Kostas Manolas

That makes no sense at all.
If you want to compete for trophies then you need depth in your squad. Look at city’s bench then look at ours.

We have depth in most areas. The problem is that players who should be depth, like Lingard are starting.
 
Has European experience, leadership, of a good age, decent in the air, great price

but sadly just not good enough for where we wanna be.

The time has come to cough up the money for Koulibaly/Skriniar/Varane/Romagnoli/de Ligt/Maguire
6 new cbs gonna cost us £500m mate
 
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Manolas is a very solid CB and would clearly be an upgrade to our team. If the release clause is really that "low", why wait?
 
One of our biggest weaknesses is playing out from the back. Manolas would make it even worse. He’s a great CB, but not for us.
 
That makes no sense at all.
If you want to compete for trophies then you need depth in your squad. Look at city’s bench then look at ours.
City's bench isn't filled with players that were bought in order to sit on the bench. They were bought in order to play in the first team. We already have 5 CBs on our books, why on Earth would be add another that isn't any better? You buy players that are better than what you have, others get bumped down the pegging order and the bottom falls off. Buying Manolas would be continuing to do what we've been doing for years, i.e. not improving.
 
City's bench isn't filled with players that were bought in order to sit on the bench. They were bought in order to play in the first team. We already have 5 CBs on our books, why on Earth would be add another that isn't any better? You buy players that are better than what you have, others get bumped down the pegging order and the bottom falls off. Buying Manolas would be continuing to do what we've been doing for years, i.e. not improving.

Because we not only buy Manolas but also a first XI defender. We have had the same dross for years now, it's time for something new. Sell Rojo and Jones and bring in Manolas and Koulibaly (or Skriniar/Varane/De Ligt)
 
I would buy him and Toby personally which will probably horrify many on here :lol:.

Sell Jones and Rojo. Dont think Koulibaly is the answer for the prices quoted and De Ligt is going to Barcelona.

Keep Lindelof who I think will become a very good CB in a few years and Smalling, Tuanzebe as back up.
 
People often forget that we don't have unlimited money. Spending 80m on Koulibaly is probably not feasible this year as we have pressing needs in other areas.

In one thread they blame Woodward for giving Sanchez (who was the best player in epl) a fatty contract at the age of 29 yet they want Toby to be given the same consideration. Toby comes at huge cost and not exactly cheap.
 
People often forget that we don't have unlimited money. Spending 80m on Koulibaly is probably not feasible this year as we have pressing needs in other areas.

In one thread they blame Woodward for giving Sanchez (who was the best player in epl) a fatty contract at the age of 29 yet they want Toby to be given the same consideration. Toby comes at huge cost and not exactly cheap.

I'm not for buying Alderweireld but he makes more sense than Manolas who is no better than what we have and unlike Toby wont improve our ability to play out from the back. Plus Alderweireld is about £10M cheaper.
 
I'm not for buying Alderweireld but he makes more sense than Manolas who is no better than what we have and unlike Toby wont improve our ability to play out from the back. Plus Alderweireld is about £10M cheaper.
Which will be offset ed by his sign on fees and wages for next 4 years. Not to mention how he will last the 4 years. We could be stuck with him at high wages .

Not saying we should buy Manolas but he is coming at a decent price . If we can sell Rojo and send Bailey the opposite way with a first option to buy, it could make sense.

Manolas,Smalling,Lindeloff,Jones ,Tuanzube wouldn't look too bad imo. We would still need an upgrade next year but we would get some room to wait for the right man.
 
Which will be offset ed by his sign on fees and wages for next 4 years. Not to mention how he will last the 4 years. We could be stuck with him at high wages .

Not saying we should buy Manolas but he is coming at a decent price . If we can sell Rojo and send Bailey the opposite way with a first option to buy, it could make sense.

Manolas,Smalling,Lindeloff,Jones ,Tuanzube wouldn't look too bad imo. We would still need an upgrade next year but we would get some room to wait for the right man.

I personally think that we should prioritize CBs who can pass the ball. If we go into next season with Manolas, Smalling, Lindeloff, Jones ,Tuanzube then we won't make any progress with our appalling buildup play.
 
have to admit, I have no memory of ever seeing him play: not at all, not even a few minutes. Let's hope it's not a case of "we can't afford Koulibaly" and going for choice two, three or four just because he's available
 
Which will be offset ed by his sign on fees and wages for next 4 years. Not to mention how he will last the 4 years. We could be stuck with him at high wages .

Not saying we should buy Manolas but he is coming at a decent price . If we can sell Rojo and send Bailey the opposite way with a first option to buy, it could make sense.

Manolas,Smalling,Lindeloff,Jones ,Tuanzube wouldn't look too bad imo. We would still need an upgrade next year but we would get some room to wait for the right man.

It doesn't matter if the amount of money winds up the same, I mean both have buyout clauses so why do you think Manolas and Raiola wont want huge wages and a signing on fee the same as Toby? At the end of the day Alderweireld is a vastly superior CB to Manolas and can also play out from the back, something sorely lacking in our team. Manolas is just like Smalling and Jones, he's got nothing on the ball, we don't need another like that because he might have a couple more years in his legs, we might as well just try and sort Bailly out as waste time with Manolas, he'd be a complete sideways move for us, not upgrading us in any way.

For the record I don't want either but at least Alderweireld offers something to the team we don't already have.
 
I actuall think he'd do well in the prem, he's better than Sokratis anyway.

That's a strange comparison as the only thing they have in common is that they're both Greek. And Sokratis is considered by far the best Greek defender of his generation.
 
have to admit, I have no memory of ever seeing him play: not at all, not even a few minutes. Let's hope it's not a case of "we can't afford Koulibaly" and going for choice two, three or four just because he's available
I think he was at Olympiakos in 13/14 when they beat Utd at home.
 
Because we not only buy Manolas but also a first XI defender. We have had the same dross for years now, it's time for something new. Sell Rojo and Jones and bring in Manolas and Koulibaly (or Skriniar/Varane/De Ligt)
Now you still have 5 CB's, one of who you purchased is on the bench. That's just wasting money. Anything is a waste if the player is not intended to be good enough for the first team, young players excluded.
 
He's decent but I hope we go for a elite CB like KK, De Light or Varane
 
Now you still have 5 CB's, one of who you purchased is on the bench. That's just wasting money. Anything is a waste if the player is not intended to be good enough for the first team, young players excluded.

Let's say we buy Koulibaly and Manolas. We would have Smalling + Koulibaly in the first XI and then Manolas, Lindelof and Bailly and backups. There's nothing wrong with a little back of competition. Maybe Manolas will prove to be better than Smalling, maybe not. Find out who the best 4 are and sell the 5th in January/Summer.
I mean, I get what you're saying but I just feel like we've had players like Rojo, Jones, Smalling and Young around for so long and we're going nowhere with them. Time for a complete refresh.
 
Napoli want him it seems.

Would mean Koulibaly would be off surely.
 
Napoli want him it seems.

Would mean Koulibaly would be off surely.
You'd think Napoli would know better than to go after Manolas, they've been after some very weird signings this summer, Trippier being the pinnacle.