How well good players in Serie A play in PL? I can think of Jorginho and Higuain who are both shite here. Crespo, Sheva, Materazzi, Adrian Mutu were shite also. Balotelli, Aquilani (?), etc.
Then there's Pogba.
Then there's Pogba.
Kalidou Koulibaly
- Thread starter Sassy Colin
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Henry, Bergkamp, Zola, Vieira, Desailly, Vialli, van der Sar.
Koulibaly will turn out Lukaku like signing, definitely a great player but looks more amazing in smaller club and slower league, but not worth the prize tag. For half the quoted price we can get Alderweireld and Manolas both. Umititi will also be available for 50 to 60m.
Vieira only played like 2 games in Serie A before moving to PL, so barely a success. Neither did van der sar, Henry, and Bergkamp over there.
I don't think you can say Vialli was a success in PL (here for 3 years, 58 games, 21 goals).
I give you Zola and Desailly. Although Desailly was a GOAT already, before moving to PL.
Manolas? Porto pooped over him in the champions league last month and he was part of a Roma side that lost 7-1 to Fiorentina in Jan.
Bailly would fancy himself a better player.
It's funny how suddenly his last game against Arsenal means he "can't hack it", yet he bossed Liverpool across both legs.
Almost like 1 game to determine a player isn't important.
It's pretty obvious he'd be a great player, even better in a more drilled team. Napoli play very open and wild, he gets very little protection.
Still won most of his 1v1 duels though, and played some beautiful forward passes to set off counters. He'd be a big hit in our team IMO.
Almost like 1 game to determine a player isn't important.
It's pretty obvious he'd be a great player, even better in a more drilled team. Napoli play very open and wild, he gets very little protection.
Still won most of his 1v1 duels though, and played some beautiful forward passes to set off counters. He'd be a big hit in our team IMO.
Thanks for the audition Koulibaly, next!
He is not really a leader and has generally played with bigger, more physically imposing CB partners at both club and international level.
He is really nothing like Van Dijk.
One game and he's crap, who said football fans were reactionary eh.
He is a good defender and decent on the ball. We could do worse.
People expecting him to have a Van Dijk-style transformative effect on our backline are probably in for a disappointment.
That was a bad audition from Koulabily . I think Napoli's president will act generous and probably cut 30 million pounds so the asking price now will be 100 million pounds .
Coming to the game it was a bad team performance from Napoli and Koulabily wasn't great either but this happens . I still feel he can be an asset for us and a good partner for Lindelof if we can sign him . But the prices quoted for him is ridiculous to say the least . If he was available for 55-60 then that's a good deal but 80 million pounds is too much .
Coming to the game it was a bad team performance from Napoli and Koulabily wasn't great either but this happens . I still feel he can be an asset for us and a good partner for Lindelof if we can sign him . But the prices quoted for him is ridiculous to say the least . If he was available for 55-60 then that's a good deal but 80 million pounds is too much .
Easy tiger!
Thought he did as well as he could, Napoli have some laughable defensive structure. Their left back is Ashley Young levels of shit, he was the same against Liverpool, and Kouibaly is constantly having to come over to cover for him so wouldn't read too much into it.
He's clearly very good on the ball and would form a very good partnership with Smalling. But as others have said, I would go for Alderwiereld and spend the money elsewhere, we have so many holes in this team.
He's clearly very good on the ball and would form a very good partnership with Smalling. But as others have said, I would go for Alderwiereld and spend the money elsewhere, we have so many holes in this team.
Welcome to the cafIt's funny how suddenly his last game against Arsenal means he "can't hack it", yet he bossed Liverpool across both legs.
Almost like 1 game to determine a player isn't important.
It's pretty obvious he'd be a great player, even better in a more drilled team. Napoli play very open and wild, he gets very little protection.
Still won most of his 1v1 duels though, and played some beautiful forward passes to set off counters. He'd be a big hit in our team IMO.
He does though. Just like Van Dijk. Stands out from the rest. Very commanding.
According to SSN, Napoli are asking 110m.
They can feck off, and I hope we don’t go anywhere near that!
They can feck off, and I hope we don’t go anywhere near that!
I agree a commanding ball playing CB shouldn't be hard to find, we can find one cheaper somewhere else.
Well, they aren’t everywhere but if we bother to look, we can get a cheaper and younger option.
I know it's not my money and all that but it's more in respect of having funds for other positions so as much as I'd like KK I wouldn't want it to be for more than 65m.
I just think Toby for 25m is just far too sensible
I just think Toby for 25m is just far too sensible
Scored two on weekend I see.
We wouldn't pay 50mil+ last summer for a 29 year old CB.
We ain't paying a world record feel for a 28 year old.
We ain't paying a world record feel for a 28 year old.
Are we really likely to give him a contract that he wants at 30 years old? Wages wise, I would think so but in terms of length I'd think he'd want more than 1 or 2 seasons.
Ole has also talked up buying for the future. So adding a CB thats older than all our other options wouldnt seem like the direction we're going
Dont want a younger and cheaper option. We have those in Lindelof and Bailly. Just get a player who is available and already top class for a position we have issues with for years and havent signed an established player for. Doesnt have to be Koulibally but we dont need another maybe
In recent seasons, imho:
Positive signings: Rudiger, Salah, Pogba, Alisson, Felipe Anderson, Torreira, Marcos Alonso (except this season, but he was great under Conte)
Negative: Zappacosta, Darmian, Higuain
?: Emerson (has played a handful of games in the league) and Jorginho (class player but he's not suited to the Premier League)
Those are the main signings, I don't watch enough EPL to judge players like Roberto Pereyra, Lemina, Hoedt or Masina.
Can't agree with that.
For the first goal, Napoli's left-back Mario Rui loses the ball and then loses his footing, taking himself out of the game, allowing Arsenal to overload the Napoli defence. They send two players up the flank and the only option is for Napoli's defence to go man-for-man without any cover. But Maksimovic doesn't read the danger and stays spare for far too long, instead of sliding across to pick up Maitland-Niles before he gets the ball. That leaves him stranded. Meanwhile, Alan has ran about midfield like a madman tried to put out the emerging fire, but has ended up the wrong side of Ramsay and cannot recover. In this case, Koulibaly is completely blameless, with the majority shouldered by Rui (again) and Maksimovic failing to anticipate what was unravelling.
Crespo has one of the top 10 goals-to-minutes ratio of any player in PL history.
Quite an obvious trend there that's not about the league but either (a) they are past it, or (b) they weren't that great in the first place.
Younger in general yes. Doesn't mean he wouldn't look at an experienced player at CB to play alongside Lindelof. Dalot Alderweireld Lindelof Shaw would be a good mix of youth and experience imo.
Good call on Salah. Are the rest positive signings?
Seems like Koulibaly is physically suited to PL. But the transfer from Serie A to PL has been less favorably.
Crespo was most certainly not "shite" for Chelsea. Hard to call the transfer a success because he didn't settle but "shite"? That's ridiculous.
To put it another way, he's in the top 3 best striker signings we've made since Roman took over (Drog and Costa being 1 and 2).
Going by his wiki, 49 games, 20 goals. Was he like Drogba whose main job to bring others, or more of pure striker?
My collection is he’s the latter. Which put his Chelsea’s time as average as it can be.
But i will go with your assesment.
Of those 49 games though, he was only on the park for the full match in 11 of them. Works out as a goal every 140 minutes, which is a ratio only bettered by 9 players in the league since 1992.
Wouldn't say he was a huge success because he wasn't a great fit for the system, but his performance level was very good and he had a couple of belting goals in there.
Yeah, I vividly remember one on MOTD with a curling chip over the keeper from the edge of the box. Great player. Also one of those players who went absolutely nuts every time he scored a goal.
? Of course they are, mostly. Maybe 2 or 3 of them need to show it more consistently (certainly Torreira, Pogba too considering his cost). But if you don't think Alisson, Anderson and Rudiger have been positive signings, then not sure what to tell you! Alonso too as the poster said, maybe not as good recently, but was good for Conte.
As for Koulibaly, I've no doubt he'd be great in the PL, but the cost they are asking is maybe restrictive! But if he wants to move, then that fee will likely not be quite as huge when it comes down to it.
That’s way too sensible I’m afraid.
If it wasn’t for needing plenty of investment elsewhere I would push the boat out for Koulibaly. As things stand I hope we buy Alderweireld but worried we won’t get him.
what's today's quote for his release clause? a billion? no one will be able to afford him.. not even City or Real
Racism is a problem in England too, but if there's another instance or two in Serie A with KK before the season ends we might be able to lowball Napoli claiming impossible work environment.
I'm praying we don't go for him. Just a more expensive version of Bailly. I want a defender with a brain as well as ability.
And to put in another way he was the best of a bad bunch that included the likes of Morata, Higuain, Torres and Shevchenko
And to put in another way he was the best of a bad bunch that included the likes of Morata, Higuain, Torres and Shevchenko
Ba, Remy, Eto'o, Giroud, Pizarro (!)...Chelsea just suck at strikers. It's not like these are all bad players.
Anyway, Koulibaly. I'm going to watch the game tonight, so I'll make a full judgement on him based on how he does.
Brilliant counter from Napoli with a fantastic run and pass from Koulibaly that wasn't converted due to a good save. A top left winger would've been proud of that contribution from Koulibaly. Very impressive...
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