Kalidou Koulibaly

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Not sure that signing both De Ligt and Koulibaly would be a smart move. The best CB partnerships I've seen have happened sort of organically, with the new CB being brought in to complement the existing one. Has a complete partnership ever been successfully integrated into a team? Genuine question, as I don't remember it happening.

Better to buy whichever one would work alongside Lindelof for me - as he's looked very decent under Ole and will keep improving.
 
Macern said:
Vidic probably. Not quite as good in the air, but a lot faster. Better on the ball, but not as good as VVD, Lindelöf or Maguire. In terms of pure defending he’s up there with the best in the world from what I’ve seen. Haven’t seen him that much though, and I’m probably influenced a bit by what I’ve read/heard so I might be wrong.
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Cheers for that. Let’s hope you don’t get him, then:)
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
Is LCB vs RCB that important a distinction? i.e. can most players only play on their preferred side? I can understand it more with full backs (left vs right) but i wouldn't have thought it made much difference with CBs?

Which side do our current CBs play? If it is a big issue as people are suggesting, it must rule out certain pairings of our current lot
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No, it’s not that important. In fact, no one had ever mentioned it before van Gaal came in and started buying exclusively left footed players.

I’d kinda hope that if we’re paying £100m for a centre back he’d be comfortable on either side. Or else don’t buy the fecker.

I’d also be very wary of buying from the Dutch league again. Maybe sign De Ligt after he’s moved to a better league a few years down the line. That is, if he actually is more than just the hot name at the moment. From what little I’ve seen of him he seemed a bit slow.
 
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All we need now is some songs that don't quite work. I'll kick us off.

Kouilibaly in life after Jones,
I can feel something inside me say,
I really don't think Phil's strong enough, oh.
 
poleglass red said:
nothing he can do in that regards, but he could have his opinion sought out before we break transfer records. It's not a very hard concept to grasp.
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‘He’, whoever he is. Our next manager is unknown. Football however, continues in the meantime.
 
Show intrest after him signing a 5 year deal in Sept. What a clown Woodward has been as a ceo of the club.
 
I still can’t help but feel 100 million £/€ is mental for a centre back, even in this market.

It’s not my money I know, but surely we have a scouting department that can spot equally talented players for a fraction of the cost, allowing us to make more changes?
 
Cee90 said:
I still can’t help but feel 100 million £/€ is mental for a centre back, even in this market.

It’s not my money I know, but surely we have a scouting department that can spot equally talented players for a fraction of the cost, allowing us to make more changes?
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Thats how we ended up with the CBs we have.
 
Patrick08 said:
Show intrest after him signing a 5 year deal in Sept. What a clown Woodward has been as a ceo of the club.
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There were reports of a rejected bid in the summer from an English club. Also I think the Board lost trust in Mou for whatever reason.
Also don't think him signing a new contract changes much, as I think he would have costed almost the same, New contract or not
What might have changed is that Koulibaly might want to leave after the racial abuse incident and with Napoli out of the CL
 
Cassidy said:
Thats how we ended up with the CBs we have.
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I hear you, but it’s also how we ended up with the likes of Vidic, Stam and Evra.

Spending 100 million £/€ isn’t a guarantee for success either.
 
Cee90 said:
I still can’t help but feel 100 million £/€ is mental for a centre back, even in this market.

It’s not my money I know, but surely we have a scouting department that can spot equally talented players for a fraction of the cost, allowing us to make more changes?
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Oh I think we tried that and failed miserably
Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Bailly, Lindelof were all highly regarded as youngsters but none of them has managed to step up
Luck plays a part in any transfer being a success and we have been pretty unlucky for the past few year. Add to that the apparent lack of planning and tada, here we are
 
Cee90 said:
I still can’t help but feel 100 million £/€ is mental for a centre back, even in this market.

It’s not my money I know, but surely we have a scouting department that can spot equally talented players for a fraction of the cost, allowing us to make more changes?
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Bailly and Lindelof is the result of that.. The problem going down that route is you have to sacrifice experience, which is a vital part of being a top centreback and what we need at the moment.
 
Cee90 said:
I still can’t help but feel 100 million £/€ is mental for a centre back, even in this market.

It’s not my money I know, but surely we have a scouting department that can spot equally talented players for a fraction of the cost, allowing us to make more changes?
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100m for Koulibaly is not a cost or spending; its an investment.
Cost is his wages.
Paying 100m for Koulibaly does not hinder us pursuing other targets as long as we can keep the wage budget healthy. I dont think the club would mind investing 250m in Koulibaly, De Ligt and De Jong if they all wanted to join. Think we would jump on it tbf.
The issue is not and has never been money for transfers (investment), the issue is the wage budget.
 
Cee90 said:
I hear you, but it’s also how we ended up with the likes of Vidic, Stam and Evra.

Spending 100 million £/€ isn’t a guarantee for success either.
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We also spent a lot of money at the time for Rio who was clearly a top player. If someone is clearly a top player pay up
 
Cassidy said:
We also spent a lot of money at the time for Rio who was clearly a top player. If someone is clearly a top player pay up
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Ferdinand is a great example as to why transfer fees is not spending, its an asset investment. Rio was worth double that amount after a couple of years at the club.
 
Cee90 said:
I hear you, but it’s also how we ended up with the likes of Vidic, Stam and Evra.

Spending 100 million £/€ isn’t a guarantee for success either.
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Stam was a record fee for a defender at the time.
 
Ubik said:
Stam was a record fee for a defender at the time.
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And we still made money on him. Sold him for 8m more to Lazio than we bought him for. 50 percent profit on that investment.
The issue with Koulibalyi s not the transfer fee, its if Napoli lets him go or not.
 
I will agree with Damien and say that he will not leave in january. That said, crazy things have happened before and if it did happen it would be one of the best winter signings in club history.
 
This guy is so good!

The problem is the Napoli president - he's so difficult to have dealings with!
 
£90m for a 27 year old centre back is poor value.

And I never knew there were so many Serie A watchers who watch Napoli every week on here:rolleyes:
 
Rob said:
A year ago, I said that 100m is outragous for a defender. Now, having seen what impact van Dijk has had with us, I’d say that if he’s as good as branded, then throw everything you have at him. What kind of defender is he? Nesta, Rio, Vidic?
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Second coming of Christ if you believe this lot
 
Yes, Ferdinand and Stam was investments. One delivering for a long time and one sold with a profit. BUT: Koulibaly become 28yo in June, there is no way his price will go up from here. And he is finished in 5 years.
 
here we go again, you just know he won't sign and be disappointed when we see jones and smalling play
 
Damien said:
Nah. I'm so confident that he isn't moving this window that if he does, the caf can vote on a new tagline for me.

Why would France Football know about a Senegalese footballer moving from an Italian club to an English one? Plus, it mentions a deal would come close to 100M - but the contract he signed in summer had a 100M clause which was removed when he signed another contract in December so if anything a deal would be more expensive than stick to around the same price.
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French connections work well in Africa so why not. But I agree with you, it sounds crazy and all. But we are looking sexier and the team history doesn't disappear that easily. Beat Spurs and PSG, and all cards are on the table. Well Spurs for this transfer to be potentially this Jan.
 
Cassidy said:
Thats how we ended up with the CBs we have.
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Which of our CBs were cut price players? They were all expensive. Smalling for his lack of experience, Jones was expensive for his too. Rojo cost us Nani + cash, Bailly was expensive for a CB at the time and Lindelof was just a bit less.
 
witchtrials said:
I'm sure Koulibaly is a colossus but surely he can't replace three players, even if they are injury prone ones. Would leave us with only three centre backs, unless you think we're going to buy two first team centre backs in one year.
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We can call back Tuanzebe who I think is now ready. Leaving us with 4 centre backs which is fine. We don't need more do we?
one CB + Tuanzebe to replace three. Two actually. Rojo might not as well exist because he doesn't play.
 
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Ekeke said:
Which of our CBs were cut price players? They were all expensive. Smalling for his lack of experience, Jones was expensive for his too. Rojo cost us Nani + cash, Bailly was expensive for a CB at the time and Lindelof was just a bit less.
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Fraction of the cost of 100m euros.... I would say all of them
 
abdo99 said:
We can call back Tuanzebe who I think is now ready. Leaving us with 4 centre backs which is fine. We don't need more do we?
one CB + Tuanzebe to replace three.
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Its not enough. We saw what happened when LvG trimmed his squad too much and we got injuries. We have already been on the ropes this year when it comes to CB. Liverpool is suffering it now. Its not a good place not to have depth. I agree that Tuanzebe needs to get a chance nxt season if he can stay injury free the rest of the season at Villa. As much as people lambast Jones and Rojo for being injury prone, Tuanzebe has not been a rock so far in his career either. 5 established CBs plus Tuanzebe for me.
 
If we get him for silly money, then for his age there's no compromise it's just money not getting the same back, it will be an investment to win trophies. And thats what it should be. Lot of money though?
 
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