We need to get a CB who is dominant in the air. How is De Ligt's aerial game?
Centre Back... Who do we go for?
- Thread starter Macern
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A baller CB like Maguire would be perfect for our build up play.
That rules out Koulibaly and De Ligt..
Alderweireld is a must, then someone younger.
They don't necessarily need to be that tall. Vidic was only 6'2" for instance.
Vidic is 6'3".
Koulibaly is 6'5". De Ligt just like Bailey. Do not want.
If we can't get De Ligt then it might not be such a bad idea going for McGuire.
Koulibaly is 6ft 2 and Vidic is about 2 inches shorter than me when I stood next to him outside Old Trafford, I'm 6'3..
Attainable players in January who actually improve us is tough.
Experienced, good in the air, and calm. A little cynical but measured. A decent fitness record.
I think this rules out De Ligt who I don't think we have much chance of anyway. Godin would have been near perfect but don't see it happening.
Perhaps Willi Orban would fit the bill? Not sure he's been mentioned.
Experienced, good in the air, and calm. A little cynical but measured. A decent fitness record.
I think this rules out De Ligt who I don't think we have much chance of anyway. Godin would have been near perfect but don't see it happening.
Perhaps Willi Orban would fit the bill? Not sure he's been mentioned.
Cant believe people are measuring a defender through size. 1,87m is plenty enough if you have a good timing and a leap, which Koulibaly has. Koulibaly with Milenkovic would sort us out, but i doubt we will get Koulibaly.
But but half of the Caf are saying Bailly is a great CB..
Just pay Napoli what they want for Koulibaly
Just pay Napoli what they want for Koulibaly
No because he doesnt captain Ajax in the CL and isnt starting for the Netherlands National team
You dont have to watch Ajax against Groningen to see him in action.I think there may be a chance we could get Varane in the summer, for loadsamoney of course. Not had the best season, but I’d take the deal if it were there.
Maguire in January is a must. I reckon the price quoted in the summer has come down and 55m will do it.
Get him settled in over the next few months, then go for a top European CB in the summer to play along side him.
Job done!
Get him settled in over the next few months, then go for a top European CB in the summer to play along side him.
Job done!
Can we do a Real Madrid type poll just as it would be interesting to see who is actually the most popular choice?
That’s right Vidic is 189cm(6’2)
Koulibaly is about Bailly's height (1.87m). De Ligt is about a similar height as well but his ability on the ball, as well as his solid no-nonsense type of defending would put him as my number 1 target for a CB (assuming we can't get established world class players like Koulibaly and Varane).
Godin
Koulibaly
Varane
Koulibaly
Varane
Koulibaly would be our equivalent to Van Djik, but unfortunately he'd probably cost just about as much.
Then just pay it.
You can clearly see the huge difference VVD has made at Liverpool. If Koulibaly comes and makes a similar impact, then the transfer fee will be easily forgotten about.
This cannot be said enough.
You see the way Liverpool went from a flashy but flaky side to serious competitors just by shoring things up, you can't help but feel Koulibaly would be worth his weight in gold to us.
Koulibaly signed an extension. If the board didn't fancy his price tag before they aren't gonna get him. He'll be costing £100m+ and the board arent gonna sanction that.
I surmise that we have moved on to younger and cheaper centre backs.
I surmise that we have moved on to younger and cheaper centre backs.
We need a CB that's comfortable on the left, especially with Rojo probably being the first to be sold. Koulibaly seems unlikely to me. Maguire and Skriniar aren't worth what their clubs would ask for. I'd hope we look at Diallo, Elvedi, Upamecano, Milenkovic, Lucas Hernandez, Eder Militao, Andersen or Benkovic.
Going by the reports or rumours from the summer, Napoli were already asking for that much before he signed his extension.
We should go all out for Alderweireld in January.
Spurs will have to trigger his one year extension soon if they haven't already.
If they don't , foreign teams can offer him a contract next month and get him for free in the summer.
When they trigger the extension, he has a 25 million transfer fee clause which becomes activated in the summer.
If we go after him in January I think we could possibly get him for 35 million. He doesn't want to be there anymore and has rejected their contract offers so it would be foolish of them not to cash in at this stage.
The most exciting thing about the prospect of getting him in January is that, with the new champions league regulations, he would actually be available for us in the knockout stages even though he played for spurs in the groups.
The football under Ole so far has been fantastic but it's easy to see that cb is still a real issue and will probably be exposed against the top sides even further.
Throw Alderweireld in there though and suddenly our first eleven looks a match for anyone in Europe. Dare I say we could even win the champions league. Di Matteo did it so why cant Ole.
C'mon Woodward, make it happen.
Spurs will have to trigger his one year extension soon if they haven't already.
If they don't , foreign teams can offer him a contract next month and get him for free in the summer.
When they trigger the extension, he has a 25 million transfer fee clause which becomes activated in the summer.
If we go after him in January I think we could possibly get him for 35 million. He doesn't want to be there anymore and has rejected their contract offers so it would be foolish of them not to cash in at this stage.
The most exciting thing about the prospect of getting him in January is that, with the new champions league regulations, he would actually be available for us in the knockout stages even though he played for spurs in the groups.
The football under Ole so far has been fantastic but it's easy to see that cb is still a real issue and will probably be exposed against the top sides even further.
Throw Alderweireld in there though and suddenly our first eleven looks a match for anyone in Europe. Dare I say we could even win the champions league. Di Matteo did it so why cant Ole.
C'mon Woodward, make it happen.
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People wanting 2 CB's are going to be really disappointed IMO, Ole and the staff have had 3 games with this lot, I'd like to see some coaching continue with Lindelof and to bring back Axel, admittedly we have an issue with Jones and Rojo's fitness but the board wont sanction 2 expensive new CB's, it will be one to partner a CB we already have and the remit of the manager and staff will be to coach a defensive unit, not rely solely on spending our way out of the hole.
I also really don't think those wanting Alderweireld have watched him this season, he's lost a yard and he's made a number of mistakes in games I've seen, the kind of stuff our CB's are hauled over the coals for.
I've been impressed with de Ligt when I've seen him in the CL and for Holland, bar one international, he has everything in his game to be the best and is arguably the young CB equivelant of Mbappe. His agent is Raiola so that could give us an in with him.
I also really don't think those wanting Alderweireld have watched him this season, he's lost a yard and he's made a number of mistakes in games I've seen, the kind of stuff our CB's are hauled over the coals for.
I've been impressed with de Ligt when I've seen him in the CL and for Holland, bar one international, he has everything in his game to be the best and is arguably the young CB equivelant of Mbappe. His agent is Raiola so that could give us an in with him.
Harry Maquire for me. De Ligt also has an abundance of potential.
Ramos?
Would be a fantastic signing if we can convince him to join us.
Where are you getting that figure from?
Albiol (1.90m) is at least an inch taller than Koulibaly. He's certainly not 1.95m like Google suggests.
Transfermarkt has him down as 1.87m: https://www.transfermarkt.com/kalidou-koulibaly/profil/spieler/93128
The 1.95 thing is a FIFA mistake I believe Just wondering if his actual height had been made official anywhere.
Did he sign a new contract?
Give them Rojo, Jones, Darmian and 50m in January. Get it done Ed.
Didn't Leicster reject a £70m bid from us for the walking jack o' lantern this summer? Are you having a laugh? We need to look elsewhere if they are holding out for those amounts. There is absolutely nothing that special about him that justifies having such a price tag, it's just because he is english. With that amount of money it is an absolute no brainer to do whatever we can to convince De Ligt to join instead. If he doesn't want to come then go for Koulibaly. If getting them in january will cost more then we should go for it by all means because come summer everyone will be wanting them.
For me de Ligt is the premiere choice if we buy a young CB, if we go ready made then Koulibaly is the smart pick IMO but the Napoli owner will bleed us dry.
Our next defender will be a Serbian. Written in the stars.
Nikola Milenković
Nikola Milenković
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Milenkovic and Smalling together would make us aerially very dominant.
I think we'll go in for De Ligt, then it depends on the player. His agent is Raiola, so we've probably already tested the waters.