Youssouf Fofana

MyOnlySolskjaer said:
Monaco / Barcelona's Yaya.
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Okay, well. I haven’t seen a single minute of him live. So all I’m going on here is the YouTube highlights video.

The two things that went through my mind were: he looks a little like Pogba… the loping gait, the athleticism. Then, watching more, he looks like Yaya Toure, maybe a poor man’s Yaya Toure. Definitely not the prime Man City Toure, but the Barcelona Toure.
 
We should be signing 2 midfielders. Rabiot since he’s a free and 1 of Ugarte/Fofana.
 
I'm glad we are exploring our options and appear to be willing to walk away from deals. I've seen a fair bit of Fofana and he'd be a very useful player for us. Very different profile of player to Ugarte however.
 
Licha-Vidic said:

  • Milan continues to work to strengthen the midfield. The priority remains Monaco's Fofana. However, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid have entered the Frenchman and now the Monegasques are asking for 35 million.
  • The path is not easy and for this reason other options are being evaluated. Among these are Rabiot, released after the expiration of his contract with Juventus, and Rios.
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We’ve entered the Frenchman? Hope we got consent first.
 
RikRuud said:
I'm glad we are exploring our options and appear to be willing to walk away from deals. I've seen a fair bit of Fofana and he'd be a very useful player for us. Very different profile of player to Ugarte however.
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He looks far better on the ball and in his passing than ugarte though.

We've been crying out for some athleticism and dynamism in our midfield for years now.
 
He’s a dribbler, that side reminds me of Pogba, but I haven’t seen his special ability to play a sublime defense-shredding ball like Pogba could. Seems to slow play down, which is not going to help a “transition team”. Good player but not what we need and wouldn’t fit in the system. Rabiot would be a better option but I don’t really want him either.
 
Telsim said:
Another physical box-to-box midfielder with a weak technique and passing.

No, thanks. I think I've had enough of those.
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We are obsessed with this as a football. It truly is bizarre. Passing, vision and playmaking is something we seem to detest. Not one link I believw with such a player? Despite our number 10 being unusually final third oriented.
 
DevilRed said:
He looks far better on the ball and in his passing than ugarte though.

We've been crying out for some athleticism and dynamism in our midfield for years now.
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And much worse defensively. He's the same type of player as Mainoo not a complimentary one
 
With Ilenikhena arriving at Monaco for €20m I’d expect this deal to be wrapped up by Milan shortly.
 
Looks to have a very heavy build, not unlike Onana. Not sure if that’s his optimal shape - if not, then I see speed, agility and injuries becoming an issue for him.
 
TrailMonkey said:
Looks to have a very heavy build, not unlike Onana. Not sure if that’s his optimal shape - if not, then I see speed, agility and injuries becoming an issue for him.
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Another tiemoue bakayoko or tanguy ndombele, i.e. looks good in France, will soon etc found out in the PL for being so so average.
 
I like him, and in terms of having that ball player, he'd be a better option than Ugarte. However, I'm not sure how he'd fare next to Mainoo in a pivot.
 
croadyman said:
Yeah it's why we need him and a DM like Ugarte
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I think we need a holding midfielder, not a box to box ball winner like Ugarte, although I can totally understand why ten Hag is targeting him, which I explained in the Ugarte thread.

Although I wouldn't start him, stylistically, someone like Amrabat, in my opinion, is someone we should be targeting.

Whilst it was a small sample size, we saw how well the pivot of Amrabat and Mainoo worked at the back end of the season, playing teams like Arsenal, Brighton, Newcastle and City in the final.

For me, if we can get a ''better version'' of Amrabat, then that would be ideal. The question is, who is that player and are they attainable?
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
I think we need a holding midfielder, not a box to box ball winner like Ugarte, although I can totally understand why ten Hag is targeting him, which I explained in the Ugarte thread.

Although I wouldn't start him, stylistically, someone like Amrabat, in my opinion, is someone we should be targeting.

Whilst it was a small sample size, we saw how well the pivot of Amrabat and Mainoo worked at the back end of the season, playing teams like Arsenal, Brighton, Newcastle and City in the final.

For me, if we can get a ''better version'' of Amrabat, then that would be ideal. The question is, who is that player and are they attainable?
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How would you describe midfield profile of Fofana
 
croadyman said:
How would you describe midfield profile of Fofana
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Admittedly, I've not watched much of him, but from what I've read, and clips I've seen of him, he's more a ball playing number 8, who has the ability to bypass the midfield, either by line-breaking passes or progressive carries. Similar to Mainoo, if you like.

A first phase midfielder is who, in my opinion, we should be targeting. Someone like Rodri, and if he didn't pick up a bad injury last season, I would have loved to have seen us go in for Boubakar Kamara, who I wanted as a free agent when he was at Marseille.

Like Rodri, Kamara has a nice blend of ball playing and defensive abilities.

However, as I said, I can totally see why ten Hag would be targeting a player like Ugarte. Not so such about Fofana, though, unless it was to rotate with Mainoo, which doesn't really make sense, given that it looks like that will be Mount's role.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Admittedly, I've not watched much of him, but from what I've read, and clips I've seen of him, he's more a ball playing number 8, who has the ability to bypass the midfield, either by line-breaking passes or progressive carries. Similar to Mainoo, if you like.

A first phase midfielder is who, in my opinion, we should be targeting. Someone like Rodri, and if he didn't pick up a bad injury last season, I would have loved to have seen us go in for Boubakar Kamara, who I wanted as a free agent when he was at Marseille.

Like Rodri, Kamara has a nice blend of ball playing and defensive abilities.

However, as I said, I can totally see why ten Hag would be targeting a player like Ugarte. Not so such about Fofana, though, unless it was to rotate with Mainoo, which doesn't really make sense, given that it looks like that will be Mount's role.
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So Ugarte and a first phase midfielder ideally,yeah was strange we didn't rival Villa for Kamara
 
croadyman said:
So Ugarte and a first phase midfielder ideally,yeah was strange we didn't rival Villa for Kamara
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Or Amrabat and a top class first phase midfielder, as they'd share a similar profile.

Bruno/Mount
Mainoo/Mount - New DM/Amrabat​

I think this will be our main midfield options next season.
 
Isn’t this guy more of a box to box than an actual DM. Last thing we need is another Casemiro who wonders upfront and leaves us wide open.
 
All these midfielders with meh technique and meh passing ability. What is it with us and our reticence to go for any midfielder with a genuine technique/passing skillset?
 
Hoof the ball said:
All these midfielders with meh technique and meh passing ability. What is it with us and our reticence to go for any midfielder with a genuine technique/passing skillset?
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we do need someone to do the running and protect the back four. We don't have the quality to turn into possession based, high pressing team overnight so in order our midfield to not look shredded we should have someone like Ugarte.

Ideally I'd take Zubimendi too, but there is a lot of competition and he doesn't seem to want to move.

Apart from the midfielders mentioned there isn't someone who we are linked with that could the the aforementioned job, and we do need him now.
 
pcaming said:
Point out the available/affordable options...
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Zubimendi if available, surely is a much better option than the likes of Fofana.

There's a lad at Athletic Club, Beñat Prados, who I wouldnt mind at all either. We have to look for players who are assurred on the ball and know how to protect it under pressure.
 
avgp_1 said:
Zubimendi if available, surely is a much better option than the likes of Fofana.

There's a lad at Athletic Club, Beñat Prados, who I wouldnt mind at all either. We have to look for players who are assurred on the ball and know how to protect it under pressure.
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I like the idea of Zubi, but you have to wonder why Barca/Arsenal never really pulled the trigger on him. His fee isn't particularly high and his wages likely low, seems like he has more hype than ability.
 
It's gone quiet with Fofana to Milan and United. Maybe he's stalled on Milan to see if we go in for him.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Admittedly, I've not watched much of him, but from what I've read, and clips I've seen of him, he's more a ball playing number 8, who has the ability to bypass the midfield, either by line-breaking passes or progressive carries. Similar to Mainoo, if you like.

A first phase midfielder is who, in my opinion, we should be targeting. Someone like Rodri, and if he didn't pick up a bad injury last season, I would have loved to have seen us go in for Boubakar Kamara, who I wanted as a free agent when he was at Marseille.

Like Rodri, Kamara has a nice blend of ball playing and defensive abilities.

However, as I said, I can totally see why ten Hag would be targeting a player like Ugarte. Not so such about Fofana, though, unless it was to rotate with Mainoo, which doesn't really make sense, given that it looks like that will be Mount's role.
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I quite like Éderson at Atalanta, who has a good all round skillset, as does Pepelu at Valencia. I've always been a fan of Locatelli and although he would be unobtainable, I think that's the kind of player who would work well next to Mainoo - someone who sits at the base of midfield and excels at long passing, passing into the final 3rd and switching the play (Locatelli is 92nd, 97th and 95th percentiles for each, respectively). That's only if we become more of a possession side, though, otherwise we probably need a ball winner who can cover a lot of ground when needed.
 
Hoof the ball said:
All these midfielders with meh technique and meh passing ability. What is it with us and our reticence to go for any midfielder with a genuine technique/passing skillset?
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Our last few managers seem to want people who can run a lot instead of metranomic passing concentration and application
 
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