With Yoro secured, who would be your preferred choice as the additional CB?

Assuming Yoro is secured, who would be your preferred choice as the additional CB?

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I would have said Branthwaite but I think that ship has completely sailed after they sold Onana and we got Yoro for that price. So Has to be De Ligt now for me.

There’s a strong possibility Yoro isn’t ready to be starting consistently so it would make sense to have someone as good as De Ligt to rotate with. De Ligt can also play LCB and can fill in for Martinez. But if Ten Hag is obsessed with passing angles then Shaw is pretty capable in that role too
 
I don't have an opinion on the other three, but De Ligt would be my last choice. He was absolutely terrible anytime I saw him for Juventus. If he struggled as much as he did in Serie A, I think the PL would eat him alive.
 
Yagami said:
I don't have an opinion on the other three, but De Ligt would be my last choice. He was absolutely terrible anytime I saw him for Juventus. If he struggled as much as he did in Serie A, I think the PL would eat him alive.
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:lol:

Here’s you after his two seasons at Juve. Weird how good has suddenly become “terrible”.
State of that.

Can't speak for Torres but I'm already more impressed by Timber than I ever was with De Ligt. I've watched a lot of Juventus these past two seasons and, whilst good, I don't see him as anything special like I do with Timber.
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Branthwaite.

Still young. Left sided player who can fill in at LB when it (definitely will) be required.

Can then have Martinez and Branthwaite as options as LCB too rather than just Martinez.

I don't particularly rate De Ligt.

I also value having a decent number of English players in the team more than most people on here seem to.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
That’s probably due to the scars left from our last go English/British strategy, leaving us with AWB, Maguire, Sancho, Dan James.
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Time to right the wrong. I think there are a lot of very talented English players coming through at the moment and it'll bother me to see them all go to Chelsea, city or whatever other boring club not called 'Manchester United' they go to.
 
Branthwaite all day. He can play both sides and also an option for LB like what City do.

All the positives De Ligt brings, I’m convinced Branthwaite can offer. Plus he’s English.
 
De Ligt in. Lindelof out.

Then in summer 2025 Brantwaithe in and Maguire leaves on a free.
 
We will probably get De Ligt sounds good on paper, but most of these reputation signings haven't gone well for us so I'm skeptical.
 
I’ve got a bit of a memory problem but did De Light play at the Euros? I know he was in the Dutch squad but can’t remember seeing him play.
Is he really as good as posters say he is? Why are Bayern looking to sell?
 
Melville Red said:
I’ve got a bit of a memory problem but did De Light play at the Euros? I know he was in the Dutch squad but can’t remember seeing him play.
Is he really as good as posters say he is? Why are Bayern looking to sell?
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1) no, he didn't play. Van Dijk and de Vrij did.
2) he's solid. I thought he was comfortably Bayerns best CB last season and most fans would agree, I think. But they've brought in a new CB already (Ito) and are looking to get another one (Tah), so it's a bit of a numbers game. De Ligt easily has the best market of their CBs right now (Upamecano has been up and down and prone to boneheaded mistakes, while Kim had a disappointing season as a whole), so they want to cash in. And as everybody is looking for that fancy, ball-playing CB over the old-school stalwart these days, he's the one to go.

He's my clear preference here, especially with Yoro coming in. Can't expect an 18 year old to immediately settle in as a starter, so bringing in de Ligt would be smart business. De Ligt-Martinez should work well as a pairing, while Yoro slowly adapts and eventually takes over as a starter.
 
Hancko would give us cover at LB in addition to CB - would also mean he would get more game time over a season and remain match fit
 
I wouldn’t buy another CB unless we sold one of Maguire or Lindelof to help fund it

I’d be going back to the likes of Varane and seeing if he wants to come back for one more year on reduced terms.

Or a Hummels. He’s available on a free. We just need a cheap body in there. So someone available on a free, another Jonny Evans type and happy with limited game time

I’d rather we improved the midfield than the defence further.
 
Prefer PL proven to a player Bayern and Juve have been happy to let go.

I think the club see it the same.
 
I think it was probably a case of Yoro or De Ligt, rather than both, with the hope of bringing in Branthwaite regardless. It doesn't surprise me that the De Ligt deal was gathering momentum when it seemed that Yoro was heading for Madrid - now that we have seemingly secured Yoro, the De Ligt deal seems to have stalled at the final hurdle. Branthwaite doesn't look like it will happen now that Everton have shifted Onana and I very much doubt De Ligt will either.

If we make another CB signing (and I think we will) I would expect it to be a player similar to Branthwaite (ie left-footed and able to cover LB when required, thereby providing much-needed competition/cover for our two most injury prone players in Martinez and Shaw). We might consider Hancko, Gonçalo Inácio, Hincapié and Medina. Calafiori would be a good option, but he looks like he's joining Arsenal.
 
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Yagami said:
Suddenly. You can go back further where I was criticising him if you have the time. State of that.
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I mean you fecking wrote at the end of his Juve spell that he was “good” whenever you watched him at Juve.

Now 2 years later apparently whenever you watched him at Juve he was terrible.

So yes, the fecking state of that.

I’ll trust your judgement from 2022, when you had recently been watching him at Juve, and not the hyperbolic nonsense two years later.
 
Infestissumam said:
1) no, he didn't play. Van Dijk and de Vrij did.
2) he's solid. I thought he was comfortably Bayerns best CB last season and most fans would agree, I think. But they've brought in a new CB already (Ito) and are looking to get another one (Tah), so it's a bit of a numbers game. De Ligt easily has the best market of their CBs right now (Upamecano has been up and down and prone to boneheaded mistakes, while Kim had a disappointing season as a whole), so they want to cash in. And as everybody is looking for that fancy, ball-playing CB over the old-school stalwart these days, he's the one to go.

He's my clear preference here, especially with Yoro coming in. Can't expect an 18 year old to immediately settle in as a starter, so bringing in de Ligt would be smart business. De Ligt-Martinez should work well as a pairing, while Yoro slowly adapts and eventually takes over as a starter.
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Thank you, explains a lot.
 
Depends how you look at it:

Branthwaite in the long run will be a better defender than De Ligt - I genuinely believe that. His pace and height will make him become a really good defender. But he will be more expensive.
De Ligt right now is a better defender - and he perhaps has more of the leadership skills and experience which we will need short-term.

So I will be happy with either player.
 
Someone like Danso maybe, experienced defender who probably won't be expensive plus be ok to be rotated
 
If we do sign Branthwaite I hope that we do a Sanchez and come up with a great announcement video.
Branthwaite overhead pressing the willowy Yoro will do!
 
We're not getting Branthwaite and he isn't anything special anyway let's move on.

Tah for me would be a great signing.
 
izec said:
I would definitely keep Maguire. He is a good squad player and mostly fit. One injury to Martinez/Shaw and we would be thin again on the LCB front.

Lindelöf has to go though.
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The problem with Maguire would be the team structure will change over night. We will drop back, and the whole thing goes to pot.
 
I've gone for De Ligt.

It's between De Ligt and Branthwaite. I'd have probably chosen Branthwaite just because of the left sided balance, and the fact De Ligt has had injury issues. However it would have been very close as De Ligt, despite a relatively young age himself, offers much more experience of big clubs and European / International experience. And He's also available at a cheaper price, one that's much more in keeping with the current market for a CB.

The whole sour saga over the Branthwaite transfer has made me definitely edge towards a preference for De Ligt.
 
De Ligt is the obvious option here. A quality, experienced CB available for reasonably cheap, who is still young and has potential left, he's a leader, has physical presence and has ability on the ball. De Ligt + Licha has the potential to be a great CB partnership (I know we just signed Yoro).
 
This summer De Ligt, next summer another CB.

Clear out Maguire this summer and next summer move on Lindelof.
 
Doubt we have Branthwaite money and seemingly we arent paying what Bayern want for De Ligt now. So I'd take someone as a Lindelof replacement that doesnt cost much
 
We need someone who can play both RCB and LCB, has good pace and physically dominating.

Basically we need a player who can play alongside Yoro or Martinez and cover for their weaknesses. So it definitely has the be a big and strong defender. I’d probably say Tah is my preferred choice based on style.
 
DeLigt makes the most sense out of all the options and given the records of he and Martinez there should be plenty of opportunities for Yoro.

However if we could somehow sell Lindelof and Maguire, going back in for Branthwaite wouldn’t be the worst idea. Especially if Everton can be talked down to a more reasonable fee of say 50 mil with possible add ons to 60.

However 150 mil on CB’s in one summer might be a bit far fetched.
 
Is this regardless of fee or factoring that part in too? Because regardless of fee, I’d say Branthwaite. Think too many are underrating him at this point for a few different reasons, and while I don’t quite think he’s on Yoro’s level as a prospect, he’s an excellent one in his own right.

If we are talking about fitting into the budget, then De Ligt at his price is a very solid option.
 
I think De Ligt, Brantwaithe as a duo make more sense than any of the options there with Yoro (except maybe Hancko). I think we need an experienced left footer.
Brantwaithe and Yoro will struggle without experience and guidance next to them so I think Brantwaithe is pushed further off the table for me. Long term it might be a good duo but not at this stage in their career. Price is steep and theres no competition for the signing so I'd put it on the backburner for now.
De Ligt we could definitely do worse but without selling Lindelof and Maguire I'm not too pushed on that one. A left footed version of him would be pretty great but someone who can play full back too would be better.
I like the little of Tah i've seen.
 
Branthwaite marginally ahead of de Ligt.

There are arguments for both, but Branthwaite being left-footed + de Ligt being too similar to Maguire and being a marginal upgrade at best on the Englishman (I rate Maguire highly) decides it for me.

Calafiori and Hancko could both be quality options as well. Any of the four would be great signings IMO.
 
Midrich said:
Yoro Maguire RCB
Martinez Brantwaithe LCB
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I disagree with this because Maguire would be better in the LCB role that Martinez plays (the deeper of the two CBs, using his passing from deep, not actively nipping in high up the pitch etc.). This is why I want De Ligt more.

Martinez / Maguire LCB
De Ligt / Yoro RCB
Evans as the backup incase shit hits the fan again.
 
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