Txiki Begiristain

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

I agree with this though we need a centre half as well. The only issue is our most important signing is Yaya's successor, not direct replacement, but world class midfielders seem to be very hard to find. If we finally get the full backs and midfielder we need, this City side will take off.

Yaya is a freak, it's why I regard him as our best ever as he is an anomalie in terms of his qualities... The reality is we will have to break all manner of budgets to get what we need, look at the rags with pogba, he isn't fit to lace yayas boots, or will he ever be imo.... I agree about another centre half but it's at the back of my thinking, even though I think he'll go balls deep for Laporte again, it is currently heightened by how poor we are at fullback!

 

[pavelsrnicek]

Yaya is a freak, it's why I regard him as our best ever as he is an anomalie in terms of his qualities... The reality is we will have to break all manner of budgets to get what we need, look at the rags with pogba, he isn't fit to lace yayas boots, or will he ever be imo.... I agree about another centre half but it's at the back of my thinking, even though I think he'll go balls deep for Laporte again, it is currently heightened by how poor we are at fullback!

The full back issue is a huge factor holding us back, we have 1 competent defender of the 4 full backs at present (Sagna) and none good enough in attack for a Guardiola team. We really need 2 world class players with decent understudies.

The centre midfield issue is the lack of options, anyone decent will probably cost £60m+ and there are issues with most good enough for us. Verrati is heavily linked with Bayern, Koke is very loyal to Atletico, Thiago is injury prone, Kroos has signed a new deal as has Weigl. I think the most attainable is Weigl but we may have to bid ridiculous sums for him.

 

[waspish]

The full back issue is a huge factor holding us back, we have 1 competent defender of the 4 full backs at present (Sagna) and none good enough in attack for a Guardiola team. We really need 2 world class players with decent understudies.

The centre midfield issue is the lack of options, anyone decent will probably cost £60m+ and there are issues with most good enough for us. Verrati is heavily linked with Bayern, Koke is very loyal to Atletico, Thiago is injury prone, Kroos has signed a new deal as has Weigl. I think the most attainable is Weigl but we may have to bid ridiculous sums for him.

Agree about the fullbacks and Sagna is 34. Getting 2 new pacy fullback in the summer is a must

 

[cookster]

Do you not think that although the money looks like being excessive at the moment, that when the spine is replaced with 'like for like', we'll see a drastic upsurge in performance. For example, we rely heavily on our wide players currently working back (to much so).. A couple of world class fullbacks and centre mid turns this team in to the best side in the country, there's been glimpses of it already, even with the deficiencies!

For sure I agree if we secure the right players at FB's, CM and CB we will have a team who will challenge, my concern is Txiki's conversion record and eye for a player. I'd rather he just paid over the odds for proven quality than keep paying over the odds for potential.

Hopefully Pep will guide him on the right players.

 

[City_Sean]

For sure I agree if we secure the right players at FB's, CM and CB we will have a team who will challenge, my concern is Txiki's conversion record and eye for a player. I'd rather he just paid over the odds for proven quality than keep paying over the odds for potential.

Hopefully Pep will guide him on the right players.

He'll be working extensively with Pep to ensure that he gets the right players we need this summer. All in all I'm not worries about recruitment this summer.

 

[nellyonthewing]

What we seem to lack is the scouting skills that spot a player just before they breakthrough and end up costing £50 million. Any idiot can pay top whack in a bidding war. I don't think we have been any good at it since the late 1960's.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

For sure I agree if we secure the right players at FB's, CM and CB we will have a team who will challenge, my concern is Txiki's conversion record and eye for a player. I'd rather he just paid over the odds for proven quality than keep paying over the odds for potential.

Hopefully Pep will guide him on the right players.

it's not like he hasn't tried. It is an era where the very best tend to stay at their club. We tried Bonucci, we've worked for years on Messi, we've enquired repeatedly on top players but they tend to stay where they are. Everyone over the past couple of years has gambled ever more so on potential, there are less great players and they tend to stay at the biggest clubs.

If Mangala hadn't been signed I think the opinion would be a lot different on Txiki, it's the 1 bullet gun his critics will always put to his temple.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

What we seem to lack is the scouting skills that spot a player just before they breakthrough and end up costing £50 million. Any idiot can pay top whack in a bidding war. I don't think we have been any good at it since the late 1960's.

who has though? Apart from Alli, Casemiro maybe, Dortmund are good at it with Aubameyang and Weigl, but they've had to be because they don't buy big that often. It's a handful out of the top clubs, a few are brought through the ranks but these days it's mostly £20m+ signings from elsewhere, even for just pure potential. Transfer fee inflation is barmy.

 

[domalino]

What we seem to lack is the scouting skills that spot a player just before they breakthrough and end up costing £50 million. Any idiot can pay top whack in a bidding war. I don't think we have been any good at it since the late 1960's.

Kelechi Iheanacho.

 

[yayas trusty right foot]

Yaya is a freak, it's why I regard him as our best ever as he is an anomalie in terms of his qualities... The reality is we will have to break all manner of budgets to get what we need, look at the rags with pogba, he isn't fit to lace yayas boots, or will he ever be imo.... I agree about another centre half but it's at the back of my thinking, even though I think he'll go balls deep for Laporte again, it is currently heightened by how poor we are at fullback!

Yaya could do a job for a couple of years yet, maybe not first choice every week but he is still well capable of winning a game with a fantastic goal..

Citys best ever player IMO