22?

Not likely.

 

[ctid1894]

So you think hes going to refuse to be 3rd choice CB for Manchester City at 20 years old playing 30+ games a season in 2021/22?

Not likely.

If he has enough self belief to think he can command a starting role at another club, why not. A lot of players are happy to move to a less successful club to guarantee playing time to try and showcase their talent to earn a move back to a bigger club, we've seen it with Sancho.

De Bruyne did it
Salah did it
Sterling did it ;)

 

[cjn]

So you think hes going to refuse to be 3rd choice CB for Manchester City at 20 years old playing 30+ games a season in 2021/22?

Not likely.

I agree with all of this and am still really nervous about losing him. There were reports a while back that we had opened talks and still nothing....granted there was a pandemic between then and now but really hope we tie him down soon.

 

[Easy]

Good player, but he's 30 on June 20th, maybe only 3 years at the level we are looking to play?

Just turned 29 not 30. He’s a couple weeks older than Van Dijk who is turning 29 years old on July 8th.

Koulibaly would give us a good few years as a starter in his prime then some more as a back up.

Ramos for example is 34 and plays virtually every game for Real.

Many here focus on age but forget that CB is position that you need to have experience for. There is no world class CB that is 19 or 20 years old. Numerous examples of this.

If someone here thinks that we’re going to buy some 20-21 year old CB and they’re going to come in and be really solid and not make mistakes, they’re wrong.

 

[ctid1894]

Just turned 29 not 30. He’s a couple weeks older than Van Dijk who is turning 29 years old on July 8th.

Koulibaly would give us a good few years as a starter in his prime then some more as a back up.

Ramos for example is 34 and plays virtually every game for Real.

Many here focus on age but forget that CB is position that you need to have experience for. There is no world class CB that is 19 or 20 years old. Numerous examples of this.

If someone here thinks that we’re going to buy some 20-21 year old CB and they’re going to come in and be really solid and not make mistakes, they’re wrong.

Pep literally last week said Garcia doesn't make mistakes, admittedly he probably meant very few mistakes but I'll trust his judgement over anyone elses.

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

Just turned 29 not 30. He’s a couple weeks older than Van Dijk who is turning 29 years old on July 8th.

Koulibaly would give us a good few years as a starter in his prime then some more as a back up.

Ramos for example is 34 and plays virtually every game for Real.

Many here focus on age but forget that CB is position that you need to have experience for. There is no world class CB that is 19 or 20 years old. Numerous examples of this.

If someone here thinks that we’re going to buy some 20-21 year old CB and they’re going to come in and be really solid and not make mistakes, they’re wrong.

Yep, most on here wanted De Ligt last summer, and he's been a bit underwhelming at Juve.

 

[Dobsy]

I disagree, I'm fine if Bastoni comes as Laporte's backup at left sided centre back but anyone additional limiting Garcia's place on the right side I think will see him walk away.

I'm surprised. What makes you think this?

 

[Homar]

Jose and Castles are both well connected. I think the price is going to be the deciding factor, but I’d certainly rather spend £60-70m on a genuine world-class defender than gamble on somebody younger and less experienced from a weaker league at the same price point. I think that this would give us the best CB pairing in the world. We’d just need to sort out the left-back position and possibly replace Sane.

 

[MCFC ISRAEL]

There are quite a few such examples but I think Ramos is the perfect example.
At the age of 34 he gives one of the best seasons of his career and simply plays every game.
I have one more thing to say - If there was an option to bring Van Dijk to City right now, would anyone here refuse? Certainly not, probably the best CB in the world. Van Dijk and Koulibaly are the same age.
In short, Koulibaly can provide at least 3-4 years in his top and with all due respect to Garcia, regardless of the fact that I think he's overrated and he can't be a starter at City, you can't compare him to Koulibaly , especially not at the moment

 

[NorthamptonBlue]

Pep literally last week said Garcia doesn't make mistakes, admittedly he probably meant very few mistakes but I'll trust his judgement over anyone elses.

He might think that not getting out of Eddie’s way was a mistake.

 

[OntarioBlue]

You think CB's are done at 32?

He's got no injury history, If he's top class I don't see why he wouldn't still be top level at 34/35 like Fernandinho, Ramos, Pique, Carvalho, Terry, Puyol, Maldini, Nesta etc. etc.

I’m glad someone asked me that question. Kompany was past his best at 32. Otamendi is past his best at around the same ago. Fernandinho is a freak of nature, but generally speaking footballers “best before” is 32/33. My question was not about his ability but whether 70mill for 2,3 or even 4 years service is a good investment.q

 

[domalino]

I’m glad someone asked me that question. Kompany was past his best at 32. Otamendi is past his best at around the same ago. Fernandinho is a freak of nature, but generally speaking footballers “best before” is 32/33. My question was not about his ability but whether 70mill for 2,3 or even 4 years service is a good investment.q

I can't believe anyone think Kompany is the standard you should hold CBs ageing to. He had about 20 mnee calf and ankle injuries, no shit he retired young.

 

[Semper aggressus]

We need this fella.

 

[OntarioBlue]

I can't believe anyone think Kompany is the standard you should hold CBs ageing to. He had about 20 mnee calf and ankle injuries, no shit he retired young.

We could go backwards and forwards on this all night. You quoted 7 players still playing to a high standard at 34/35 but the fact is the vast majority are done well before that age.

Yes, Kompany got injured a lot but so do a lot of other players which may be why they are done in their early thirties.

As I said earlier this is not about ability, it’s just about economics and value for money. You may think 70mil is fine for 3 or 4 years, I don’t. That’s why we have a forum.

 

[domalino]

We could go backwards and forwards on this all night. You quoted 7 players still playing to a high standard at 34/35 but the fact is the vast majority are done well before that age.

Yes, Kompany got injured a lot but so do a lot of other players which may be why they are done in their early thirties.

As I said earlier this is not about ability, it’s just about economics and value for money. You may think 70mil is fine for 3 or 4 years, I don’t. That’s why we have a forum.

Why are you comparing Kompany who had missed about 3 full seasons of his career by age 29 and Koulibaly who's missed 7 league games in 4 seasons.

No one rational could think the 2 are comparable.

 

[OntarioBlue]

Why are you comparing Kompany who had kissed about 3 full seasons of his career by age 29 and Koulibaly who's missed 7 league games in 4 seasons.

No one rational could think the 2 are comparable.

Whatever

 

[01cravend]

Please go slap a blank cheque on the table.

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

We could go backwards and forwards on this all night. You quoted 7 players still playing to a high standard at 34/35 but the fact is the vast majority are done well before that age.

Yes, Kompany got injured a lot but so do a lot of other players which may be why they are done in their early thirties.

As I said earlier this is not about ability, it’s just about economics and value for money. You may think 70mil is fine for 3 or 4 years, I don’t. That’s why we have a forum.

Name a better CB we could get, who would you go for?

 

[Holcombe bloo]

Just get him. Top defender and leader. We are a shambles at the back. And god please I hope never to see gundogan and Rodri together on the pitch!