Players who might improve us

[domalino]

Navas will play RWB IMO.

I dont see Kelechi as solely a central striker either,he often comes deep and can play the 10 role.

A right sided forward is a necessity for me also,Nasri doesnt cut it.

I don't think Navas will play RWB at all, I'm not really sure why anyone does. When was the last time Pep played a winger at full back? Never. He doesn't even play with wing backs when he goes 3 at the back - he nearly always plays 3-3-3-1 with 3 central midfielders and wingers that are pushed so high up that no one would ever call them wingbacks.

Instead I think Pep knows that Navas is a great player to have in the squad, and that most of the reason his crossing is so maligned is because of Pellegrini's incompetent interpretation of wing play, getting the ball to Navas as slowly as possible and asking him to cross into a box with 8 defenders and 1, 5ft 8 striker.

Under a manager who will get the ball to his wingers quickly, and behind the opposition defence, Navas' crossing will magically go back to how it was for the first 10 years of his career.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Interesting stuff domalino,perhaps youre right,cheers.

 

[Silva_Spell]

Replace Fernando with Kante.

Kante release clause of 20m, age 25 (just)
Could get around 12m for Fernando, age 28 (29 next month), so next to no outlay


The option of pairing Kante and Gundogan with Silva or KDB or Dinho, depending on the game, could work well.

Based on last season, Kante and Gundogan would be making over 7 interceptions per game between them! That's a big increase on 4 (Dinho+Nando), 3.1 (Toure+Nando) and 2.8 (Toure+Dinho), not to mention you get a lot more mobility (pressing), the same number of tackles (5) as our most defensive pairing of Nando+Dinho with the intelligence and creativity of Gundogan.

And if you were to play Kante, Gundogan and Dinho in a game you'd expect to see around 8 tackles, and 9 interceptions between them...

Obviously stats don't always carry over into a different team but these show what the players are generally capable of, it's clear Fernando couldn't do what Kante does.

 

[tony adcock]

If Koeman is departing Southampton then one player we should be looking at is Van Dijk - always thought we should have gone for Alderwiereld last summer ( before he went to Spurs ) as he would be perfect for us..... But I think he is settled at Spurs, so for me Van Dijk would be a good achievable defensive target for us this summer

 

[TrueBlueMike]

If Chelsea are linked with Kante and Nainggolan, is there a chance for Fabregas? Could work well alongside Gundogan, both intelligent passers and get the ball forward quickly.

 

[Lomas has a lob on]

If Chelsea are linked with Kante and Nainggolan, is there a chance for Fabregas? Could work well alongside Gundogan, both intelligent passers and get the ball forward quickly.

As soon as Pep was officially announced, I thought Fabregas might be on the radar. He really pushed for Fabregas at Barcelona (albeit Fabregas wasn't a resounding success in the end there) and with his know how of the Premier League and Chelsea's woeful season, I was sure he'd be a target, but there doesn't seem any link at all.

 

[Delphacito]

Fabregas is such a defensive liability it's not even funny. Teams with him would go nowhere.

 

[richards30]

Weigl would be a great signing

 

[Phil1]

A left back who's played football at any level, including school team.

 

[hartshairgel]

Weigl would be a great signing

True but no chance Dortmund would let him go.