They bought and paid Keita the summer before, but agreed for him to stay another year at Leipzig.
Kalidou Koulibaly
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They bought and paid Keita the summer before, but agreed for him to stay another year at Leipzig.
Not the same. Van Dyke had been a target from 2017 (he even handed in a transfer request that summer), so his purchase had no effect on the 2018 summer budget. And they'd sold Coutinho on top of that so they had a lot of money.
Between the two of them who’s better between Skriniar and Koulibaly ? Who would fit us and what we need better ? Who’s more of a leader ? I don’t watch much Serie A anymore but from what I hear these two are are two of the top 5-10 centre backs in the world.
I don't think that spending 100m on a 27 year old whose not even anywhere near to Rio or Stam in that prime is worth it. So instead lets strengthen the defence as a whole and hope that 1-2 of them will become top talent. That is what we always did
We can't just keep taking gambles and hoping they pay off though, at some point we just have to grit our teeth and pay for the top bracket of players, it's much easier to bed in talented players when they've got experienced, genuine quality next to them. Koulibaly's no Stam or Ferdinand, fine, but he's one of the three best CBs on the planet (IMO) and entering his prime years.
£100m is a lot to pay, no question, but if we can't convince those with Stam/Ferdinand potential then we should go for the ready-made quality. We can go back to taking gambles when the defence is better and there's a more stable environment for a player to come into, the knock-on effect of signing someone as good as Koulibaly means we'd improve as a team and therefore likely have a bigger pool of talent to choose from.
Koulibaly's better than Skriniar at the moment but he could surpass him in the next few seasons, my only issue with Skriniar would be that he's pretty slow and with our other starting CB likely to be Lindelof it leaves us with a very slow CB pairing which can be very risky in the PL. I don't see Skriniar leaving Inter any time soon, he seems to enjoy being there.
I’ve been watching Koulibaly when I can and I must say I think he’s overrated.
In the last game against Milan he stood off Piatek and got done in the box, and they conceded.
In my opinion at the moment, I think Maguire is the best fit for us. He looks like a United player.
He’s a year or so younger than Koulibaly, is English, is better in the air, would cost a good bit less, is used to the league, is a leader and loves to come out with the ball and make good risky passes. Alright he maybe lacks pace but he reads the game well.
We need someone who can dominate in the air.
In the last game against Milan he stood off Piatek and got done in the box, and they conceded.
In my opinion at the moment, I think Maguire is the best fit for us. He looks like a United player.
He’s a year or so younger than Koulibaly, is English, is better in the air, would cost a good bit less, is used to the league, is a leader and loves to come out with the ball and make good risky passes. Alright he maybe lacks pace but he reads the game well.
We need someone who can dominate in the air.
The world, or Man Utd signing a CB?
You have a very skewed view of what 'the world' means to other people. For me, it isn't Man Utd's transfer policy.
Have you just described Chris Smalling there?
We don't really need another CB after Phil Jones the "new" Duncan Edwards signed another long term contract. 
Smalling good on the ball though?? I’m telling ya Koulibaly is overrated!I honestly think since Jones is 26.... He was given an extension because the club plan on selling him like what they did with Fellaini. Even a blind person would take notice how clumsy and Injury prone of a defender he is.
It was more of a tongue in cheek comment than anything else...
Oh please, Maguire is one of the most overrated players in the league. There is more to defending than being good in the air, in our high line his lack of pace would be exposed and he is regularly at fault for the goals Leicester concede. Defensively he is no better than Jones or Smalling, he is slower than both and his ball playing abilities are vastly overstated (decent but not exceptional). He would be decent if brought in alongside a top CB as a squad option but wouldn't be an upgrade on Smalling or Lindelof.
He either the best thing since sliced bread or the World's most overrated defender.
George Carlin had some interesting views on sliced bread : "What's so great about sliced bread, you have knife and a piece of bread, slice the mfecking thing".
It has to be the dumbest expression in the English language.
OT: Even if Koulibaly is a bit overrated, he would still massively improve our defense. One poster above mentioned that he got done in the box by Piatek in the Milan game. Well, that doesn't make him a bad defender.
Messi takes a dump on all defenders in the world, that doesn't make them bad defenders. CAF logic is a bit strange at times.
But Jones got done by Hazard and he is a fecking liability.
Each transfer is a gamble. JSV was possibly one of the safest signings SAF could make. He was a WC player, in his prime, who was magnificent in a Serie A which was far better then this Serie A and in a side which was far better then Napoli are. Unfortunately it didn't work out for us as he struggled with the EPL pace, demands and overall play.
I rate Koulibaly alot but he's not a safe bet. He never played in the EPL or at a top club. Napoli had done well in the past few years or so but the mentality is pretty much that of a small side. There are closer to Torino in terms of mentality then United/Real/Barcelona. So he'll need time to settle down and there's absolutely no guarantee that the place would be far too big for him to handle.
If Koulibaly was rated 60m then Id say lets get him. He would prove a valuable piece to strengthen a defence that need plenty of TLC. However he's not worth blowing our entire budget in defence on him.
That's what I'm saying.
There aren't many decent defenders around these days, so if you want a good one, you have to pay the money, as Liverpool found out.
I'd be worried about dropping a ton of money on a, relatively, unproved Dutch defender though (De Ligt). VvD went via Celtic and Southampton before he got his 'big' move, at the age of 27.
I for one find some of these recent ranting posts quite amusing.
I think club's boards nowadays got lazy with all the ton of cash that EPL TV rights are generating and basically splash the cash on the market's most expensive players.
Giving a random example: Clubs nowadays miss the guts (or simply don't analyse the market at all) to make the move, hire the guy who's doing excelent for Rennes for three consecutive seasons. And you know what? Sometimes those players may never become world beaters, but if in the end of the day we get a more balanced squad it means the strategy already paid off.
If we got him for 60 million, that would be fair. I just hope we dont splash out 90 million on him. No defender is worth that. An attacker yes, even more.
Maguire doesn't look anything like a United player. He looks like a decent PL centre half who had a decent WC (against "ok" opponents).
And apparently £75m .... massively over-priced
If he makes a difference like VVD for Liverpool he's easily worth 90.
I’d break the bank to bring Koulibaly in.
Not only would he become our best defender and leader in defense (something we lack currently) but he would instantly improve the play around him.
Lindelof and the full backs should elevate their play massively with Koulibaly in the centre of the defense orchestrating things.
Look at the impact VVD has had on that whole back four. He’s enhanced the play of all those around him so for the sake of an extra £10-20m just agree on a fee and get him in before preseason.
I don’t want us to waste time messing around for the sake of the price of one of Woodys noodle sponsorship deals. Just get the deal done and get the chemistry building in preseason.
Not only would he become our best defender and leader in defense (something we lack currently) but he would instantly improve the play around him.
Lindelof and the full backs should elevate their play massively with Koulibaly in the centre of the defense orchestrating things.
Look at the impact VVD has had on that whole back four. He’s enhanced the play of all those around him so for the sake of an extra £10-20m just agree on a fee and get him in before preseason.
I don’t want us to waste time messing around for the sake of the price of one of Woodys noodle sponsorship deals. Just get the deal done and get the chemistry building in preseason.
I actually think Sancho would cost more than Koulibaly this summer.
I've seen both over a period games, not extensively enough to give an indepth analysis but my take is Koulabily is solid but prone to a few positional errors in my opinion. He's quite easily the better ball playing centre back, I have no idea why this isn't mentioned, he's a fantastic passer of the ball and would eclipse any defender we have in that in department. Under pressure situations he can pick a decent pass to play Napoli out of trouble, he's physically imposing which naturally gives him more composure in sticky moments.
Skriniar on the other hand is more of a text book Italian esque defender, the games I've seen he's the type to pocket the offence, he cuts passing lines well seems to have a high level of concentration in his play and a consciousness to deter danger. It's very hard to pick between them, for me it comes down to a tactical implementation which depends on what our (or potential) manager would want from his centre halves.
Koulabily is closer to what we need OVERALL but he's age is a factor which puts a sour taste on the percieve value on a 100+ motion defender. If we go for Skriniar, id also throw De Ligt into the mix, they are both young but De Ligt shows a higher ceiling imo, he was Ajax best player when we played them in the Europa League final at like the age of 17 ? He's another who deserves a mention. Watch his performance against Bayern Munich it sums up his style of play Lewandowski is still probably wondering what happened.
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Still think Varane is the #1 target personally.
If we can get him he quite rightly should be. Best CB in the world when you consider all the factors. Whether we can get him is another matter entirely.
The only way I can see him coming is if Bailly leaves.... We've already extended contracts of Smalling and Jones and can't see Lindelof leaving since he's been our best CB this season. Giving a 4 year extension to Jones has to be a big black mark on what I would say Ole's stellar start as Manager of Man United.
Ah he is though. He was man of the match against the scousers recently and was excellent against us. Of the games I’ve seen Koulibaly play in, he hasn’t impressed me enough to say he’s anywhere near worth 100m.
If he could be signed for 60-70m than you could make more of a case.
Ole didnt have a lot of say in it IMO.
In my opinion he does. He shows confidence on the ball and creates well from deep and is a good defender.
He was good in the World Cup as you said but also was very good in the recent big games Leicester have played.
I agree about the price, but Koulibaly is apparently worth 100m?
He also got done by Salah in the champions league. I agree that he is a good defender but not 100m good, no way, and I think for say 60m ish , Maguire would be the better buy.
Think we may still shop Jones in the summer personally.
Torres had Vidic for a mug once upon a time, doesn't mean he wasn't world class.
People still out here believing Woodwards briefings? The guy is the biggest spineless fool in football. We were outspent by relegation dross in the summer. And in January he had a convenient excuse on waiting for a new manager. We dont need to wait for a new manager to improve our non existent RW, our converted winger at RB, our only left footed leftback. Do you think the Martial contract signing on deadline day was a coincidence? It was tactical to keep fans onside. This was the same guy who helped the glazers take ownership of the club, don't put anything past him.
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Tony is a tried and tested premiere league experienced player and he is just 2 years elder than Koulibaly and he is available for 25Mil if not Ginger Or delegit looks like good options too !!
We also bought Pogba, what about him? Martial was also a very good transfer so you can't flip that one negatively i'm afraid. Last summer transfer window was horrible. Dalot seems decent for the future, but Fred and only him? That is basically just procrastinating.
What point are you trying to make? I was talking about announcing Martials new contract on deadline day to keep fans happy with no signings. Cheap move and sly tactics by the leeches in charge.
Sorry I thought you were saying the leeches signed him on deadline day to keep the fans happy, which I couldn't see why any United fan would have a problem with.
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