Nathan Ake (Close to signing for Man City, £40m fee)

I don't see Godfrey as having the basics of defending knuckled down personally

I too am unconvinced he seems to lack the fundamentals of being a good defender. My biggest concern would be his positioning the games ive seen it's been poor. I don't think Godfrey is any more of a prospect than Tuanzebe.
 
Ake has pretty much all Lindelof's "positive" points but he's better physically too. Faster, stronger, good leap. Is he enough of an improvement? I'm not sure. He's a better version of a similar style player and I wouldn't be looking for a CB who doesnt win the ball that much but is neat with the ball at his feet. There would be less problems, but after spending over £100 million on him and Maguire there would still be some areas where top teams could still hurt them imo

That sentence is pretty much. He's basically carbon copy of Lindelof but with pace and offer more in goal threat (11 league goals in 4 seasons for Bournemouth). If Lindelof-Maguire can give us only 33 goals conceded, I think Maguire-Ake can improve it.

Not too sure with Lindelof-Ake partnership though if we plan to rest Maguire since those two are not good in the air. Ake is not good with his jumping reach due to short but he is good in heading while Lindelof & Bailly can't aim their headers. However, I won't pass Ake if he's available cheap. Experienced & proven PL 25 yo CB for around 25m-35m is worth a punt. If not working, I think we can at least get around 20m back by selling him the next following season.
 
Van Dijk came from Southampton to Liverpool.Andy Robertson came from Hull City to Liverpool.
VVD was an absolute monster for Celtic before Soton. He was hardly under the radar. Robertson was pretty coveted too, not to the same extent.

I really like Ake but at 5' 11", do you think he's suited to us? We aren't exactly peak era Barca who could put in a DM into a CB position because they dominated every aspect of the game.
 
VVD was an absolute monster for Celtic before Soton. He was hardly under the radar. Robertson was pretty coveted too, not to the same extent.

I really like Ake but at 5' 11", do you think he's suited to us? We aren't exactly peak era Barca who could put in a DM into a CB position because they dominated every aspect of the game.
Along side height like Maguire's and due to the fact he is good in the air Like Danny blind and Canavaro were. I believe he'd suit us fine
. Not to mention he'd even be a viable extra option at left back
 


Close to signing for City in a £35m deal.
 
He's a good player, whether or not he can play at that level we'll see but he's very good on the ball. Spells the end for Stones and Otamendi you would have thought.
 
Don't think he is good enough for them. Could be more fun to watch with defensive errors.
 
Not sure he's the elite quality to take City on to the next level, but definitely better than their current options.
 
So much for Koulibaly (unless of course they're spending 35m on a CB to sit on the bench?)
 
They going to revert him back to a fullback?
 
Mentioned in the transfer tweet thread but I’d rather they signed him over one of Kalidou Koulibaly, Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Umpecano
 
Yes but would he be your first team choice for the foreseeable? I would like him for rotation but it’s still 35 million quid.

I’d rather pile that into somebody like Upamecano.

More as depth or someone to challenge Lindelof. He has more complimentary attributes for Maguire.

I don't think he's near good enough. Strange signing

He’s quick and good on the ball so he would fit Guardiola’s system on that basis.
 
So much for Koulibaly (unless of course they're spending 35m on a CB to sit on the bench?)

You making out £35m is a lot to them? It doesn’t mean they won’t go for Koulibaly. They had Stones sitting on the bench and he cost £50m. So they probably get rid of him and get another defender in.
 
Good signing but he and Laporte both prefer playing on the left I think.

I would prefer a right-footer to play RCB and a left-footer at LCB.
 
Good signing as a squad player. They'll surely sign a higher profile CB as well as Ake.
 
Good signing but he and Laporte both prefer playing on the left I think.

I would prefer a right-footer to play RCB and a left-footer at LCB.

He's played a couple of games recently at RCB for Bournemouth with Lloyd Kelly at LCB. He's looked fine there and they've done slightly better than before Kelly came into the team. So I guess its something they could try at City
 
You making out £35m is a lot to them? It doesn’t mean they won’t go for Koulibaly. They had Stones sitting on the bench and he cost £50m. So they probably get rid of him and get another defender in.

True Ake could just be the Danilo in a summer of recruiting 3 players for the same position
 
He's played a couple of games recently at RCB for Bournemouth with Lloyd Kelly at LCB. He's looked fine there and they've done slightly better than before Kelly came into the team. So I guess its something they could try at City
Fair enough.
 
So much for Koulibaly (unless of course they're spending 35m on a CB to sit on the bench?)

That's exactly what they're doing. A left footed centre back as backup to Laporte. They're not messing about.
 
Don't know if he's good enough as a starter but not a bad backup to have given they need a bit of a defensive overhaul. Nice fee to replace your backups CB for example
 
He's good enough to play for any of the 20 PL teams ''at the moment''. Underrated due to his height and being Bournemouth player. Pep wants him sums it up, we should be in for him, Lindelof's upgrade, versatile and will give our CB good rest when needed.
 
Yes but would he be your first team choice for the foreseeable? I would like him for rotation but it’s still 35 million quid.

I’d rather pile that into somebody like Upamecano.

Is he not better than Lindelof right now though? I think he is.

Ake is safer than Dayot. Ake is more proven in PL and already have enough experience. Dayot is still 50:50 at this moment, looks talented but need to prove himself more to show if it wasn't just a one wonder season. Remember Mangala & Benatia back then?

For the price, it's much more sensible move than trying to go for Dayot at the moment.
 
I’m fairly sure that if we were in for him for 35m, people would say it’s too much.

I don’t think he’s good enough to be a starter for us or city, but it looks like we’re going to find out
 
He might turn out like VVD. He has been good in the premier league and perhaps if surrounded by better players and managers, he will take his game to another level. I expected Manchester City to go big in this department, so I m a bit surprised by the news. He is the type of defender you expect a progressive manager like Pep and Poch to sign though, so it is not a surprise that he ended up with such a manager.
 
Mentioned in the transfer tweet thread but I’d rather they signed him over one of Kalidou Koulibaly, Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Umpecano

Ake would be a good addition at United and will improve City but I'd love United to snap up Konate, he'd work with any of our central defenders and could eventually be classed as world class, I'm amazed Upamencano seems to be the more speculated about, for me his defensive partner is key in that defence.
 
I’m fairly sure that if we were in for him for 35m, people would say it’s too much.

I don’t think he’s good enough to be a starter for us or city, but it looks like we’re going to find out

I'm pretty sure if we went for him at that price with the intention of adding to our squad depth - and then going out to buy a first choice partner for Maguire (which I assume City will do for Laporte), we'd be thinking there is some serious ambition being shown here.
 
That's exactly what they're doing. A left footed centre back as backup to Laporte. They're not messing about.

their form pretty much unravelled this season due to inadequate back up once Laporte got injured, so makes sense to strengthen that area
 
Damn.

Can we hijack the deal please

He’s very underrated on this forum going by the posts. Bournemouth have absolutely terrible players around him. Fast, strong, comfortable on the ball. He'd be a great fit at number of clubs in Top 6 including ours. Not a bad price either, iirc they quoted £70m to Leicester last season.
 
Will be a good signing for them. He’s a very good centre half who could play for any side.