Nicolas Otamendi | City Player

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The £36 million needed to sign him should be reassuring to a lot of people as it shows Valencia wont even talk about selling him, the only way to get him is to rely on a clause they cant control. At the same time its a lot of money.

How much money is the best defender in the league worth? Because he can be that if he adjusts quickly and shows his current level at Valencia
 
So if we are going to sign him we have to hope he doesn't get called up for the Copa America, or that will be another player missing from pre-season. Lets just hope Jones and Smalling don't get injured for England.
 
Devil may care said:
Because all he does is add another body to what we have, he isn't the ball playing CB we need if LvG is going to insist on defenders bringing the ball out across the halfway line and starting moves. Otamendi is cut from the exact same cloth as Jones and Rojo only he's not as good on the ball as the latter.
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He is one of the 3 best center halves in the best league in the world. I struggle to understand how he'd only add another body to the defence when he has been much better than Hummels for example.
 
DomesticTadpole said:
So if we are going to sign him we have to hope he doesn't get called up for the Copa America, or that will be another player missing from pre-season. Lets just hope Jones and Smalling don't get injured for England.
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He'll be called up, hes in the preliminary squad which means he isnt being politics'd out of the squad at the moment.
 
Ekeke said:
He'll be called up, hes in the preliminary squad which means he isnt being politics'd out of the squad at the moment.
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I have no objection to signing him, but it is going to throw preparations into turmoil again. A new defender who is going to be thrown into a new team, in a new league with little or no preparation.
 
DomesticTadpole said:
I have no objection to signing him, but it is going to throw preparations into turmoil again. A new defender who is going to be thrown into a new team, in a new league with little or no preparation.
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Very true. I guess we can hope that Otamendi and Rojo are selected together at CB and along with Di Maria they form a perfect understanding coming into the season
 
Ever since we had Heinze, I have loved Argentine players. Always taken an interest in their national side and have been following this guy and Rojo for a few years now. Was glad to see Rojo arrive and would feel the same about Otamendi. He is a winner.
 
Ekeke said:
The £36 million needed to sign him should be reassuring to a lot of people as it shows Valencia wont even talk about selling him, the only way to get him is to rely on a clause they cant control. At the same time its a lot of money.

How much money is the best defender in the league worth? Because he can be that if he adjusts quickly and shows his current level at Valencia
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Interesting question. A top quality CB with (and this is all-important) a solid fitness-record would improve us immeasurably. At 27 he's experienced while easily 5 seasons away from declining. 36m is crazy money but right here, right now he just might be worth it.
 
With Otamendi we will strenghten our defensive side of the game and hopefully with the addition of a top DM, the responsibility on our CBs to bring the ball forward will be much less.

I have to say with some of the comments, you would think that Ota can't make the simplest of passes. He's not known like Hummels for his ball playing ability but that doesn't mean he's bad. He just likes to keep things shorter and less risky.

Ekeke said:
The £36 million needed to sign him should be reassuring to a lot of people as it shows Valencia wont even talk about selling him, the only way to get him is to rely on a clause they cant control. At the same time its a lot of money.

How much money is the best defender in the league worth? Because he can be that if he adjusts quickly and shows his current level at Valencia
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We either pay the money or go into the season with what we have. Not many CBs around better than Otamendi. I think clubs will know this and either hold out for the release clause or add 10m on top of the player's valuation in the same way they knew we were desperate for CMs last summer. When thinking about the premier league I can't think of many stand out defenders apart from John Terry.
 
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Aren't Valencia interested in Hernandez...maybe we could sweeten the deal with a player swap.
 
Ekeke said:
Possibly, Valencia are the club we beat to his signing in the first place and hes been forever linked since then.
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Would they need him with Negredo and Alcacer already there? I read somewhere that signing Negredo on a permanent deal is a formality.
 
Scorpy said:
Would they need him with Negredo and Alcacer already there? I read somewhere that signing Negredo on a permanent deal is a formality.
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Negredo hasnt been very good and is getting old. Signing him may be a formality, im not sure. Sounds like a terrible deal if so. Alcacer hasnt been quite as good this season after he returned from injury
 
There's a really warped view of distribution on this forum. Van Gaal likes his defenders to be able to pass the ball confidently, but he isn't asking for magic.

And when there's talk of ball-playing defenders, you'd think that Hummels, and formerly Ferdinand, were pinging in balls to the strikers left, right and centre. Hummels doesn't, and Ferdinand didn't. The latter was a calm customer on the ball but he wasn't renowned for distribution, yet he would have slipped into a Van Gaal system with ease.

If the defender we buy stops shots at our goal then he's a wise investment. That's his primary job after all.
 
Sarni said:
He is one of the 3 best center halves in the best league in the world. I struggle to understand how he'd only add another body to the defence when he has been much better than Hummels for example.
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Most of that is subjective but as I said before, if we decide to start tasking our CB's to defend like Chelsea then Otamendi would be fine, but if LvG insists on trying to have them play like we are now I don't think £36M on a player who can't perform the role any differently to what we have makes any sense.
 
Devil may care said:
Most of that is subjective but as I said before, if we decide to start tasking our CB's to defend like Chelsea then Otamendi would be fine, but if LvG insists on trying to have them play like we are now I don't think £36M on a player who can't perform the role any differently to what we have makes any sense.
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Maybe he does want us to defend like Chelsea, the comments about us not be able to close games down like Chelsea. That they would have beaten Arsenal 1-0.
 
What is all this baseless judgement that because he is only 6 foot tall that means he is not good enough to be a PL center back? Isn't that too superficial? I doubt anyone who said that even watches how this guy play, let alone being capable of judging him.

A players ability should always be judged by what he does on the field, not how tall he is or what size shoes he wears. Otamendi is bad in the air because of his slight lack of height (6 foot is short lulz, 1 or 2 inches makes soooo much difference lel) is such an ignorant statement to make.

Aerial duels won this season:
John Terry - 2.6 per game
Gary Cahill - 3.4 per game
Martin Skrtel - 3.4 per game
Phil Jones - 2.2 per game
Chris Smalling - 2.8 per game
Marcos Rojo - 2.5 per game
Laurent Koscielny - 3.2 per game
Per Mertesacker - 3.3 per game
John Stones - 2.6 per game
Phil Jagielka - 2.9 per game
Jerome Boateng - 2.2 per game
Dante - 3.2 per game
Mehdi Benatia - 3.3 per game
Mats Hummels - 6 per game
Nevan Subotic - 4.8 per game
Gerard Pique - 2 per game
Marc Bartra - 2.2 per game
Sergio Ramos - 3.2 per game
Pepe - 2.8 per game
Raphael Varane - 2.9 per game
Diego Godin - 3.5 per game
Miranda - 2.3 per game
Gimenez - 3.4 per game
Aymeric Laporte - 2.7 per game
Shkodran Mustafi - 2.7 per game
Giorgio Chiellini - 2.3 per game
Leonardo Bonucci - 1.3 per game
Stefan De Vrij - 1.8 per game
Thiago Silva - 3.6 per game
Marquinhos - 1.2 per game
David Luiz - 2.3 per game
Aleksandar Dragovic - 1.4 per game (stats from Europa only)

Nicholas Otamendi? 3.4 per game.

(Bold ones are the players listed in the CB poll in the transfer forum, stats obtained from WhoScored)

He has a higher figure than almost all of the defenders that I have listed above, and all of them are among the highest rated defenders in the world. I'm not saying that the stats alone is proof that he is one of the best headers of the ball for a CB because you can't jump into conclusion basing on just one stats, but it shows that his aerial ability nowhere near as bad as some of you here thinks.
 
2014/2015 Squawka stats read.....Played----Tackles-----Interceptions---------Clearances----Blocks.........Aerial Duels won per game....
Hummels....................................24........45(46%)...........52.........................121............13...................6...................
Otamendi....................................34........71(49%)..........108........................251............28...................3.4................


So from these stats it looks like Otamendi currently seems to be slightly superior in every department to Hummels apart from the Aerial duels and Hummels has a higher percentage of winning Aerial duels than any other top defender in Europe this season. Otamendi seems less injury prone too which is what we need considering our only other central defender who seems to stay fit for more than a few games at a time is Rojo. Otamendi with a better Aerial duel record than the likes of considerably taller defenders such as Smalling, Pique and Varane is interesting also from Dastys data above
 
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I certainly think Otamendi will suit LVG's style better than Hummels, and will allow us to play a high line with Smalling. the 4 of Rojo, Smalling Otamendi and Jones is a great set of CB's to be honest. If we can get 4 fullbacks in that range we will be laughing.
 
Adam-Utd said:
I certainly think Otamendi will suit LVG's style better than Hummels, and will allow us to play a high line with Smalling. the 4 of Rojo, Smalling Otamendi and Jones is a great set of CB's to be honest. If we can get 4 fullbacks in that range we will be laughing.
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I wanted to say that, he played a freakishly high defensive line with Porto.
 
Adam-Utd said:
I certainly think Otamendi will suit LVG's style better than Hummels, and will allow us to play a high line with Smalling. the 4 of Rojo, Smalling Otamendi and Jones is a great set of CB's to be honest. If we can get 4 fullbacks in that range we will be laughing.
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Agreed.

The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that Otamendi is a better fit than Hummels. For us anyway.
 
The problem is if we add Otamendi we would have three aggressive stoppers in Jones, Rojo and Otamendi. And none of our 4 CBs would be particularly good on the ball.
 
Just remembered he's an Argie. Do not want.
 
People talk as if all LVG wants is for his defender to bring the ball out of defence etc. I'm sure we've heard him talk about how we can't close out games. Secondly, the way some people talk, you'd think he can't make a pass or shits himself, Otamendi is very competent on the ball, and he's fast, in the high line defensive system that LVG likes, a pacy defender comes in handy, and most importantly, he doesn't pick up injuries every now and then [my main issue with Hummels for example]. However, 36m is excessive [but that's his release clause]. I think Valencia will sell for less than that.
 
Was hoping Valencia wouldn't make the champions league but they snuck in there with that late goal.
 
Kakeru said:
What leaves me worried is that we would sign another CB who lacks height compared to the average Premier League CB. Unless you play as a full-back, being only 6'0" tall when you're either a CB or a goalkeeper is criminal in this league. Furthermore, other people mentioned his lack of ability in ball distribution, so he's a no-no to begin with.

And besides, why was he not selected for the Argentina squad in the last World Cup?
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'Another' CB who lacks height? Who else do we have?

6'0" is plenty tall enough as he is dominant in the air. You know another CB we had who was 1.83m tall? Steve Bruce - and you'd never say he wasn't dominant in the air.

If he was 6'1" you'd have no problem.
 
moonred said:
Well if he is as good as Ayala, then that's bloody good.
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I'd love for the guy to be as good as Roberto Ayala but I think that the comparison comes mostly from the fact that they're both medium height Argentines who play/played for Valencia. I wouldn't honestly expect Otamendi to be Ayala-good. Although he looks OK.
 
Eckers99 said:
I'd love for the guy to be as good as Roberto Ayala but I think that the comparison comes mostly from the fact that they're both medium height Argentines who play/played for Valencia. I wouldn't honestly expect Otamendi to be Ayala-good. Although he looks OK.
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It's actually the way they time their tackles and the fact that they always play the ball. But the size is also a factor.
 
If we buy him we might end up with Argentina's WC 2010 right back and WC 2014 left back as our two CB's.
 
Eckers99 said:
I'd love for the guy to be as good as Roberto Ayala but I think that the comparison comes mostly from the fact that they're both medium height Argentines who play/played for Valencia. I wouldn't honestly expect Otamendi to be Ayala-good. Although he looks OK.
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Its also because Ayala was great in the air despite not being tall. Otamendi is up there
 
Gopher Brown said:
'Another' CB who lacks height? Who else do we have?

6'0" is plenty tall enough as he is dominant in the air. You know another CB we had who was 1.83m tall? Steve Bruce - and you'd never say he wasn't dominant in the air.

If he was 6'1" you'd have no problem.
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Comparing current players with players from 20 years ago, WTF? I must remind you that the most dominant CBs we have seen since the early 2000s are mostly 6'2" and over. For the record, I think Rio and Vidic set up a standard that must be continuously followed at United: both CBs being 6'2" and over, one who's more comfortable on the ball, and the other who takes care of the physical aspect of the game.

And considering that the Premier League emphasizes a lot more on aerial play and physicality, the last thing we need is to have a CB who comes up with a "natural" handicap. Even Valdes is not getting my vote of confidence right now because of his height (I still have nightmares of Barthez and his short stature costing us a number of goals).
 
Otamendi is one of the best CBs in Europe when it comes to aerial ability. Height does not always dictate how good a player is in the air. Fabio Cannavaro is 5'9 and was a monster in the air Gerard Pique is 6'4 but, has never been impressive in the air. But, denying his aerial ability is silly.
 
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