Kalidou Koulibaly | Signs new contract.

[SwedishFish]

The state of some people on here. If you don't think that United have enough pull to get a defender from Napoli is laughable really.


The biggest question here is how much will he cost? I can't see us spending 100 million on a CB. He does seem to be the leader that this Central defence so desperately needs.

We need to have a shuffle of at least 4 quality CBs and replacing Rojo and maybe Phil Jones with him would be a huge upgrade. I reckon he would work very well next to Lindelöf or Bailly.

 

[sunama]

We have to move with the times. Liverpool spent 75m on Van Dijk. City spent 70m on Laporte. Koulibaly is in that bracket. He is a tank of a defender.

No more tanks!
I've had enough of wrestlers masquerading as footballers.
Personally, I don't think that we are going to pay such a high price for a 27yr old.
He doesn't have a big media following, either.
I think Woodie would be prepared to pay £60M, but this won't be enough to convince his current club to sell.

I don't see Koulibaly joining us in the next 12 months.

 

[VP89]

Because Chelsea made many bids for him last season and they wouldn't if they didn't get some sort of indication from player and his agent. Just a gut feeling though.

Niangolan has had many bids from England. Doesn't mean that he wanted to go there, though. He obviously loved Italy, would only really move to another Italian clubm

 

[roonster09]

Because Chelsea made many bids for him last season and they wouldn't if they didn't get some sort of indication from player and his agent. Just a gut feeling though.

Niangolan has had many bids from England. Doesn't mean that he wanted to go there, though. He obviously loved Italy, would only really move to another Italian clubm

 

[Rozay]

Why not?

Him not being Italian for a start. Many Italians do not historically wish to leave Italy, but It is less usual for foreign players to be so attached I think.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

How is this guy different from Bailly?

Because when he tackles he doesn’t foul people

 

[Eric's Seagull]

We're the most valuable club in world football, time we acted like it.

I don't understand this mentality from fans, we either invest our money or let the Glazers leech it. I know which I'd prefer.

This. I personally am sick of being labelled the richest club in the world but then us not willing to spend as much as a player costs as it is not seen as value for money.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

No more tanks!
I've had enough of wrestlers masquerading as footballers.
Personally, I don't think that we are going to pay such a high price for a 27yr old.
He doesn't have a big media following, either.
I think Woodie would be prepared to pay £60M, but this won't be enough to convince his current club to sell.

I don't see Koulibaly joining us in the next 12 months.

He is a ball playing CB

 

[VP89]

Him not being Italian for a start. Many Italians do not historically wish to leave Italy, but It is less usual for foreign players to be so attached I think.

Big clubs have bid for Koulibaly for a few seasons now. He hasn't once forced a move. He strikes me way more as a Niangolan type, ie very much at home in Italy and targeting success where he's at. This is what he said earlier in this season for example :

Sarri? He made me grow a lot, he was very attentive to the work of the defenders. Me at Chelsea with him? I am good at Napoli,with my family. I don't speak ill of him but I want to demonstrate my value here. We are -8 from Juventus? Napoli is the best place to win the scudetto, it would be a dream. We are strong and can compete, 8 points is a lot, but we know that with Ancelotti training us we can fight."

 

[DWelbz19]

He is a ball playing CB

Not to mention that he’s ‘only’ 6’2 and has quite an athletic, slim build. It’s like people don’t research things before they post.

 

[Sassy Colin]

Isn't he a bit young for Jose, he's 27.

 

[Ramshock]

Isn't he a bit young for Jose, he's 27.

Thats new

 

[Sassy Colin]

Thats new

Thanks

 

[Rozay]

He is a ball playing CB

Yea but he’s black, so is likely all physicality I guess. Just like those who haven’t seen him are concerned he’d be ‘another Bailly’.

 

[redspoony]

Yea but he’s black, so is likely all physicality I guess. Just like those who haven’t seen him are concerned he’d be ‘another Bailly’.

Jesus Christ...

 

[MAME DIOUF 32]

Jesus Christ...

I think his assessment of what's happening here is pretty accurate.

 

[IrishMcD]

Yea but he’s black, so is likely all physicality I guess. Just like those who haven’t seen him are concerned he’d be ‘another Bailly’.

Haha well put!! Was cringing at those 'similar to Bailly' comments.

 

[Rolaholic]

Yea but he’s black, so is likely all physicality I guess. Just like those who haven’t seen him are concerned he’d be ‘another Bailly’.

Pretty much

Cringe seeing one of the best defenders in the world over the last 3-4 seasons reduced to being considered a 'wrestler' literally only because of his physique. The ignorance on display is embarrassing

We deserve the likes of Phil Jones and Smalling starting for life with fans like these

 

[davidmichael]

Probably the best and most consistent centre back in the world or at least definitely top three, great on the ball, passes well, physical beast, great in the air, far quicker than his physique would suggest and reads the game well ....... therefore we most likely won’t sign him.

 

[breakout67]

Apparently buying a top defender wont make a difference because of the midfield, unfortunately for the people that think this way. Liverpool's midfield is shocking and Van Dyke still stops them from conceding as many goals.

 

[Bergman]

Apparently buying a top defender wont make a difference because of the midfield, unfortunately for the people that think this way. Liverpool's midfield is shocking and Van Dyke still stops them from conceding as many goals.

This is about as close we'll get to youi admitting VVD is one of the best.I'll take it!

 

[Wayne's World]

We are too stupid to buy someone who would improve us....we'll end up with Harry Maguire instead

 

[Eric's Seagull]

We are too stupid to buy someone who would improve us....we'll end up with Harry Maguire instead

Sincerely hope this doesn't happen but I haven't got much faith in us in the trsansfer market at the moment. Hence why I could see it possibly happening then Leicester raising the fee right until the end so we end up paying not a huge amount less than we would pay for Koulibaly anyway.

 

[Pow]

Right now money aside, there is minimal weakness in his game as a cb, fast strong reads the game well and a really good passer out from the back. Hes a top defender would make a huge difference to any team.

 

[cheeky_backheel]

Right now money aside, there is minimal weakness in his game as a cb, fast strong reads the game well and a really good passer out from the back. Hes a top defender would make a huge difference to any team.

His passing is not that good. He is more effective carrying the ball past a presser and into midfield.

 

[Silas]

His passing is not that good. He is more effective carrying the ball past a presser and into midfield.

Looks pretty good to me.


From 7:45 onwards.

 

[LordSpud]

All the people talking about the potential cost can I please direct you to:

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...0-biggest-expensive-inflation-Chelsea-Man-Utd

Rio in today's price would be £125m.
Liverpool payed huge for VVD, City spent huge on their defence. We gotta spend money now for top class.

 

[Hawks2008]

If we're gonna spend that much on a CB it should be De Ligt

 

[kouroux]

No more tanks!
I've had enough of wrestlers masquerading as footballers.
Personally, I don't think that we are going to pay such a high price for a 27yr old.
He doesn't have a big media following, either.
I think Woodie would be prepared to pay £60M, but this won't be enough to convince his current club to sell.

I don't see Koulibaly joining us in the next 12 months.

Have you even seen him play ? Big media following ?

 

[cheeky_backheel]

Looks pretty good to me.


From 7:45 onwards.

Then we simply have different standards and I didnt rely on youtube clips to make my judgement.

 

[Silas]

Then we simply have different standards and I didnt rely on youtube clips to make my judgement.

Very high standards you have then. How often have you watched him?

 

[breakout67]

This is about as close we'll get to youi admitting VVD is one of the best.I'll take it!

Just read my posts and you'll see me put Van Dyke as top 10 in his position. A very good centre back that was miles better than the train wrecks that are Lovren, Matip and Klavan.

 

[Patrick08]

All the people talking about the potential cost can I please direct you to:

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...0-biggest-expensive-inflation-Chelsea-Man-Utd

Rio in today's price would be £125m.
Liverpool payed huge for VVD, City spent huge on their defence. We gotta spend money now for top class.

That's what mourinho makes you believe, when his poor midfield signings fail to put up a fight, and his wide strikers are owned by two opposition players due to the fact they spend entire time as a full back during the game.

 

[Mr PG]

Apparently buying a top defender wont make a difference because of the midfield, unfortunately for the people that think this way. Liverpool's midfield is shocking and Van Dyke still stops them from conceding as many goals.

Arsenal have fixed their season with a Torreira. An energetic central midfielder in the mould of Kante so it's stupid to pay that kind of money mentioned for a defender. Even the money liverpool paid for Van Dyke was to butter-up Soton to sell after their tapping up accusations.

 

[BlueHaze]

All the people talking about the potential cost can I please direct you to:

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...0-biggest-expensive-inflation-Chelsea-Man-Utd

Rio in today's price would be £125m.
Liverpool payed huge for VVD, City spent huge on their defence. We gotta spend money now for top class.

Then might I ask you how Napoli themselves got the guy the thread is about for 6.5m? Or how Inter got Škriniar for 15m? Or how Barca got Umtiti for 30m? The truth is that in a well functioning club with a proper scouting network you will not have to pay these abnormal amounts to sign top class players. Clubs however who has rubbish scouting and zero patience will end up paying 100m for these type of players instead of finding them when they will cost 70% less. Untill the day comes when this club can reignite the flame of finding these young talents without having to spend an absolute fortune I am afraid transfers will continue to be a massive problem as clubs and players are only going to end up milking us out of money. The current wage structure is an absolute mess and it is understandable with the people in charge of these decisions.

 

[charlenefan]

Then might I ask you how Napoli themselves got the guy the thread is about for 6.5m? Or how Inter got Škriniar for 15m? Or how Barca got Umtiti for 30m? The truth is that in a well functioning club with a proper scouting network you will not have to pay these abnormal amounts to sign top class players. Clubs however who has rubbish scouting and zero patience will end up paying 100m for these type of players instead of finding them when they will cost 70% less. Untill the day comes when this club can reignite the flame of finding these young talents without having to spend an absolute fortune I am afraid transfers will continue to be a massive problem as clubs and players are only going to end up milking us out of money. The current wage structure is an absolute mess and it is understandable with the people in charge of these decisions.

Multiple problems with your post

1- you criticise clubs for not being 'well functioned' or a 'proper scouting network' yet these clubs are successful (certainly in City's case anyway)
2- once upon a time someone like De Ligt would be a young talent like you describe that someone like Man Utd could pick up for peanuts but those times have now changed. To get someone like De Ligt means getting them before they've even made a first team appearance and that then brings the added complication of having to give them their first team experience yourself something a club the size of Man Utd cant afford to do with the pressure of being successful right now

For every Vidic (low key/cheap) we've bought down the years there's been a Ferdinand (high profile/expensive)

 

[Patrick08]

Then might I ask you how Napoli themselves got the guy the thread is about for 6.5m? Or how Inter got Škriniar for 15m? Or how Barca got Umtiti for 30m? The truth is that in a well functioning club with a proper scouting network you will not have to pay these abnormal amounts to sign top class players. Clubs however who has rubbish scouting and zero patience will end up paying 100m for these type of players instead of finding them when they will cost 70% less. Untill the day comes when this club can reignite the flame of finding these young talents without having to spend an absolute fortune I am afraid transfers will continue to be a massive problem as clubs and players are only going to end up milking us out of money. The current wage structure is an absolute mess and it is understandable with the people in charge of these decisions.

I can bet the likes of bailly and lindelof looking 10 times better under any other manager than mourinho as well. Even under lvg.

Mourinho blames everyone but never himself.

 

[breakout67]

Arsenal have fixed their season with a Torreira. An energetic central midfielder in the mould of Kante so it's stupid to pay that kind of money mentioned for a defender. Even the money liverpool paid for Van Dyke was to butter-up Soton to sell after their tapping up accusations.

You must not be watching all that much of Torreira, he's a liability and you're off your rocker comparing him to Kante (who isn't even the deepest midfielder in most setups like Torreira, yet still manages to offer more protection).

Arsenal have been shocking going back this season, conceding chances left right and centre. They've conceded 20 goals this season and this would be much more had teams like Watford, Wolves and Everton had their finishing boots on.

Arsenal are in the position they are because their forwards are very high quality. Lacazette and Aubameyang can shoot from wherever they like and it seems to have a good chance of going in. We have created more and better quality chances than Arsenal this season, yet they have scored 7 more goals. Their season being 'fixed' is not down to Torreira (they are still 5th place, nothing has been fixed).

 

[BlueHaze]

Multiple problems with your post

1- you criticise clubs for not being 'well functioned' or a 'proper scouting network' yet these clubs are successful (certainly in City's case anyway)
2- once upon a time someone like De Ligt would be a young talent like you describe that someone like Man Utd could pick up for peanuts but those times have now changed. To get someone like De Ligt means getting them before they've even made a first team appearance and that then brings the added complication of having to give them their first team experience yourself something a club the size of Man Utd cant afford to do with the pressure of being successful right now

For every Vidic (low key/cheap) we've bought down the years there's been a Ferdinand (high profile/expensive)

We are going down the wrong route. As your last point there says there was always a mix of spending some juicy fees but along with them came a lot of hidden gems for incredibly cheap fees and like I said clubs like Napoli and Inter are still finding these types of players these days so why can't we? Im all in for spending big on certain players but there has to be a plan and that is where your comparison to city fails because they have had a plan since day one of spending on pure quality to instantly improve their side sure there was some flops like Mangala and Fernando but they were all soon gone and replaced with big improvements. Look at the Lukaku deal for example, nearly 100m blown on a striker who only scored 16 goals in the league. Why didn't we just make Martial or Rashford the striker and spent those 75m on a centre back if that was so important?

Because there is zero thought process going on in this club at the moment. They are just blindly throwing huge sums at average players and you compare it to City who signed people like Agüero, Toure, Silva, De Bruyne, Laporte, Sterling and so on, all players who greatly improved their team. If we are going to spend big it has to be on players who are 100% going to come in and do a better job than those that we already have. Why spend 60m on Lindelöf and Bailly instead of just giving Tuanzebe a proper chance at cb? The recipe for success will always be a mixture of spending big on the right targets but along the way finding these young prospects for cheaper fees that with a little time and belief shown in them will become good with time.

 

[Suv666]

That's what mourinho makes you believe, when his poor midfield signings fail to put up a fight, and his wide strikers are owned by two opposition players due to the fact they spend entire time as a full back during the game.

Yeah mate Matic Pogba and Fred is a decent midfield, its sufficient for top 4 at least. Its because of the poor management we're midtable.