De Vrij was available for only £6m and would've been a bargain signing from Feyenoord but many on here gave him the thumbs down.
Nathan Ake (Close to signing for Man City, £40m fee)
- Thread starter Kush
- Start date
Wouldn't put that much weight behind Ole's comments. I've seen Pep, Klopp and, most importantly, Fergie say the same sort of things to good players in teams they've thrashed and they've not signed them. More of a motivational talk in the vein of "Yeah, your team got thrashed but you're a really good player and if you keep it up we might be interested one day so just keep working hard". Most of the time it comes to nothing but if the team ends up interested in the player, the player might think back to the time the manager had a good word in his ear on the pitch - unless another manager took him on the Big Dipper in Blackpool.
I like Mings too but what is his recovery pace like because we desperately need someone alongside Maguire who can cover that weakness of his sufficiently
Think because some people are so desperate to bring in players, whether a centre back or not, we tend to see what we want to see when it comes to our own. That's not directed to you, but people assumed Ake was better in the air than Lindelof, when according to stats, this clearly isn't true. Actually, Lindelof's aerials are much superior to Ake's.
I think if we can get a top-class centre back in then, by all means we should do it. I just don't think Ake is that player.
That said, Ole may see Lindelof and Maguire as something long term and feels he needs competent backup. If so, then Ake would be a good buy.
Aré there actually any other top left-footed CBs in world football atm? I know Alaba is playing there for Bayern but can’t think of many others.
Laporte
Chiellini
Umtiti
Lenglet
Romagnoli is someone who's been talked up
Lucas Hernandez was meant to be decent but can't get into Bayern's team at the moment
Mings? Seriously?
Not a fan then I take it
I liked the look of Mings at first, but after watching him more closely, he's not worth the trouble. He is incredible one moment and disastrous 2 seconds later about 10 times in the same game.
think that's for the better though. I think at that time De Vrij wouldn't have made it at United. He was incredibly (in pre De Ligt terms at least) experienced for a, then, young centreback, but mentally he was completely different back then and physically far too lightweight for England.
The thing is we bought Lindelof and Bailly for a combined £60m who had the Same issues and were less proven in comparison to a CB that cost only £6m.
Yeah sorry meant in terms of realistic signings for United so didn’t bother with Laporte. Chiellini could be a decent stop gap but wouldn’t fit into the new philosophy United are deploying. Umtiti has been a crock for a good few years now and I think injured again. Don’t know enough about Romagnoli or Lenglet , is Lucas Hernandez a CB or LB?
Don't think he is all that. You want a pacey and good defender, not just pace. We have Bailly already for that. I don't see a great defender.
Would never consider signing him for us. At the same time though he has had a good season this year and has vastly improved as a centre back since moving to Villa from Bournemouth I feel. He did deserve his England cap this year
He’s about as English as that other Englishman Josh King.
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2015
- Messages
- 19,065
- Supports
️
Yes he does IMO.
There is no point bloating our CB squad options:
Maguire
Lindelof
Bailly
Tuanzebe
Jones
Smalling
Rojo
Mengi
We need to get rid of a few anyway because we’ve got too many options. The only thing Ake would stand out in that squad for is being left footed.
I just don’t see the point in spending £30m maybe on him when you could spend a bit more on someone with more potential.
I don’t mind him as a player for what it’s worth. In fact I quite like him as decent CBs go but I think it would be a misallocation of resources.
There was a court case in the US, featuring rock bands who were accused of putting messages in their songs. Judas Priest proved that if you tell somebody they heard something they will hear it. I only heard the "left footed thing" after I was told to hear it.
Oh, my bad. In that case, no. We were linked with Umtiti a few months back, but as you said, he's a 'crock'. Lucas Hernandez plays both CB and LB. Not too familiar with him, but I do remember he had a good world cup for France, but that was at LB.
I agree that we need to get rid of a few. But in my opinion, there is a too big gap between Lindelof/Maguire and Bailly.
Furthermore, I like that Ake is a player with a few different qualities compared to Maguire/Lindelof. I also like the fact that he is «ready made».
A huge talent with bigger potential would be nice, but would we waste it if he is currently not better than what we have (and he gets fewer minutes)?
And if he is a huge talent and better than what we have, would he not be very expensive?
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2015
- Messages
- 19,065
- Supports
- ️
I’d personally rather develop Tuanzebe/Mengi. If Ake is available for £15-20m maybe it’s worth a risk.
But for £40-50m you could get Upamecano or Konate. Not left footed but I’d be happier to develop them.
Those who wants him signed will ask for a centre back with good height after we sign him. Don’t waste money and have numerous squad players with obvious deficiencies.
Spend on Sancho and end the window. If we don’t find quality central defenders, wait for a good player to be available in next windows.
Spend on Sancho and end the window. If we don’t find quality central defenders, wait for a good player to be available in next windows.
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2015
- Messages
- 19,065
- Supports
- ️
Dare I say it but this is what Liverpool did with Van Dijk identified the best player possible and waited for them.
I see Ake as a rush job to get in bodies.
He actually started the season in brilliant form for the first month or two. A real monster at the back, and also quite good on the ball. I think he might have dropped off a bit after that but I haven't watched enough to know for sure. Probably not the right partner for Maguire though as he's not the fastest.
ftfy
He's a good player Ake who will join a top 6 side this summer. He's better than Baily and whilst a similar level to Lindelof he's got that extra yard of pace we lack due to Maguire's speed. Ake, Maguire, Lindelof and Bailey would be a decent set of CB's imo.
Would be madness if we are looking for a left footed CB and don't go in for Alaba. We already have the squad options in Lindelof and Bailly. We have the young ones with potential in Tuanzebe and Mengi. But only Maguire would be a starter in most not even all top European sides.
Does Alaba want to stay as a LCB? I read in one of the German articles that a partial reason for wanting out was that he wanted to play more in midfield.
No idea to be honest. All I know is we need a left footed CB and Alaba is the best one that's possibly available
Yeah find it very odd that we aren't in for him at this price and making that our second priority behind RW
Yeah that would probably be the best approach and may well explain the lack of links to experienced CB
I would still love to see Shaw at left centre back. Shaw has shown he can play as a centre back in three. Whilst it's obviously different playing in a back four, it's certainly worth the try. Alaba seems to have made that transition.
Ake would become a squad option fairly soon after coming here, I rate Lindelof higher. If we managed a swap deal for say Jones, I'd be all for it. But, considering this is highly unlikely, I would rather we take our time to find the ideal player, like with previous signings.
With all the trouble at Barcelona right now, I wouldn't be inclined to try and turn Lenglet's head our way.
With all the trouble at Barcelona right now, I wouldn't be inclined to try and turn Lenglet's head our way.
Ake and King. Out of all the strikers and defenders in the world they are pretty uninspiring. Yes they have PL experience but beyond that surely there are better options, even just in the bottom half of the PL. If I had to pick one I’d pick Ake. I’d rather players that won’t be happy being squad players who will actually push our starters hard for game time.
He's not bad, and would solve the pace issue. Really depends on how much he would cost
Damn now I want this
Don’t think there’s anything in this but I do like Ake and would be all for it if we could pick him up at a reasonable price whilst getting rid of Rojo, Jones etc.
He can also play as a holding midfielder and has said he’s happy to play there in the past, it worries me that we only have Matić who specialises in that role.
He can also play as a holding midfielder and has said he’s happy to play there in the past, it worries me that we only have Matić who specialises in that role.
People, chill! Ole is probably not even looking at Ake as an option, it’s just a nice thing to say to boost the confidence of a still developing defender. He may not even want a left footed CB. I totally see this as Ole being a real people person and extending his man management skills beyond his own team, which is something Sir Alex used to do too (and I bet if we could have heard his conversations, stuff like this would happen all the time, to the most unlikely of candidates).
It’s win win for Ole - Be a nice guy and throw the guy some hope because he does have promise and if he happens to take that and run with it, maybe he’ll remember that if we are in for him at a later date. I actually think it’s pretty masterful from Ole.
It’s win win for Ole - Be a nice guy and throw the guy some hope because he does have promise and if he happens to take that and run with it, maybe he’ll remember that if we are in for him at a later date. I actually think it’s pretty masterful from Ole.