Is there a Vidic clone/replacement anywhere?

Clone no. Replacement? If LVG is the manager he will want a ball playing CB so no shock to see us linked with Hummels and I really rate Vertonghen.
 
They don't make them like him anymore. We really found a gem when we bought him. The man became a legend so replacing him will be extremely tough.

I can't think of many centre backs who have a similar no nonsense style to Vidic. Perhaps Subotic?

Also worth mentioning that we won't be the only major European club looking for a CB this summer. Barca, City and potentially Chelsea will also be on the hunt.

Personally I'd gladly let City take Mangala for £35-40 million. I've seen him a lot and believe me he is not worth that amount of money. Neither is Benatia.

I think Hummels would be a good shout, but apparently Barca are high on him so we'll have to see on that.
 
A stone carved into a shape of a footballer.

That should do the Job.

Honestly? I think Jones can do the Job.
 
I hope this doesn't become the new "Finding the next Roy Keane". While I find Keane more of a unique player than Vida, Nemanja is a dying breed nowadays too.
 
Funny enough the most similar defender in the killer tenacity and world class level is walter samuel, who vidic is going to go join next season. Samuel's old though, even older then vidic. At the moment it doesn't seem like there's a young talented defender in the same mold as these two.
 
SilentWitness said:
Why?
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He's excellent 1v1, can play higher up the pitch, comfortable on the ball and reads the game well. He's had a poor season but anyone would struggle playing with Dawson/Rose and Naughton every week. I'd be terrified if City bought him to partner Kompany. He's a quality defender and will excel at a top side.
 
Semih Kaya of Galatasary has a similar style (though he seems to like throwing himself about on the deck more than Vidic as well as having a bit more athleticism to him.) Not seen much of him though, so whether he's potentially close to Vidic's level, I don't know.
 
I'd rather we went for a ball playing defender, Benatia, Ignio Martinez etc
 
Phil Jones.....coupled with Benatia and you have 2 of the best ball playing defenders in the PL....
 
Kyriakos Papadopoulos would of been a great replacement / clone for Vidic, even has a slight look of him. Shame he's been plagued with injuries this season, but he's still only 22 so he's got plenty of time to make a come back. Liverpool were sniffing round him last summer, but after his lack of playing time this season I don't think he'll be getting a move this summer though.
 
gaz1185 said:
Kyriakos Papadopoulos would of been a great replacement / clone for Vidic, even has a slight look of him. Shame he's been plagued with injuries this season, but he's still only 22 so he's got plenty of time to make a come back. Liverpool were sniffing round him last summer, but after his lack of playing time this season I don't think he'll be getting a move this summer though.
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He had 10 starts in the past two seasons and even before that he was "only" a promising looking young player, who in my opinion didn't show the finesse of a true top class defender.
 
gaz1185 said:
Kyriakos Papadopoulos would of been a great replacement / clone for Vidic, even has a slight look of him. Shame he's been plagued with injuries this season, but he's still only 22 so he's got plenty of time to make a come back. Liverpool were sniffing round him last summer, but after his lack of playing time this season I don't think he'll be getting a move this summer though.
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This guy is the closest I've seen to genuine class, mixed with a no-nonsense, will do anything to win Vidic-like attitude.
 
do.ob said:
He had 10 starts in the past two seasons and even before that he was "only" a promising looking young player, who in my opinion didn't show the finesse of a true top class defender.
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I never said he was top class defender right now. I said he could be a good replacement who, at 22, has still got plenty of time to improve. He made 15 starts in all competitions in the last 2 seasons, but he's also been ruled out for months due to a knee operation. In the 2011-12 season he made 43 starts for Schalke... Not bad for a 19/20 year old "promising" young player in the top tier of German football.
 
gaz1185 said:
I never said he was top class defender right now. I said he could be a good replacement who, at 22, has still got plenty of time to improve. He made 15 starts in all competitions in the last 2 seasons, but he's also been ruled out for months due to a knee operation. In the 2011-12 season he made 43 starts for Schalke... Not bad for a 19/20 year old "promising" young player in the top tier of German football.
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I know that he only played so little due to injury, but does that make it any better? People here seem to look for someone who will be a top tier defender in the foreseeable future and with Papadopoulos you have someone who looked good but not amazing and then got injured for almost two years straight.
 
Curtis Davies (only because I used to live next door to him a few years back ;))
 
There are very few CBs who are, right now, as good as Vidic was in his prime. We were truly blessed to have him in our club. Excellent in aerial duels, very good positioning in the box and many clearances, a beast on 1v1 and capable of intercepting first balls towards the forward outside the box. Plus a leader in the defence, a player with a big personality.

From our current squad players only Phil Jones has the potential to reach that level. But he has to learn to control himself. And we must start using him in his natural position. Evans and Smalling are different kinds of defenders.

I guess we're looking for possible transfer targets, so players like Pique and Silva are out of the equation. I have to say i'm really impressed with Pepe's performances in the CL this season, but he's not going to leave Real Madrid either.

The player i think ticks all the boxes is Mats Hummels (can defend inside and outside the box, good on 1v1, excellent with the ball, has shown his leadership skills). He's a ready made solution and i believe he would make a perfect pairing at CB with either Smalling or Jones. I would also consider Sokratis from BvB, but since we need a proven, experienced world class defender, he'll be a big risk.

Godin is another great option. He's had a fantastic season, he's experienced, energetic and at 28 really looks like he would fancy a move to a bigger club. Only issue with him is his passing which he needs to improve. I don't like the idea of Evans or Smalling being the only CBs able to initiate attacking moves from behind, but then again i may be wrong.

I know that most people here disagree, but i thing that Vertonghen would be a very good choice for us. He knows the league, he's a very good defender, he can score goals from set pieces and can also play as a LB.

Joel Veltman (22, Ajax), Stefan de Vrij (22, Feyenord), Simon Kjaer (25, Lille, most had given up on him but he had an excellent season), Lucas Mendes (23, Marseille), Tony Jantshcke (24, Borrusia M.Gladbach), Mahdi Benatia (27, Roma), Ogbonna (25, Juventus) are some other defenders who could be possible targets and create several different pairings at the back with our current defenders.
 
I rate Verthongen as well

Nastasic is interesting

I would sign Miranda immediately

Garay is solid

Veltman and Indi are youngrsters

Hummels is too expansive
 
Garay is after experiencing another excellent season at Benifca, wouldn't cost over 20 million either I reckon. Vertonghen would certainly be a great shout as well.
 
I don't think we should look to replace Vidic like-for-like and the type of defender he is, is becoming more of a rarity in the modern game. We already have a physical and uncompromising defender in the form of Jones and while he doesn't possess the same subtlety and maturity as Vidic, hopefully his rash tendencies and over-exuberance can be eradicated over time.

What we need more than anything is a centre back comfortable on the ball, so despite Vidic being the superior and more influential player than Ferdinand at this moment in time, it might be a question of finding a suitable replacement for Rio who looks destined to leave. Evans has great distribution from the back and is our most comfortable ball-playing centre back, so certainly might find favouritism from van Gaal given the latters footballing philosophy, but he is still prone to costly errors and is doubtful to ever become a top bracket centre half.

In an ideal world, we would find a centre back who has the ball-playing characteristics of Rio in his prime and the dominant and uncompromising physicality of Vidic. We certainly need a new centre back in my opinion, so it's merely a question of finding the most suitable one.
 
::sonny:: said:
@TheRedDevil'sAdvocate ogbonna is not good enough for juve. Kjaer a lot of appaling seasons in italy, a wolfsburg and roma reject
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I know about Kjaer, i've been watching him for quite a while. Some Bundesliga clubs (Wolsburg and Bremen top of the list) are not very kind to CBs as they play with very high defensive lines and commit too many players in the offense. I agree that he didn't do well at Roma, but he's been outstanding this season. Looks like a lot like Sokratis at BvB (exposed at Bremen, failed at Milan, very good first season at Dortmund).

Ogbonna, well i don't know about him. He can also play as a LB or LWB and we like defenders who can play in different positions. He doesn't get much first team football cause he has 3 CBs in front of him at Juve. Anyway i mentioned him and Kjaer as some cheaper solutions since we'll be probably left with only 3 CBs at the end of the season. I believe they are good back up choices for our defense.
 
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Varane is the defender we want for me. Time to build a great young team who will be together for the next 7-8 years.
 
I agree with those suggesting Jones could come close. Still just a baby at 22. Once he grows out of this over-exuberant please I think he'll be excellent with Evans as the classy ball player next to him.
 
Err it's almost impossible to find someone like Vidic IMO. There's an acute shortage of old school hard as nails type centrebacks around Europe. That said, Marquinhos is a Thiago Silva clone and really intrigues me. Not like Vida per se but he was exceptional at Roma before the move to PSG and has stagnated a bit under Blanc. Woody should forget Cavani and raid them for Marquinhos. They have to maintain the budget with the recent FFP sanctions so we can help them trim the squad. :)
 
If we are signing a defender, I'd want Stones from Everton. He's more composed on the ball than any of Evans, Smalling or Jones. Very high potential.
 
Lynk said:
I hope this doesn't become the new "Finding the next Roy Keane". While I find Keane more of a unique player than Vida, Nemanja is a dying breed nowadays too.
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that's pushing it.
 
Personally I don't think you want an exact clone because he always had the weakness of lacking pace, though he more than made up for it in other ways. So a Vidic with pace (what's Richard Dunne up to these days) would be the job. That's not asking much, is it?
 
One things certain. Smalling has to be a permanent first team fixture. He has his limitations, but as a pure defender he can become an outstanding one. I have a lot more faith in him than Evans or Jones under the correct management. All three have a future of course, but Smalling can be our best centre back for a decade, he's that good.
 
Glanville95 said:
One things certain. Smalling has to be a permanent first team fixture. He has his limitations, but as a pure defender he can become an outstanding one. I have a lot more faith in him than Evans or Jones under the correct management. All three have a future of course, but Smalling can be our best centre back for a decade, he's that good.
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The one thing that worries me about Smalling is that he is really poor with his left foot.
 
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