Mehdi Benatia

[iamthebluecat]

Prefer Benatia to Mangala. But not at the expense of Nastasic. Nastasic is clearly a good footballer, Rekik is an unknown quantity. Both youngsters should be kept, at least for now

 

[MihaiCity]

Interesting thing about Lovren is he was very average with Lyon before joining Southampton and they were happy to sell. Interested to see if he is really a good player or just one (like so many others) who excelled with a particular system/style/coach. £20m is quite a lot for him based on one standout season I think. Benatia may only be in the spotlight now, but he was apparently amazing for Udinese before he joined Roma and I think how players work in different systems/in different teams is part of what scouts look at.

According to daily fail saints already turned down a 20m offer for Lovren from dippers..madness tbh he is a good defender but a 13-15m defender at best...

 

[MeatHunterrr]

Interesting thing about Lovren is he was very average with Lyon before joining Southampton and they were happy to sell. Interested to see if he is really a good player or just one (like so many others) who excelled with a particular system/style/coach. £20m is quite a lot for him based on one standout season I think. Benatia may only be in the spotlight now, but he was apparently amazing for Udinese before he joined Roma and I think how players work in different systems/in different teams is part of what scouts look at.

According to daily fail saints already turned down a 20m offer for Lovren from dippers..madness tbh he is a good defender but a 13-15m defender at best...

yeah, dippers are getting ripped off quite badly by Southampton. Lambert deal probably exception. Dippers to pay over £20m for Lovren would be just madness considering he isn't even English.

 

[MillionDollarDream]

I see Benatia being a very good partner with Kompany, as for me they're both "front foot defenders". I see Mangala as more of an athlete, so i'm more inclined that we sign Benatia. Him going to the AFCON (for however long) does put a sort of downer on it, but at the figures being quoted for both, i'd have Benatia.

However I would rather us sign Hummels, although he's had an injury stricken season I do see him being one of the best for many years to come.

Why would it be a downer? We still have a now inform MDM who can still go. But it's a first round exit like almost every time for Morocco in AFCON we just need to get him in so he can get familiar.

 

[TheKingOfTown]

Honestly if Mangala is signed over Benatia I feel like I'd be more disappointed than excited. I'd just WAY rather have this guy on our team. Plus I feel like Nastasic will be sold if Mangala is signed, considering they're only 1 or 2 years apart.

 

[sam-caddick]

Honestly if Mangala is signed over Benatia I feel like I'd be more disappointed than excited. I'd just WAY rather have this guy on our team. Plus I feel like Nastasic will be sold if Mangala is signed, considering they're only 1 or 2 years apart.

From what I have seen of the pair I would as well prefer Benatia.

Saying that I won't write Mangala off, The scouting team, Txiki and Manuel will have chosen him for a reason so let's wait and see.

There is no doubt Mangala's potential from what I have seen but it's his price that is a big turn off, he is worth half of the €40m he is valued at by Porto in my opinion and is probably going to be one of the most expensive players ever based on potential alone.

 

[Davidgoldensilva]

Just a quick question, how much better is benatia and mangala than demichelis when he found top form near the end of the season, I'd rather we sign this guy than mangala, as kompany won't have to worry about the other side of the defense (not saying demichelis was bad, as he was amazing near the end, but just sometimes it seemed like kompany worried about him just because) and it feels like some people think that during the seconed half of the year demichelis was better than kompany, which ATM I do not agree with. Also, would a 2012/2013 nastasic be better than a end of year demichelis?

 

[FredTilson]

There is no doubt Mangala's potential from what I have seen but it's his price that is a big turn off, he is worth half of the €40m he is valued at by Porto in my opinion and is probably going to be one of the most expensive players ever based on potential alone.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Not seen enough of Benatia but regarding others mentioned, all of Southampton's central defenders are complete and utter shite. Anyone who signs any of them for any kind of decent money, has ben arse fucked.

 

[Ireland_for_pm]

Not seen enough of Benatia but regarding others mentioned, all of Southampton's central defenders are complete and utter shite. Anyone who signs any of them for any kind of decent money, has ben arse fucked.

Same lovern looked very average every time I watched him last season. He had a poor game at the etihad last season aswell I seem to remember.