Kalidou Koulibaly

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I havn't seen him play for a few seasons. But when I last saw him I felt that he was the second best defender in the world after Van Dijk.
 
31 now, this train has passed. Napoli should have sold him a few years ago, they were too greedy.
 
Andrew7582 said:
31 now, this train has passed. Napoli should have sold him a few years ago, they were too greedy.
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31 is really not that old. This is not 2003. It frustrates me so much when people do this. Chelsea just won the CL with Thiago Silva, how old was he? 21 when they signed him?
 
NewYorkRed said:
31 is really not that old. This is not 2003. It frustrates me so much when people do this. Chelsea just won the CL with Thiago Silva, how old was he? 21 when they signed him?
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He was a free transfer to be fair so it was risk-free.

If Kouliably is available on the cheap and we're convinced he's the best option, sure. But we've seen what happened with the likes of Matic who we paid big money for and he got old overnight, because of our outlay we ended up holding on to him too long which stopped us from improving our midfield, and in my view the signing ended up being a poor footballing decision and financial decision.

Most players aren't still truly elite in their mid-late 30s. We should primarily be targeting players in their prime or approaching it.
 
NewYorkRed said:
31 is really not that old. This is not 2003. It frustrates me so much when people do this. Chelsea just won the CL with Thiago Silva, how old was he? 21 when they signed him?
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It's not worth the gamble for us at his age, we would have to pay a sizeable transfer fee even now and very little resale value if it doesn't work out.
 
NewYorkRed said:
31 is really not that old. This is not 2003. It frustrates me so much when people do this. Chelsea just won the CL with Thiago Silva, how old was he? 21 when they signed him?
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I don’t know why you are getting so frustrated . While 31yrs isn’t that old but you have to remember our centre backs are almost 30 yrs old. You can’t have sign another cb who is 31 because within 2 yrs time you again have the replace them all with fairly huge amounts of money.

You mentioned Thiago silva but forgot that chelsea could do that because all of Christensen, Zouma and rudiger were fairly young. In our case you can’t do that, ideally we have to have sign a cb who is experienced as well as fairly young in cb terms like Pau torres or someone like that otherwise it will be a massive problem within a couple of years time. Personally, I would take a punt on young Timber than sign koulibaly.
 
Dominos said:
He was a free transfer to be fair so it was risk-free.

If Kouliably is available on the cheap and we're convinced he's the best option, sure. But we've seen what happened with the likes of Matic who we paid big money for and he got old overnight, because of our outlay we ended up holding on to him too long which stopped us from improving our midfield, and in my view the signing ended up being a poor footballing decision and financial decision.

Most players aren't still truly elite in their mid-late 30s. We should primarily be targeting players in their prime or approaching it.
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Andrew7582 said:
It's not worth the gamble for us at his age, we would have to pay a sizeable transfer fee even now and very little resale value if it doesn't work out.
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Kaushal said:
I don’t know why you are getting so frustrated . While 31yrs isn’t that old but you have to remember our centre backs are almost 30 yrs old. You can’t have sign another cb who is 31 because within 2 yrs time you again have the replace them all with fairly huge amounts of money.

You mentioned Thiago silva but forgot that chelsea could do that because all of Christensen, Zouma and rudiger were fairly young. In our case you can’t do that, ideally we have to have sign a cb who is experienced as well as fairly young in cb terms like Pau torres or someone like that otherwise it will be a massive problem within a couple of years time. Personally, I would take a punt on young Timber than sign koulibaly.
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I honestly haven’t even seen this guy play. Was strictly talking about the age excuse.

In the modern day, you do not need to replace a 31 yr old in 2 years. Look around, the world has changed and science has made leaps and bounds of progress. Tom Brady is 45 and starting in the NFL for heaven’s sake. 31 most footballers are still easily in their prime.
 
NewYorkRed said:
I honestly haven’t even seen this guy play. Was strictly talking about the age excuse.

In the modern day, you do not need to replace a 31 yr old in 2 years. Look around, the world has changed and science has made leaps and bounds of progress. Tom Brady is 45 and starting in the NFL for heaven’s sake. 31 most footballers are still easily in their prime.
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Yeah to be fair there's been massive advances in PEDs so players are able to continue to perform at an elite level well past what we used to think was possible.
 
With one year remaining on his contract, he shouldn't cost anything more than £25m.
 
Korwas said:
I havn't seen him play for a few seasons. But when I last saw him I felt that he was the second best defender in the world after Van Dijk.
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Felt the same way when I saw him this season.

This is a no brainer if he's fit and costs 30 million.

I think it's bullshit though.
 
NewYorkRed said:
I honestly haven’t even seen this guy play. Was strictly talking about the age excuse.

In the modern day, you do not need to replace a 31 yr old in 2 years. Look around, the world has changed and science has made leaps and bounds of progress. Tom Brady is 45 and starting in the NFL for heaven’s sake. 31 most footballers are still easily in their prime.
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It depends entirely on the individual player. Some players can continue on at their best until their mid 30's, others noticeably decline from their late 20's. I have no idea where Koulibaly fits in that range though.
 
If we signed him for 30m and also got a youngster who could learn from him, and it meant we could get rid of Jones, Bailly and one of Maguire and Lindelof, count me in.
 
Wouldn't really see the point in this one. We already have Varane in the older age bracket and would be better off getting a young player with scope to improve to play alongside him (if we even sign a CB this summer).

Not too keen on the idea of signing players on the decline looking for their last big contract either.
 
I think he would be great, but when thinking about it, many of the current defenders would have to leave first. Having him instead of all of Maguire, Jones, Bailly and Tuanzebe would be good, as especially Maguire would be replaced in the leading CB role, and the others with the occupied places in center back. But if they don't leave, he would still be an upgrade, but it would take up too much of the squad and long term plans. He can probably stick around for about 4-5 years depending on his personal fitness trajectory, but you still have to build towards the future within those years.

But for the next season, if you'd have him next to Varane with Lindelof and someone like Timber as backups, all you need is one more experienced back-up who doesn't care about possibly not playing a single minute and/or a midfielder who can fill in the back like Matic did. If Frenkie comes that could be him, but that would also depend on the other midfield reinforcements and is venturing into off-topic-territories. Maybe I'm biased because I like him as a player, but I think he'd fit well and would improve the team a lot. Plus, Varane can be great, but we all know he is the type of defender that isn't great on his own, and Maguire is no Van Dijk or Ramos that can lead him to stability.

Koulibaly seems closer to a stable partner and therefore I hope it happens. I don't know if it should be a priority, but I can't remember a calm Utd at the back (although I have to say Maguire was decent in a fair share of games in the previous season).
 
remember when some people here thought Belotti was worth it at 80m? Italian clubs tried to rinse PL clubs so bad they ended up with nothing.

appleman said:
I think he would be great, but when thinking about it, many of the current defenders would have to leave first. Having him instead of all of Maguire, Jones, Bailly and Tuanzebe would be good, as especially Maguire would be replaced in the leading CB role, and the others with the occupied places in center back. But if they don't leave, he would still be an upgrade, but it would take up too much of the squad and long term plans. He can probably stick around for about 4-5 years depending on his personal fitness trajectory, but you still have to build towards the future within those years.

But for the next season, if you'd have him next to Varane with Lindelof and someone like Timber as backups, all you need is one more experienced back-up who doesn't care about possibly not playing a single minute and/or a midfielder who can fill in the back like Matic did. If Frenkie comes that could be him, but that would also depend on the other midfield reinforcements and is venturing into off-topic-territories. Maybe I'm biased because I like him as a player, but I think he'd fit well and would improve the team a lot. Plus, Varane can be great, but we all know he is the type of defender that isn't great on his own, and Maguire is no Van Dijk or Ramos that can lead him to stability.

Koulibaly seems closer to a stable partner and therefore I hope it happens. I don't know if it should be a priority, but I can't remember a calm Utd at the back (although I have to say Maguire was decent in a fair share of games in the previous season).
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and McT still shielding them??
 
haru krentz said:
remember when some people here thought Belotti was worth it at 80m? Italian clubs tried to rinse PL clubs so bad they ended up with nothing.

and McT still shielding them??
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Haha I hoped that would be clear through the 'priority' statement. I don't think McT is good enough, though Ten Hag is more about team-structure defending, so I'm not sure how he'll deal with the DM positions. Right now he does have an anchor in Alvarez, but when Frenkie was around the other DM was freckling Schøne. Wouldn't be surprised to see a pair of Frenkie and Neves or something as a possible solution. That could mean Ten Hag will see something in McTominay, but I think he'll consider him too wild and positionally unreliable for a single DM position.

EDIT: Also, about the 80m statement, I do wonder if Koulibaly will still be as expensive. If it's still 80-ish I assume a lot of wages have to be cleared and new budget has to be offered if you want to get more than two good players.
 
At €35M would be a no brainer for anyone. He's a CB, 31 means middle of his peak. He had a few struggles with injuries the past two seasons but this season was back to being a beast
 
He is still very good. I watched him this season and he would walk into our defence.
 
Giggsyking said:
He is still very good. I watched him this season and he would walk into our defence.
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Easily.

Koulibaly is levels above anyone we have. Including Varane. He's still faster, stronger and better aerially.
 
Should have signed him instead of Maguire. But the ship has sailed. With ETH coming I dont see us signing 30+ y.o player.
 
tenpoless said:
Should have signed him instead of Maguire. But the ship has sailed. With ETH coming I dont see us signing 30+ y.o player.
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Why not? He is better than every cb we have and has 1 year left on his contract that means he is attainable at a good price. He will not cost more than 25m.
 
Giggsyking said:
Why not? He is better than every cb we have and has 1 year left on his contract that means he is attainable at a good price. He will not cost more than 25m.
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Because he's over 30, big reputation, and will command massive wages. We already filled our quota for that.
 
NewYorkRed said:
I honestly haven’t even seen this guy play. Was strictly talking about the age excuse.

In the modern day, you do not need to replace a 31 yr old in 2 years. Look around, the world has changed and science has made leaps and bounds of progress. Tom Brady is 45 and starting in the NFL for heaven’s sake. 31 most footballers are still easily in their prime.
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But not every player will play to their mid thirties. On top of that I doubt koulibaly would accept a contract of less than 3 years. He will want to secure his financial future. Thiago Silva was less of a risk because at 36 he was OK with a 1 +1 contract. Had he failed Chelsea would have released him a year later.
 
flappyjay said:
But not every player will play to their mid thirties. On top of that I doubt koulibaly would accept a contract of less than 3 years. He will want to secure his financial future. Thiago Silva was less of a risk because at 36 he was OK with a 1 +1 contract. Had he failed Chelsea would have released him a year later.
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A 2+1 or even a 2+2 contract wouldn't exactly break the bank though would it? We've wasted more on much shitter players than Koulibaly.
 
Is on €175k a week currently so will probably want a pay increase. If the club can get him for around £20 million on a 3+1 contract then it’d be a good deal.
 
35M euros for him seem to be a good price to be fair. He’s far better than what we have in defence bar Varane and would instantly upgrade it
 
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