I just really want a fast, athletic CB who is good on the ball. Too much to ask for? Probably.
Centre Back... Who do we go for?
- Thread starter Macern
- Start date
Willy Boly is the one, has only one year left on his deal.
Seen people mentioning Ben White who's been on loan at Leeds from Brighton this season. He's been immense the few times I've seen him - fast, reads the game well, great saving challenges, and can pick a pass/carry the ball out brilliantly. He's only 22 (?) now, and there are some big clubs in for him.
Don't think we will sign a young RCB from championship when Ole rates Tuanzebe highly
Upamecano is the one. Big, strong, relatively quick, good on the ball, Young, not excessively expensive. He’s mates with Fosu Mensah and French so he’d probably be drawn to us due to Pogba and Martial as well. I think he’d be an excellent partner for Maguire and would also compliment our other defenders too (which is important because I don’t think Maguire should be guaranteed a place).
Maguire
Upamecano
Lindelof
Tuanzebe
Bailly
perfect selection for next year and then in January, assess which one we can let go based on appearances, performance and injuries.
Maguire
Upamecano
Lindelof
Tuanzebe
Bailly
perfect selection for next year and then in January, assess which one we can let go based on appearances, performance and injuries.
Would be inclined to agree, but the silence around him and lack of insight into his injury is weird. I've got slim hopes of Tuanzebe making it here.
Yeah and of course he had a trial with us a few years back,think the story goes we didn't proceed because he wouldn't stay with other youngsters in digs. Well think it was something like that but maybe someone can put me right.
Not a bad shout at all that, quick and powerful. I think we'll sign somene who isn't obvious for example not a Koulibaly or Ake.
Spoiler: Bailly
I think there are plenty of young and potential top CBs available this summer. Upamecano and Konate are two of the bets examples. In Seria A, there is Kumbulla (who i think may have a move lined up to Inter or Juve, don't remember which one it was). I like Kabak from Schalke, who seems highly rated as well and was in the rumour mill to be on Spurs' radar.
A bit more established CBs would be Romagnoli and Gimenez, but Gimenez will be expensive and has some injury issues.
We got linked recently with Pau Torres from Villarreal, who seems highly rated apparently.
I think there are plenty of options for a decent fee. We don't have to buy Koulibaly for an expensive fee, when there are plenty of options under 50m and younger as well. I hope we buy one this summer, we have to.
A bit more established CBs would be Romagnoli and Gimenez, but Gimenez will be expensive and has some injury issues.
We got linked recently with Pau Torres from Villarreal, who seems highly rated apparently.
I think there are plenty of options for a decent fee. We don't have to buy Koulibaly for an expensive fee, when there are plenty of options under 50m and younger as well. I hope we buy one this summer, we have to.
Established CBs from abroad - Koulibaly Alaba Carlos Gimenez Romagnoli
Pl proven - Dunk Ake
Young CBs with high potential - Upamecano Kabak Konate Skriniar Torres
Low risk(cost) high reward - Rodon Ben White Kabak Ajer Kumbulla
Pl proven - Dunk Ake
Young CBs with high potential - Upamecano Kabak Konate Skriniar Torres
Low risk(cost) high reward - Rodon Ben White Kabak Ajer Kumbulla
Yeah this is proof that are definitely options out there at CB
Excellent post! I've been hammering on this ad nauseam with my United supporting friends. The keeper we have contributes to so many of the goals we concede. Of course I'd want an upgrade on Lindelof but we still have one of the best defences this season in the league. It's not that bad, and would only be better if we had a keeper that makes balls into the box less of a problem. Southampton would have never got that equaliser. Likely would be a foul on Peter Schmeichel. Romero's clean sheet records are no coincidence. He commands his area much better, even though he isn't as a good a keeper as DDG. So in summary, any quick, aggressive CB will do, but unless we change to a more commanding keeper, we'll keep conceding the way we do. Much more important to strengthen the attacking department and midfield so we dominate possession and outscore teams.
We want Konate! Give us Konate!
Know it often means absolutely nothing but apparently Upamecano replied to TFM's instagram post the other day
I am not on Instagram myself but if you go to profile and click on the pic of Chelsea game it's there.
I am not on Instagram myself but if you go to profile and click on the pic of Chelsea game it's there.
Last edited:
These transfer threads are hilarious because people go on posting absolutely dead players making our as if they're some super scouts.
Just because a lad from the championship or lower leagues has some good physical stature and speed doesn't mean he's good enough for us.
Just because a lad from the championship or lower leagues has some good physical stature and speed doesn't mean he's good enough for us.
What about Mengi? Those who watch.him regularly, think he can make it?
Think he can make it and still believe Axel too if he can overcome his injury problems.
We need someone who is able to slot in alongside Maguire right now such as Upamecano/Konate/Torres.
Lucio, from Bayern to Inter I thinkYeah you're right, my bad. I have a bad memory anyway but tbh I can't remember a CB from the Bundesliga that moved to another big league and did well there. Bad memory again ?
Yeah Lucio was good there, agreed. Turned out I have a very bad memory (insert shame icon)
Would love Alaba because of his versatility, attacking threat from wide, and left footed set-piece ability.
Arteta and Arsenal were rumored to be in for Upamecano but not unlike Thomas Partey, he doesn't seem to fancy them at the moment 
Hope we can kick the tires on him, I don't think we'd regret it. We'll have room anyway with Smalling and Jones seemingly on their way out and who knows what Bailly's future with the club is since he's seemingly been cursed injury wise
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Hope we can kick the tires on him, I don't think we'd regret it. We'll have room anyway with Smalling and Jones seemingly on their way out and who knows what Bailly's future with the club is since he's seemingly been cursed injury wise
Falk also said that Leipzig and Upamecano's reps were in talks to extend his contract but nothing is certain.Arteta and Arsenal were rumored to be in for Upamecano but not unlike Thomas Partey, he doesn't seem to fancy them at the moment
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Hope we can kick the tires on him, I don't think we'd regret it. We'll have room anyway with Smalling and Jones seemingly on their way out and who knows what Bailly's future with the club is since he's seemingly been cursed injury wise
Last edited:
I am still expecting this will hot up after Europa League campaign and we have sold both Smalling & Rojo too.
I dont see obvious talent in the market that would sustancialy improve us at the moment.
The most repeated names here are:
Koulibaly: expensive, entering his last years and unproven outside serie A which is not as strong as it used to be, also worths mentioning he hasnt have a great season.
Upamecano: young, unexperienced and a gamble. Cant be sure if he will fulfill his potential.
Konate: same as Upamecano, plus he's had a season strugling with injuries.
Ake: proven in EPL, but not better at least significably than our current options.
I dont think the current partnership we have is as weak as many say, if a talent such as De Ligt was available to take I would jump at it without a doubt, but I dont think at this moment we should pay for the current options.
Instead lets wait until a solid talent appears, or a youngster from the mentioned fulfill his potential. Of course we may have to pay more at that point but we will be sure of getting a solid defender. Our approach lately has been focusing on proven players eventhough they cost more and I think its the right one, every single player besides James has improved our starting XI.
Lets not enter the same cycle of buying promising unproved players that are not so expensive but not that cheap either and gamble on them. Thats how we end up spending almost 100M and having Bailly, Rojo, Blind, Lindelof,etc and still talking about bringing a new CB.
The most repeated names here are:
Koulibaly: expensive, entering his last years and unproven outside serie A which is not as strong as it used to be, also worths mentioning he hasnt have a great season.
Upamecano: young, unexperienced and a gamble. Cant be sure if he will fulfill his potential.
Konate: same as Upamecano, plus he's had a season strugling with injuries.
Ake: proven in EPL, but not better at least significably than our current options.
I dont think the current partnership we have is as weak as many say, if a talent such as De Ligt was available to take I would jump at it without a doubt, but I dont think at this moment we should pay for the current options.
Instead lets wait until a solid talent appears, or a youngster from the mentioned fulfill his potential. Of course we may have to pay more at that point but we will be sure of getting a solid defender. Our approach lately has been focusing on proven players eventhough they cost more and I think its the right one, every single player besides James has improved our starting XI.
Lets not enter the same cycle of buying promising unproved players that are not so expensive but not that cheap either and gamble on them. Thats how we end up spending almost 100M and having Bailly, Rojo, Blind, Lindelof,etc and still talking about bringing a new CB.
The last time we bought a CB with world class potential was when we bought Rio in 2002. The likes of Lindelof and Bailly don't even come close. And eventhough Konate and Upamecano are 3 years younger than Rio was when we signed him. I believe both French CBs fall into the same world class potential category Rio was in when he was the same age. They might not reach the same heights as Rio but they have all all the attributes to potentially do so.
Of course now on hindsight we can say that about Lindelof and Bailly, but at the moment many thought they were the real deal specially Bailly.
No disrespect but you believing they have worldclass potential is the same as others thought about other players. Nothing is certain, they might end up being worldclass defenders or they might not.
All Im saying its lets not bet in them. With the current inflation they wont be cheap bets, both would be 40M at least. I say lets wait and spend 60-70M on a made proven CB. The risk and cost is too high to get this bets wrong and we might end up with a costly squad full of underachievers.
Konate is a better all round player/defender than Upamecano, he’s the leader of that defence. No idea if he’d be available, but he’s the defender I’d want us to purchase. We have been linked to him some time ago, hopefully we’ve been keeping tabs on him.
Our fans keep clamouring for defenders who are not necessarily top gear in other leagues. People need to start appreciating that at the moment, the EPL is the best and most diverse league in the world. The talent in this league is superior to a lot of the "gems" that people keep bringing up. Particularly in defence, when you look at the track record of ourselves, city, chelsea, arsenal and Spurs in signing obscure defenders form other leagues (usually based on Football Manager potential), its really poor. too many people turn their nose up to premier league defenders who are better than those from other leagues. Look how good Smalling looks in Serie A.
In my opinion, we should be looking at players like Ake, who we have previously found difficult to play against rather than swooning over players most of us see through youtube videos, particularly when it comes to defensive players as a lot of their key attributes come from intelligence which is very difficult to detect in a compilation video.
In my opinion, we should be looking at players like Ake, who we have previously found difficult to play against rather than swooning over players most of us see through youtube videos, particularly when it comes to defensive players as a lot of their key attributes come from intelligence which is very difficult to detect in a compilation video.
Yeah this is my stance too. We can't afford Koulibaly and we can't afford to take a 40m + risk on an inexperienced CB like Upamecano Konate etc. I don't even think this is even something Ole would do. I think Ole is only looking to spend big(40m+) on proven players - Bruno Awb(pl proven) Maguire or touted generational talents - Sancho, De Ligt etc. Anything else for that price is a big risk considering our current needs
Konate and Upamecano are more proven in a front foot approach. They're also more proven in a team that plays the high press. None of our back line would get into Nagelsmann's Leipzig backline without him abandoning his usual imposing approach.
While that would be useful I think for 40m + players, a defender most especially we should be getting an established player or big talent like De Ligt and one that also fits into the system. I also find it strange not even the shitty sources have linked Konate with any move recently. Must be his injury this season
If it's just about an up and coming CB fitting the system and then I'd take Kabak who from what I've heard is as good as Konate/Upamecano and would also be cheaper and also playing in the same league. So it makes little sense getting Konate or Upamecano if there is a cheaper option in Kabak as good as them
Last edited:
Any idea about Diego Carlos? His name was linked to city I think. Any la liga watcher here who can give his opinion about him?
63m release clause
I last saw that Partey would rather stay at Madrid than move to Arsenal.Arteta and Arsenal were rumored to be in for Upamecano but not unlike Thomas Partey, he doesn't seem to fancy them at the moment
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Hope we can kick the tires on him, I don't think we'd regret it. We'll have room anyway with Smalling and Jones seemingly on their way out and who knows what Bailly's future with the club is since he's seemingly been cursed injury wise
That's fair enough.
Kabak is a very good defender but for me Konate and Upamecano are superior in a team that wants to enforce a high press because both French CBs look noticeably quicker in comparison to the young Turk.
De Ligt and Maguire in tandem would raise the same questions we're asking now regarding recovery pace in a high line.
Didn't talk about Grealish even when asked. Was eager to here what he would say. What Cb names did he call? I heard Koulibaly and Ake
Yeah just casually went past Grealish
Upamecano or Konate