Pau Torres

jesperjaap said:
Dont agree, for starters Hummels and Skriniar are not blessed with great pace which is one thing we do need. Hummels is of course an excellent defender, personally dont get th ehype over Skrniar whatsoever, especially as the right partner for Maguire.

What we do need to do is simply sign a quality centre back, it doesnt have to be a name. I think our scouts have failed miserably there or somebody has. Rojo was jsut average, Lindelof never even looked very good at Benfica when I watched him. Bailly looked a good signing and was decent in his first season, but of course injuries have hardly helped him.

I think Konate and Upamecano look like very good signings....my only personal concern with both of them is whether they have the organisation and intelligence to lead the defence, which of course you would get from someone like Hummels. With our budget this season and his age and cost, Koulibailly has to be a no no, that is the kind of player or a Romagnoli that we should in my opinion have signed last summer along with one of these younger talents.
Click to expand...
Nah I never said we should get Hummels or Skriniar. We need a proven CB that will take this defense to another level while also being a good pair to Maguire. Konate or Upamecano are still very young and promising. They would be worth around 40m + and to me that's a risk for a young CB from the Bundesliga that is not certain to come and take your defense to the next level. Kabak I've heard is also a young CB in the Bundesliga and is as good as them and would be cheaper - rumoured around 25m which I think he is a safer bet

An issue is the lack of quality established CB options in the market.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
You watch him? Could you give us a load down about his style of play? Would be fit next to Maguire?
Click to expand...
I watched him couple of times purposefully. He plays on the left though, similar to Maguire. Typical modern day defender with good ball control and long range passing. Does not commit top many fouls but seems like an intelligent player who reads the game well. Has a bit of lanky frame so he will need to muscle up a bit to survive in EPL. Still think one of Barca and Madrid will snap him with Barca more likely.
We can convince Villareal to sell him by giving them back Bailly.
 
Lennon7 said:
Nah, we need a centre back. I’d say it’s top priority alongside a defensive mid and right wing IF we want to challenge for the title in the next couple of years.
Click to expand...
Definitely. I'm saying if it was a choice between a CB that's a maybe talent like you said who would cost around 40m + eg Upamecano, Dias or a DM like Partey or Zakaria for the same price I'd go for a DM
 
Jibbs said:
I watched him couple of times purposefully. He plays on the left though, similar to Maguire. Typical modern day defender with good ball control and long range passing. Does not commit top many fouls but seems like an intelligent player who reads the game well. Has a bit of lanky frame so he will need to muscle up a bit to survive in EPL. Still think one of Barca and Madrid will snap him with Barca more likely.
We can convince Villareal to sell him by giving them back Bailly.
Click to expand...
Is he fast? He looks slow on YouTube and I've seen people call him slow but is La liga's fastest defender. Would be nice if we can swap Bailly and maybe little cash for him. Least he would do is be solid squad depth that isn't always injured
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Nah I never said we should get Hummels or Skriniar. We need a proven CB that will take this defense to another level while also being a good pair to Maguire. Konate or Upamecano are still very young and promising. They would be worth around 40m + and to me that's a risk for a young CB from the Bundesliga that is not certain to come and take your defense to the next level. Kabak I've heard is also a young CB in the Bundesliga and is as good as them and would be cheaper - rumoured around 25m which I think he is a safer bet

An issue is the lack of quality established CB options in the market.
Click to expand...

Well the worry again with them is injuries, we were interesed in Upamecano before he went to Leipzig. Interesting you class Konate/Upamecano as young and promising and that you have "heard" Kabak is better and a better bet for the sake of £20m.

The French duo are both older and have far more first team experience than him. I cant say much about him as only recognise him from one of the post lockdown games and didnt pay close attention.

Have been a fan of Upamecano for some time though and watched him whenever possible so subesquently seen a fair amount of Konate too. they are both though different, over 6ft, athletic, fast, strong, good on the ball. Upamecano does seem to suffer lapses of concentration but he is my favourite of the two thou most seem to prefer Konate.

As for taking our defence on to the next level I think the one player who would be ideal would be Romagnoli with his pace, leadership and passing ability and also being a godo defender, but I think he would cost a fortune now so wrong window....should have went all in last summer.....but Upamecano and Konate both for me are better centre backs than any we currently have and I think we could of signed one of them AND Romagnoli last year for not much North of £100m but we spent £80m on Maguire who isnt a bad signing by any means but a vastly over priced one
 
jesperjaap said:
Well the worry again with them is injuries, we were interesed in Upamecano before he went to Leipzig. Interesting you class Konate/Upamecano as young and promising and that you have "heard" Kabak is better and a better bet for the sake of £20m.

The French duo are both older and have far more first team experience than him. I cant say much about him as only recognise him from one of the post lockdown games and didnt pay close attention.

Have been a fan of Upamecano for some time though and watched him whenever possible so subesquently seen a fair amount of Konate too. they are both though different, over 6ft, athletic, fast, strong, good on the ball. Upamecano does seem to suffer lapses of concentration but he is my favourite of the two thou most seem to prefer Konate.

As for taking our defence on to the next level I think the one player who would be ideal would be Romagnoli with his pace, leadership and passing ability and also being a godo defender, but I think he would cost a fortune now so wrong window....should have went all in last summer.....but Upamecano and Konate both for me are better centre backs than any we currently have and I think we could of signed one of them AND Romagnoli last year for not much North of £100m but we spent £80m on Maguire who isnt a bad signing by any means but a vastly over priced one
Click to expand...
In the end we will probably end up with Rodon
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
In the end we will probably end up with Rodon
Click to expand...
He could actually be a good signing. 6'4, good in the air, decent passing stats. The Championship is a really hard league nowadays as well. We could have saved a stack load on Maguire if we'd bought him straight from Sheff United
 
Scholsey2004 said:
He could actually be a good signing. 6'4, good in the air, decent passing stats. The Championship is a really hard league nowadays as well. We could have saved a stack load on Maguire if we'd bought him straight from Sheff United
Click to expand...

We could. Or we could have wasted our money like Spurs with Sessegnon based on what he did in the championship. Some players are going to come up and do well, others are going to fail.
 
Ekeke said:
We could. Or we could have wasted our money like Spurs with Sessegnon based on what he did in the championship. Some players are going to come up and do well, others are going to fail.
Click to expand...
If the price is reasonable that's far less of a problem though.
 
Jibbs said:
I watched him couple of times purposefully. He plays on the left though, similar to Maguire. Typical modern day defender with good ball control and long range passing. Does not commit top many fouls but seems like an intelligent player who reads the game well. Has a bit of lanky frame so he will need to muscle up a bit to survive in EPL. Still think one of Barca and Madrid will snap him with Barca more likely.
We can convince Villareal to sell him by giving them back Bailly.
Click to expand...

We don't really need to convince Villareal. He has release clause of 45m pounds. If the player says yes, we have the money to afford the release clause then deal done. I never watch him but based on YouTube, I also agree with you that he reminds me of Laporte but only in term of his physical, height & the way what he does on the ball.
 
Scholsey2004 said:
He could actually be a good signing. 6'4, good in the air, decent passing stats. The Championship is a really hard league nowadays as well. We could have saved a stack load on Maguire if we'd bought him straight from Sheff United
Click to expand...

I don't like the idea of signing Rodon. Based on his injury history, it doesn't look good. Should stay away from another injury prone player.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
I don't like the idea of signing Rodon. Based on his injury history, it doesn't look good. Should stay away from another injury prone player.
Click to expand...
I wasn't aware of that until you'd mentioned it. Still, two injuries both under 3 months. Not like a season long injury.
 
Scholsey2004 said:
I wasn't aware of that until you'd mentioned it. Still, two injuries both under 3 months. Not like a season long injury.
Click to expand...

He missed on average of 15 games. He's done this for 2 seasons. Fair to say we need to stay away. Tuanzebe last season pretty much played the same amount as Rodon does on average per season.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
He missed on average of 15 games. He's done this for 2 seasons. Fair to say we need to stay away. Tuanzebe last season pretty much played the same amount as Rodon does on average per season.
Click to expand...
Rodon 75 days out with a metatarsal in 18/19 and 87 days out with an ankle injury this season. Tuanzebe far more. 97 days in 18/19 and 171 days out over three separate injuries in 19/20.
 
Scholsey2004 said:
He could actually be a good signing. 6'4, good in the air, decent passing stats. The Championship is a really hard league nowadays as well. We could have saved a stack load on Maguire if we'd bought him straight from Sheff United
Click to expand...
Would be low risk for the cost and could at least be a better squad option than whatever we have. He's highly rated in the championship so I guess he could also be good enough to challenge our starting CBs. He's pace, ability on the ball and his aerial prowess would make him a solid partner to Maguire. That is if he turns out good
 
jesperjaap said:
Well the worry again with them is injuries, we were interesed in Upamecano before he went to Leipzig. Interesting you class Konate/Upamecano as young and promising and that you have "heard" Kabak is better and a better bet for the sake of £20m.

The French duo are both older and have far more first team experience than him. I cant say much about him as only recognise him from one of the post lockdown games and didnt pay close attention.

Have been a fan of Upamecano for some time though and watched him whenever possible so subesquently seen a fair amount of Konate too. they are both though different, over 6ft, athletic, fast, strong, good on the ball. Upamecano does seem to suffer lapses of concentration but he is my favourite of the two thou most seem to prefer Konate.

As for taking our defence on to the next level I think the one player who would be ideal would be Romagnoli with his pace, leadership and passing ability and also being a godo defender, but I think he would cost a fortune now so wrong window....should have went all in last summer.....but Upamecano and Konate both for me are better centre backs than any we currently have and I think we could of signed one of them AND Romagnoli last year for not much North of £100m but we spent £80m on Maguire who isnt a bad signing by any means but a vastly over priced one
Click to expand...
The thing is Upamecano would cost around 40m +. And we are not in the position to take such risk on a 'maybe talent' like a previous poster said. If we were sorted in other areas in the team then sure. I've seen Upamecano in Leipzig and he's not the finished article and still prone to inconsistencies, lack of positional awareness and silly mistakes . 40m - 50m is a risk for him. We still need RW, AM, DM and even a striker so we can't afford to go ahead and splash 40-50m on Upamecano who while a good player with potential, is still learning. Which is why I brought up Kabak who I've heard is just as good, a year younger, playing in the same league and would be worth half the price, so would be low risk. I think Upamecano's a good talent but my issue is spending that amount on a CB who still needs work when there are other positions equally as urgent as CB and I'd rather the money spent on a DM like Partey

I'm among the few that shares this opinion though I think half of the Caf want him and I wouldn't be against it if Ole feels we should go for him
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
The thing is Upamecano would cost around 40m +. And we are not in the position to take such risk on a 'maybe talent' like a previous poster said. If we were sorted in other areas in the team then sure. I've seen Upamecano in Leipzig and he's not the finished article and still prone to inconsistencies, lack of positional awareness and silly mistakes . 40m - 50m is a risk for him. We still need RW, AM, DM and even a striker so we can't afford to go ahead and splash 40-50m on Upamecano who while a good player with potential, is still learning. Which is why I brought up Kabak who I've heard is just as good, a year younger, playing in the same league and would be worth half the price, so would be low risk. I think Upamecano's a good talent but my issue is spending that amount on a CB who still needs work when there are other positions equally as urgent as CB and I'd rather the money spent on a DM like Partey

I'm among the few that shares this opinion though I think half of the Caf want him and I wouldn't be against it if Ole feels we should go for him
Click to expand...

How is Upamecano a maybe talent though. He has consistently been one of the best young defenders in Europe and certainly in Germany for the last two or three years though. I wonder how many times you have seem Upamecano and Barak play? I wold hazard it is in single digits and all of those games are Upamecano, you seem to be going on hearsay regarding Barak?

I do understand your fear of paying out as it misses out on another position. It really is I think a choice of what is more important, a centre back or a defensive central midfielder as dont think we can sign both unless we are going for 25m signings like you say and unearthing gems.

Personally with Tuanzabe and Menghi coming through we need to sign a proper centre back or none at all. I guess (though agree he still isnt finished article, though how many 21yr old defenders are?) Upamecano is a proper centre back signing.

Also think Partey is a very good player but dont see any interest from us really at all in terms of links and using your anology Soumare/Camavinga/Tonali/Zakaria for example are just as good and half the price in most cases. Its really whether these players are available, we are interested and whether they would come to us. In the case of Upamecano we have been interested in the past, I think he has a year on his contract so is availble at a reasonable price to what he would cost as well
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
In the end we will probably end up with Rodon
Click to expand...

Cant possibly believe there is truth in that one. I mean why the hell would we sign a young and inexperienced and in all honesty not that talented a youngster for a position needs a huge increase in talent at.......then realise we signed Daniel James last year :(
 
jesperjaap said:
How is Upamecano a maybe talent though. He has consistently been one of the best young defenders in Europe and certainly in Germany for the last two or three years though. I wonder how many times you have seem Upamecano and Barak play? I wold hazard it is in single digits and all of those games are Upamecano, you seem to be going on hearsay regarding Barak?

I do understand your fear of paying out as it misses out on another position. It really is I think a choice of what is more important, a centre back or a defensive central midfielder as dont think we can sign both unless we are going for 25m signings like you say and unearthing gems.

Personally with Tuanzabe and Menghi coming through we need to sign a proper centre back or none at all. I guess (though agree he still isnt finished article, though how many 21yr old defenders are?) Upamecano is a proper centre back signing.

Also think Partey is a very good player but dont see any interest from us really at all in terms of links and using your anology Soumare/Camavinga/Tonali/Zakaria for example are just as good and half the price in most cases. Its really whether these players are available, we are interested and whether they would come to us. In the case of Upamecano we have been interested in the past, I think he has a year on his contract so is availble at a reasonable price to what he would cost as well
Click to expand...
I said maybe talent not to say he's not a good young defender but because there's more of a possibility for him to come here and struggle than to hit the ground running. Even the 'generational talent' De Ligt who is better than Upamecano struggled at Juve where there's less pressure than United. For 40m + Upamecano will cost it's definitely a risk. Which again is why I brought up Kabak who I've admittedly not seen but if you do some research yourself you would see he's been touted as good as Upamecano and if he's half the price then why not go for him.

I actually don't see us spending 40m or more for a young defender when Ole rates Tuanzebe highly. If we get a young defender whether Upamecano or whoever it will be cheap as there's no reason to splash cash on another young defender when Ole rates Tuanzebe and still wants to try him out next season

And whats your definition of a proper centre back? And if you personally think Tuanzebe and Mengi are coming through then why do we need another young defender who's not the finished article?
 
Last edited:
jesperjaap said:
How is Upamecano a maybe talent though. He has consistently been one of the best young defenders in Europe and certainly in Germany for the last two or three years though. I wonder how many times you have seem Upamecano and Barak play? I wold hazard it is in single digits and all of those games are Upamecano, you seem to be going on hearsay regarding Barak?

I do understand your fear of paying out as it misses out on another position. It really is I think a choice of what is more important, a centre back or a defensive central midfielder as dont think we can sign both unless we are going for 25m signings like you say and unearthing gems.

Personally with Tuanzabe and Menghi coming through we need to sign a proper centre back or none at all. I guess (though agree he still isnt finished article, though how many 21yr old defenders are?) Upamecano is a proper centre back signing.

Also think Partey is a very good player but dont see any interest from us really at all in terms of links and using your anology Soumare/Camavinga/Tonali/Zakaria for example are just as good and half the price in most cases. Its really whether these players are available, we are interested and whether they would come to us. In the case of Upamecano we have been interested in the past, I think he has a year on his contract so is availble at a reasonable price to what he would cost as well
Click to expand...

Yeah I am pretty confident we would prioritise a CB over a CDM this summer even though like you say we could really do with signing both as Matic could easily gas out if he gets overplayed and would leave us with no cover in that area at all.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
I said maybe talent not to say he's not a good young defender but because there's more of a possibility for him to come here and struggle than to hit the ground running. Even the 'generational talent' De Ligt who is better than Upamecano struggled at Juve where there's less pressure than United. For 40m + Upamecano will cost it's definitely a risk. Which again is why I brought up Kabak who I've admittedly not seen but if you do some research yourself you would see he's been touted as good as Upamecano and if he's half the price then why not go for him.

I actually don't see us spending 40m or more for a young defender when Ole rates Tuanzebe highly. If we get a young defender whether Upamecano or whoever it will be cheap as there's no reason to splash cash on another young defender when Ole rates Tuanzebe and still wants to try him out next season

And whats your definition of a proper centre back? And if you personally think Tuanzebe and Mengi are coming through then why do we need another young defender who's not the finished article?
Click to expand...

Well yes to be fair, there is no guarantee but there is no guarantee on any player. Personally research wise yes its promising seeing a player touted (by whom tho?) but I would never judge or suggest signing a player without actually watching him a few times, sorry that is ludicrous who would do that.....erm Bebe :)

Well there can be several definitions of a proper centre back, different types. I mean Maguire is a proper centre back but obviously we dont want to sign another similar, but someone to complement him, so pace, covering and reading the game, organisation and ironic considerign he is the captain but we need a real leader in there, personally I dont see Maguire as a leader. More I write the more actually I think Konate would perhaps be the more apt partner. Ideally but think he would cost too much also highly doubt he would leave Italy, Romagnoli would be the perfect signing for us.

Hey that player could well be Pau Torres, I cant give any opinion on that being the case as I have never seen him play despite what some people are touting here, I would have to make my own opinion. As he is the purpose of this thread wont say any more on other players after this

As for Tuanzabe and Menghi, yes coming through in terms on numbers and squad positions so we can get rid of several centre backs and hopefully to challenge. But of course neither of them have proved anything at this level at all yet, there have to be concerns about Tuanzabes development with a few big injury problems the last two years and Menghi is a potential breakthrough season of a few games.

Whether we sign a centre back or not, how much we spend on one etc etc, it is to me indesputable that currently there are forgetting the youngsters and Maguire what is it FIVE centre backs, none of which have excelled. Not one of them have justified consistently (ironically even here Smalling was the closest to doing so) that they are good enough to be a starting eleven player, that is pitiful FIVE centre backs, when I say about Tuanzabe/Menghi that is because I would be happy to sell any or pretty much all of the other five if we were to invest accordingly
 
He looks the most interesting left footed CB we've been linked with thus far IMO. Barca also very interested per Cat Radio but they have financial issues which will likely prevent them from making a move.
 
Scholsey2004 said:
He could actually be a good signing. 6'4, good in the air, decent passing stats. The Championship is a really hard league nowadays as well. We could have saved a stack load on Maguire if we'd bought him straight from Sheff United
Click to expand...

I remember Maguire standing out against United when he was at Hull. I don't understand why Jose didn't make the push for him then, a year later he wanted him?
 
Bojan11 said:
He is faster. But based on how the season ended, I would say if we being honest Maguire out the two needs replacing but that won’t happen.
Click to expand...

When you said "we", I supposed it's just you only or 5% in our community. That's just based on your personal opinion.
 
Schmeichel's Cartwheel said:
Is he any better than Lindelof?
Click to expand...

Not sure on that. He's a similar kind of CB in that his partner is the more aggressive one who tries to win the ball. The numbers say he wins the ball in the air less often than Lindelof too. On the ball he's maybe a bit more positive with his passing and dribbling. So I think he'd be for the people who rate Lindelof as a really good CB but want a left footed CB option
 
Bojan11 said:
He is faster. But based on how the season ended, I would say if we being honest Maguire out the two needs replacing but that won’t happen.
Click to expand...

Being honest Maguire has been miles better, he just hasnt been perfect either.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Is he fast? He looks slow on YouTube and I've seen people call him slow but is La liga's fastest defender. Would be nice if we can swap Bailly and maybe little cash for him. Least he would do is be solid squad depth that isn't always injured
Click to expand...

Phil Jagielka was the leagues fastest defender one season. Top speed is less important than agility, anticipation and acceleration.
 
AltiUn said:
Maybe Solskjaer envisions Maguire on the right, who knows.
Click to expand...

Wasn’t there some stats in an Athletic article or something that showed we played much better in the few game Maguire played at RCB?
 
Gabriel seems the best choice for you. Is going for under 35 million, left sided and has been playing in a good Lille side, with good coaching.
 
A friend of mine who works for Espanyol's youth setup says he is the real deal and anyone who gets him is getting one hell of a player.. I have seen him play couple of times and he has impressed me the times that I have seen him. Move Bailly the other way?
 
arthurka said:
A friend of mine who works for Espanyol's youth setup says he is the real deal and anyone who gets him is getting one hell of a player.. I have seen him play couple of times and he has impressed me the times that I have seen him. Move Bailly the other way?
Click to expand...
Does he have the pace to partner Maguire or Lindelof?

Edit: Looks quite pacey
 
Last edited:
Paul Hirst in todays edition of The Times reports that City want Pau Torres and Koulibaly. He also reports Txiki wants to conclude business quickly.
 
Adnan said:
Paul Hirst in todays edition of The Times reports that City want Pau Torres and Koulibaly. He also reports Txiki wants to conclude business quickly.
Click to expand...
If they want Pau Torres then that means the Ake deal hasn't been done as reported
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
If they want Pau Torres then that means the Ake deal hasn't been done as reported
Click to expand...

I would take Torres over Ake as well. Torres might be the backup of Laporte initially and then overtake him if he is that good. Koulibaly the RCB

Ake is decent, but he is short and his ceiling isn't that high.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.