Just because it didn't happen doesn't mean it isn't true. Fabinho might have very well been our backup to Matic.
Faouzi Ghoulam | Napoli LB
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Just because it didn't happen doesn't mean it isn't true. Fabinho might have very well been our backup to Matic.
If he can get back to the level he was playing at pre-injury, he'd be a great buy at that price. The fact that he's had multiple injuries to that same knee puts me off, though. Not sure it's worth the risk.
Or he could have simply been wrong on both counts, as Duncan Castles, Simon Stone and the rest of the UK-based hacks said at the time.
Can't see us taking the risk when there's plenty of other good LB's around for a similar price.
We vetoed the Vidal deal for the same reason a few years back.
We vetoed the Vidal deal for the same reason a few years back.
Who's to say he lied about that? All I know is that when he confirms a deal has happened it does.
Negotiations for Ghoulam may well fail but I have no reason to doubt that we have made a bid at least.
I think you’d want to be a very optimistic sort to buy a full back who is only on his way back from an ACL injury and who will obviously rely upon their fitness heavily.
Seems a massive gamble. So obviously we’ll buy him and give him a 29 year contract.
Seems a massive gamble. So obviously we’ll buy him and give him a 29 year contract.
There's no suggestion he lied, just got it wrong and probably has this wrong, too.
Is he worth the gamble? How good was be prior to injury? Like Marcelo level? If he is then we should take that gamble but only if he proves he's up to speed when he returns. If not then I'd be wary of buying him.
Broken kneecap and ankle ligament damage on the same knee.
Not keen tbh.
Not keen tbh.
Of course. He's the best by far but what I mean is does Ghoulam have a similar influence on Napoli like Marcelo does for RM? I don't watch Serie A but I've seen Marcelo plenty of times and for me he is the benchmark for fullbacks. Not just left backs. The role he plays in attack is incredible.You do realise Marcelo is the absolute best in the world at what he does right?
Full back is such a physically demanding position, it would be very stupid to splash our money on a guy who has just had two very serious injuries. We should look elsewhere.
If we are buying this lad to provide some competiton to Shaw and also as a first team player in the even that Shaw doesn't buckle up, i'd say for the quoted 30m euros, it is a gamble worth taking.
I’ve learned since last transfer window that if we are going after a player there must be something that the persons in charge see that we don’t. Matic and Lukaku were pretty much seen as not good enough for us (in the sense people wanted us to sign someone else instead of them) yet they are currently our best players. No one wanted us to buy perisic yet he started the season on fire too (haven’t checked up in months though). If we want this guy there must be something we see in him
That said, it does seem a risk.
That said, it does seem a risk.
Who are those pretty good LBs?
Not suggesting we buy Ghoulam, just curious
This is obviously false, Mourinho wouldn't go for a player at this price/age/position after a very heavy injury. You never know if the player is going to be the same and keep the same aggression, just doesn't add up. Look at Shaw, never the same player - probably always thinking too much when going into tackles.
Think the way our strategy has worked under mourinho is we prepare deal for 2-3 players for same position and sign the best one or the one on top of our list.
This has happened in following cases
This has happened in following cases
- Matic/Dier/Fabinho
- Lukaku/morata
- Sanchez/Malcom
I think that this is likely to be true, its a useful negotiating position too.
I am very concerned when we are linked with Ghoulam & Rose, simply because of their injury woes, and I still think that Sandro will be our top target.
Having said that, I wouldn't be completely shocked if someone not mentioned in the media is the one being targeted, Masuaku for example.
Hoping this is the case.
And I hope that Alex Sandro is our first choice LB
He's the best possible LB we can get and is IMO a top 3 LB in the world.
Wouldn't mind Tierney too if he wouldn't cost more than 20-25 million but buying Sandro + Tierney would mean an outlay of about 75 mill at least, which I don't think we can afford unless we get 20-25 mill selling Shaw.
Tierney, Sandro, Grimaldo just off the top of my head. Ghoulam is a great player but his injury record is very worrying. We cant afford to get this next purchase wrong.
Lets just bust the bank for Marcelo and have done with the LB problem once and for all.
Tierney would be a good buy and would most probably cost more than 22 million. But we need someone ready to make the step up now, not another youngster with promise
Sandro - would cost 50-60 million pounds
Grimaldo - young, inexperienced same as Tierney.
Wouldn't mind a young LB and a top class one especially if we are selling Shaw, but we really need at least one top FB asap
I'm just happy it seems we are finally going to buy a left back tbh 
Since I watched Napoli home vs City game, City is getting outplayed by fullbacks from Napoli and cannot handle their overwhelming attack but until Ghoulam gets injured. it has affected Napoli's performance heavily, gotten weak. I think it's safe to say that Ghoulam has more influence on Napoli.
Still seriously like the look of Grimaldo. He performed quite well against us earlier in the CL, so he shows up for the big games.
I'd say he's a better option than Tierney or any other young player, and not as expensive as Sandro or Marcelo (which will never happen).
If I am not mistaken Grimaldo though talented is quite Injury prone himself but if our list for Lb's include players like Ghoulam and Rose who themselves are recovering from serious injuries then adding another crock should not be issue for us but ideally we should be doing better than these options and avoid risk of adding another injury prone player to our squad.
Not really. I was under the same impression but other than a big injury in 15/16, he has had only minor injuries.
Also he tore his cruciate in 12/13
17/18 Wound Nov 19, 2017 Nov 24, 2017 5 days 1
17/18 Minor wound Nov 1, 2017 Nov 11, 2017 10 days 1
17/18 Muscle Injury Aug 6, 2017 Sep 6, 2017 31 days 4
16/17 Hamstring Injury Jun 15, 2017 Jul 6, 2017 21 days - games
16/17 Osteitis pubis Oct 24, 2016 Apr 3, 2017 161 days 32
16/17 Unknown Injury Oct 6, 2016 Oct 15, 2016 9 days 1
15/16 Muscle Injury Sep 12, 2015 Sep 27, 2015 15 days 3
12/13 Cruciate Ligament Rupture Feb 23, 2013 Jan 13, 2014 324 days 37
12/13 Knee injury Dec 10, 2012 Dec 21, 2012 11 days 1
Not really. I was under the same impression but other than a big injury in 15/16, he has had only minor injuries.
Also he tore his cruciate in 12/13
17/18 Wound Nov 19, 2017 Nov 24, 2017 5 days 1
17/18 Minor wound Nov 1, 2017 Nov 11, 2017 10 days 1
17/18 Muscle Injury Aug 6, 2017 Sep 6, 2017 31 days 4
16/17 Hamstring Injury Jun 15, 2017 Jul 6, 2017 21 days - games
16/17 Osteitis pubis Oct 24, 2016 Apr 3, 2017 161 days 32
16/17 Unknown Injury Oct 6, 2016 Oct 15, 2016 9 days 1
15/16 Muscle Injury Sep 12, 2015 Sep 27, 2015 15 days 3
12/13 Cruciate Ligament Rupture Feb 23, 2013 Jan 13, 2014 324 days 37
12/13 Knee injury Dec 10, 2012 Dec 21, 2012 11 days 1
At least we know he's definitely over the ACL injury.
Everything past April 2017 has been pretty minor.
Mourinho was truly the 'special one' a few years ago when it came to player recruitments but if this rumour is true then he has surely lost the plot.
If he passes a rigorous fitness test and we get good insurance on him then why not? He’s clearly a top level player
Yup. Not like his purchases last year were more successful than not or anything
Must have been on the booze.
Would sign him but only if we get another left back as well. It's too much of a risk to get a player with his record in a position we are desperate.
1. He’s at Real, 2. They’d want silly money for him, 3. He’s got another 4 or 5 years left on his contract, 4. He’s been there for 10 years and fully settled, 5. Real would almost certainly want De Gea IF they sold, 6. He’s their vice captain and 7. I’m sure he fell out with Jose at Real.
Marcelo would be a dream signing but won’t happen so as he’s not a reality Alex Sandro who’s a top 5 in the world left back and arguably top 3 after Marcelo and Jordi Alba would be my first choice seeing as Juve seem very open to the idea of selling Sandro for £50-£60 million and at 26-27 is about to hit his peak.
On topic though and I wouldn’t want Ghoulam at all based on his injuries regardless of how good he looked prior, after Hargreaves we really can’t be taking chances on players in transfer priority positions such as left back and there’s no saying Ghoulam will ever really be the player he was especially in a league much harder and faster such as ours.
That would be sublime, the perfect LB for me. Very technical, very good going forward and defensively. What Shaw could have become if he wasn't such a p***y.
That's what the medical's for though isn't it? If the doctors are thorough enough then they'll know if there's a long term problem.
That's true. Though, even when there no longer are problems physically, players may not return to the same level of performance after major injuries. We saw this with Falcao and even Shaw, to an extent.
Falcao eventually got some of this form back when he returned to Monaco where they play free flowing football. Van Gaal and Mourinho's style didn't suit him. I'm a little wary about Ghoulam.
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