Centre Back... Who do we go for?

Maguire in January. We need someone for the rest of the season (and beyond) who won't take months to settle in. Fourth is gettable. We have to take the gamble or risk being without CL football for a year.

De Ligt in the Summer.

Then buy Declan Rice (primarily as competition for Matic at DM, but also as cover for CB).

Also buy a journeyman LB/CB - Kongolo ticks that box if we want someone cheap (again, primarily as competition for Shaw at LB, but also as cover for CB).

Bring back Tuanzebe from Villa.

Sell Darmian, Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Bailly, Lindelof, Fellaini.

That'd leave us with 4 first team CBs (Maguire, De Ligt, Smalling and Tuanzebe), with ample options in case of an injury crisis (Rice and Kongolo).

The rest of the defence would be 2 LBs (Shaw and Kongolo) and 2 RBs (Dalot and Young).

It'd also round out the midfield numbers so we have 6 to pick from (Matic, Rice, Pogba, Pereira, Fred, Herrera). The attack is fine.

That's only 4 signings, and all of them seem to be buyable. Whatever it costs, it'll be worth it.

*I don't watch enough European football to say definitively that those are the best options. Other than Maguire (whose PL experience is a massive plus, imo), I'd welcome an alternative for anyone I mentioned.
 
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izec said:
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.
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Agree. Can’t judge a centre back just on height. Fabio Cannavaro was a legend and the only player in recent history to win a Ballon Dor as a defender. He was only 5ft 9in. Height plays a part but is only one of many attributes.
 
Koulibaly would make a perfect partner for Lindelof. I’m still holding out hope that Bailly can be the right long term fit as well.

In a perfect world we

sell: Rojo, Jones, Smalling
buy: Toby and Koulibaly in the summer

roll with a center back depth/pecking order of: Koulibaly, Alderweireld, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe
 
Dante said:
Also buy a journeyman LB/CB - Kongolo ticks that box if we want someone cheap (again, primarily as competition for Shaw at LB, but also as cover for CB).
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Surely Tierney is a better option who can also play both positions. In fact, Tierney would arguably get in ahead of Shaw as a LB.
 
RobbieBerns said:
Koulibaly would make a perfect partner for Lindelof. I’m still holding out hope that Bailly can be the right long term fit as well.

In a perfect world we

sell: Rojo, Jones, Smalling
buy: Toby and Koulibaly in the summer

roll with a center back depth/pecking order of: Koulibaly, Alderweireld, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe
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Best new year ever :lol:
 
Still baffles me people want to get rid of our best CB.

Smalling stays over any of the other tripe we've got - except maybe Lindelof who is improving.
 
saivet said:
Did he sign a new contract?
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I'm sure if he signed a contract, their will be a clause in it.
Saw his interview on sky a couple of months ago, and the way he was talking, it seemed Leciester have agreed they will let him go for a reasonable price.
His stock has definitely come down from last summer. But his quality hasn't.
 
I really like the look of the Portuguese center back Ruben Dias of Benfica who is still only 21 years old as well. He has already drew the typical comparisons to players such as Vidic due to his highly aggressive and commanding nature on the field and is apparently attracting the interest of clubs such as Juventus. I wouldn't think he would command such a high fee either which is great considering we will probably be looking to invest in other positions as well and he can also play of the left hand side of a center back pairing. I would opt for him if we are to invest in a center back in either the winter or summer transfer window which of course we need to for sure.
 
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JJ12 said:
Still baffles me people want to get rid of our best CB.

Smalling stays over any of the other tripe we've got - except maybe Lindelof who is improving.
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People seriously want to sell smalling?
Jones, Rojo, darmian and Valencia all need to go first imo.
 
I don’t understand the people who want to sell Smalling. He’s not the world class CB but he’s good enough to be a squad player and he’s the best in our team right now and I would sell Rojo, Jones and Bailly first.
 
Throw the money at De Ligt if he's interested and fancies a move to the PL. Kid can be a star for the next decade.
 
Sell:

Rojo - £15m
Jones - £10m
Bailly- 25m

Total = £50m

Buy
Toby - £25m
Koulibally- £100m

or
Skinaar - £90m

Net: £75/£65m
 
We should get Toby for £25M tomorrow and stop worrying till summer.
 
Been linked with Kostas Manolas today from Roma. 27 years old and has a £32.4m buyout clause in his contract. Always thought he was a good player.
 
I just hope we buy an improvement to add strength next to Victor.
Seen too many 'reserves' getting signed, when we need to improve the first 11 to progress.
I don't get the Alderwiereld fascination at all, and Maguire is arguably not an upgrade on Smalling.
 
Whoever it is needs to be great in the air. At the moment we can't play a CB pairing without Chris Smalling which isn't a liability in the air. This needs to be sorted as soon as possible.
 
United Pro said:
I'm fairly sure that clause will only activate in the summer. We'd have to pay £40m in January assuming Spurs even sell.
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It's active from 1st of January till 14th of June. After that period passes, they can ask for whatever they want.
 
1. Koulibaly - The ready made instant fix
2. de Ligt - The most talented and already a leader at 19
3. Milenkovic/Skriniar - Both good on the ball and in the air, Milenkovic a bit more mobile, Skriniar more experienced.
 
Players outside of the PL can never be counted on as instant fixes.

It's hard enough to acclimatise to a new team. Acclimatising to a new league makes the process massively more unpredictable.

If we want to pay the January premium, it better be for a player we know will slot in straight away. Otherwise, it's better to wait till the Summer.
 
Verminator said:
I just hope we buy an improvement to add strength next to Victor.
Seen too many 'reserves' getting signed, when we need to improve the first 11 to progress.
I don't get the Alderwiereld fascination at all, and Maguire is arguably not an upgrade on Smalling.
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Too much mediocrity has been bought over the past few years. I don't like to praise Liverpool, but they (finally, and unfortunately) identified their biggest issues, which were CB and GK and went out and bought the absoubtly best players that were available, and it's improved them dramatically. We don't need anymore players like Lindeloff, Rojo and Bailly.
 
Eplel said:
It's active from 1st of January till 14th of June. After that period passes, they can ask for whatever they want.
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So you're saying that a club can pay that release clause tomorrow and get Alderweireld in the coming January transfer window?
 
VorZakone said:
Throw the money at De Ligt if he's interested and fancies a move to the PL. Kid can be a star for the next decade.
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Arnie Muhren thinks United should buy De Ligt. He says both De Jong and De Ligt are good enough to play for United for a long time. He obviously knows United fairly well having played for United.
 
Devil may care said:
1. Koulibaly - The ready made instant fix
2. de Ligt - The most talented and already a leader at 19
3. Milenkovic/Skriniar - Both good on the ball and in the air, Milenkovic a bit more mobile, Skriniar more experienced.
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This is the most obvious list. If we are planning to spend 100m, I'd rather spend it on De Ligt than Koulibaly. The cheapest option would be Milenkovic. I wanted Skriniar last year but Inter are one stubborn team to negotiate with. I can remember how they wanted over 50m for Perisic.
 
bucky said:
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.
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Agree with you regarding Abdou Diallo. He's so bloody comfortable on the ball, with an impressive distribution and passing skills, and crazy dribbling skills. All this while being cool as a cucumber. His intelligence, spatial or otherwise is clear for all to see in that he is not a mere ball watcher, but an excellent reader of the game.
 
We need a leader in the back line urgently, if we want to stand any chance of making top 4, has to be Alderweirald for me even if it's just for a couple of seasons to steady the back line .
 
Dante said:
Players outside of the PL can never be counted on as instant fixes.

It's hard enough to acclimatise to a new team. Acclimatising to a new league makes the process massively more unpredictable.

If we want to pay the January premium, it better be for a player we know will slot in straight away. Otherwise, it's better to wait till the Summer.
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Yep this is completely right. I find it bizarre how people seem certain he'll be an instant success here. There's always a risk, it's not like he's been playing in the PL for years. Thus paying the stupid amounts being spoken about are crazy.
 
I think we can expect a massive clear out especially if we don't give Jones a new contract. We have bought so many players who we expected to step up and improve.
Smalling, Jones, Lindelof, Rojo, Bailly, Shaw, Darmian, Dalot were all bought based on their potential, but none of them have managed to deliver (the jury is still out on Lindelof, Dalot and maybe Shaw)

I hope we don't buy players just because they have the potential to step up, we have tried that, especially in defense and failed.
There are exceptions to that rule like De Ligt but I hope we go for established players.We have enough young players in our squad, Lindelof, Bailly, Jones, Axel are all pretty young. I don't think buying someone like Milenkovic will help us much, although I haven't seen much of him.

Right now the priority must be to get a top top CB, who is a good header of the ball, good with the baal at his feet and who is a leader. It's difficult to find someone with all those qualities, so my solution would be to buy two players who compliment each other.
Toby fits the bill as an experienced PL proven ball playing CB, if we can find a player who is a very good header of the ball and a leader, we should buy him along with Toby with Lindelof, Smalling, Bailly and Axel as backups

Skriniar is a very good header of the ball, but I don't think Koulibaly is that good in the Air. Also I don't know who is better at leading the defense. I Know De Ligt is a good leader but I have no idea how good he is in the air.
My preference would be De Ligt plus Toby for ~ 100 mill but then again 75-80 million is a big investment to make in De Ligt.
Koulibaly would be great if he's a leader and good in the air.
 
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We have Tuanzebe waiting in the wings. I don't want to get rid of Smalling as he'll be a quality squad player. Think it's too soon to get rid of either Lindelof or Bailly.

So we should be getting rid of Jones and Rojo. Break the bank on de Ligt. We have a very talented base of young players. If we can get him, we set ourselves up for a dominant future 5 years.
 
It's simply got to be Koulibaly this window, but it should'nt end there next summer, I've not seen De Ligt enough to form an opinion but if all the reviews are right it could be a Rio type signing > a once in a generation one.
 
In Rainbows said:
We have Tuanzebe waiting in the wings. I don't want to get rid of Smalling as he'll be a quality squad player. Think it's too soon to get rid of either Lindelof or Bailly.

So we should be getting rid of Jones and Rojo. Break the bank on de Ligt. We have a very talented base of young players. If we can get him, we set ourselves up for a dominant future 5 years.
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Somethig OGS said about Rojo in the press conference which to me looked like bye bye Rojo . I’ll watch it again to check.
Having said that Bailly has been at the club for a while now, 3 years is enough to see that he is not a good fit. I’d send Jones , Rojo and Bailly out and promote our own Tuanzebe
 
We should follow Pools example and go all out on the best possible CB- money no object as it will instantly take us to another level
 
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