Denis Zakaria / signed for Juventus

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Rozay

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Utdreport keeps putting up The Athletic as a source and when they do, I always try to find the article but never do. It seems as if they are regularly making up stuff and putting The Athletic as a source.

I wish utdreport was banned in here and that post from their twitter is deleted.
It was said during a podcast by the guys at The Athletic.
It was actually written in an article concerning Matić contract extension.
 

Bestietom

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How does he compare with Partey?
He is bigger than Partey ( 6' 3" ) and much faster. I like Partey but after I seen this guy a few times this year, I think he would suit us better. Ideal replacement for Matic.
 

Sea-Cow

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Zakaria had covered more ground than any Gladbach player as of January 2020. I haven't checked the stats since but to lead in such a category playing under Marco Rose is very impressive as far as covering every blade of grass.
Listen mate, I've had about enough of you using facts to contradict my feelings on players.

I watched him once or twice and my feelings are final. And they're correct. Obviously.
 
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kafta

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Listen mate, I've had about enough of you using facts to contradict my feelings on players.

I watched him once or twice and my feelings are final. And they're correct. Obviously.
:lol:
 

NoPace

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He is bigger than Partey ( 6' 3" ) and much faster. I like Partey but after I seen this guy a few times this year, I think he would suit us better. Ideal replacement for Matic.
I love Partey's skills on the ball but if this guy covers ground the way the stats suggest I could see him being a good fit for the way Ole seemed to want us to play in pre-season before he got scared and cautious, which was basically a 4-2-4 with the 2 responsible for covering huge swaths of territory. If we assume Pogba leaves, then having Fred, Zakaria (if he's the guy y'all say) and McTominay to give us 3 guys for those 2 spots and then a front 4 of Rashford, Bruno, a big signing (ideally Sancho) and one of Martial, Greenwood or James as the 4th guy with the other 2 coming in looks promising, if also needing a guy who can backup Bruno and also play in the 2 (ironically a motivated Pogba would be a top 3 player in all of world football for this role).

Writing that reminds me I'm still mad we let Juve get Vidal for 11M in 2010 after he was incredible at Leverkusen. He'd have been great in this setup.
 

Icemav

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I love Partey's skills on the ball but if this guy covers ground the way the stats suggest I could see him being a good fit for the way Ole seemed to want us to play in pre-season before he got scared and cautious, which was basically a 4-2-4 with the 2 responsible for covering huge swaths of territory. If we assume Pogba leaves, then having Fred, Zakaria (if he's the guy y'all say) and McTominay to give us 3 guys for those 2 spots and then a front 4 of Rashford, Bruno, a big signing (ideally Sancho) and one of Martial, Greenwood or James as the 4th guy with the other 2 coming in looks promising, if also needing a guy who can backup Bruno and also play in the 2 (ironically a motivated Pogba would be a top 3 player in all of world football for this role).

Writing that reminds me I'm still mad we let Juve get Vidal for 11M in 2010 after he was incredible at Leverkusen. He'd have been great in this setup.
If Pogba most likely leaves then we have an interesting problem. With Fernandes here Pogba most like would have played in a 2 behind giving creativity from deep, and I guess occasionally rotated into the 10 position.

So we have a mid 3 with Fernandes up top and either Matic/Fred/Mctominay behind. Those are 3 guys who can tackle pretty well, and both Fred and Mctominay can run all day, and Fred and Matic try to control play as best they can though neither are true controllers.

So really this is the challenge for us. Not a like for like replacement for Pogba but finding someone who can fill that role of controlling midfield and also giving creativity. Because we already have 2 guys with big engines who can tackle.

I honestly have never seen Partey or Zakaria or Havertz play. But my ubderstanding is that Havertz is closer to what I have described.
 

Champagne Football

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I honestly have never seen Partey or Zakaria or Havertz play. But my ubderstanding is that Havertz is closer to what I have described.
Absolutely no chance of getting Havertz. He's Bayern bound I believe. Saul Niguez for 70 million could be an outside bet to come.
 

croadyman

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Absolutely no chance of getting Havertz. He's Bayern bound I believe. Saul Niguez for 70 million could be an outside bet to come.
Would be very surprised if we managed to get Saul for that sort of figure considering the ridiculously long contract that he is currently on at Atletico but maybe I will be proved completely wrong on this one.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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If Pogba most likely leaves then we have an interesting problem. With Fernandes here Pogba most like would have played in a 2 behind giving creativity from deep, and I guess occasionally rotated into the 10 position.

So we have a mid 3 with Fernandes up top and either Matic/Fred/Mctominay behind. Those are 3 guys who can tackle pretty well, and both Fred and Mctominay can run all day, and Fred and Matic try to control play as best they can though neither are true controllers.

So really this is the challenge for us. Not a like for like replacement for Pogba but finding someone who can fill that role of controlling midfield and also giving creativity. Because we already have 2 guys with big engines who can tackle.

I honestly have never seen Partey or Zakaria or Havertz play. But my ubderstanding is that Havertz is closer to what I have described.
Partey is creative. I'm certain the club won't sell Pogba for anything less than we bought him for which is 90m. So it's either we don't sell him or we sell him for 90m + and if we sell him for that amount then we can use the money to get Partey and Grealish which is enough creativity to replace Pogbas.

As for controlling games that's probably down to our style of play because I believe we have the players to do that. To put it this way, I don't imagine Guardiola struggling to play possession football with Matic Fred and Bruno
 

Champagne Football

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Would be very surprised if we managed to get Saul for that sort of figure considering the ridiculously long contract that he is currently on at Atletico but maybe I will be proved completely wrong on this one.
I don't see it happening either. I wouldn't be surprised if Ole signs some unheard of kid with big potential as Matic back up.
 

Icemav

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Partey is creative. I'm certain the club won't sell Pogba for anything less than we bought him for which is 90m. So it's either we don't sell him or we sell him for 90m + and if we sell him for that amount then we can use the money to get Partey and Grealish which is enough creativity to replace Pogbas.

As for controlling games that's probably down to our style of play because I believe we have the players to do that. To put it this way, I don't imagine Guardiola struggling to play possession football with Matic Fred and Bruno
They would certainly be better at it but still these are not the best players for Guardiola's system. Also need to replace Matic and continue to upgrade the squad.

Regarding Pogba, though I am no expert on his contract situation I really don't think we have that kind of leverage. If he doesn't extend his contract this Summer then we lose him for a big fat zero after next season. Pogba's suitors know this so are not desperate to pay a high fee for him in 2020. The club is in a tight spot. Also his agent will hate him leaving for a small fee and without much fanfare.

Perhaps the best thing for both parties is the following.... he signs a 3 year extension and the club agrees he can still leave in the Summer of 2021 for a decent wedge of money.

Though personally I think Paul needs to get this idea out of his head that he needs to Club hop and chase glory. Many many legends never felt the need to do this. And though not easy he has a chance to do something special with United before his career ends with an exciting young team. He also has and most probably will continue to do great things with France.
 

Icemav

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Absolutely no chance of getting Havertz. He's Bayern bound I believe. Saul Niguez for 70 million could be an outside bet to come.
Only if he refuses anywhere but Bayern. My understanding is that FCB don't have that much cash to splash so we could offer a much better deal to Leverkusen. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
 

Bebestation

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Only if he refuses anywhere but Bayern. My understanding is that FCB don't have that much cash to splash so we could offer a much better deal to Leverkusen. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Is Havertz a CAM or a RM/RW?
 
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Is Havertz a CAM or a RM/RW?
Can operate as an 8 or CAM/Second Striker. Been playing deeper this season. Personally think second striker makes best use of his qualities, he's a very unique attacking midfielder in today's game with his height and finishing instincts. But his passing and technique is excellent, Ozil like at times so he's been quite good as an 8 as well.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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They would certainly be better at it but still these are not the best players for Guardiola's system. Also need to replace Matic and continue to upgrade the squad.

Regarding Pogba, though I am no expert on his contract situation I really don't think we have that kind of leverage. If he doesn't extend his contract this Summer then we lose him for a big fat zero after next season. Pogba's suitors know this so are not desperate to pay a high fee for him in 2020. The club is in a tight spot. Also his agent will hate him leaving for a small fee and without much fanfare.

Perhaps the best thing for both parties is the following.... he signs a 3 year extension and the club agrees he can still leave in the Summer of 2021 for a decent wedge of money.

Though personally I think Paul needs to get this idea out of his head that he needs to Club hop and chase glory. Many many legends never felt the need to do this. And though not easy he has a chance to do something special with United before his career ends with an exciting young team. He also has and most probably will continue to do great things with France.
After this season Pogbas has one more year left and we have the option to extend by another year. So you could say he has two years left. I'm sure we won't sell Pogbas at a loss like just like we didn't for Lukaku
 

Champagne Football

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Only if he refuses anywhere but Bayern. My understanding is that FCB don't have that much cash to splash so we could offer a much better deal to Leverkusen. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I don't think we can afford him as well as Sancho, and I think we'd be like 5th or 6th on his list of places he can choose to go to. We still don't know yet if we have Champions League football next season, and that too will be a factor.
 

Rozay

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I don't think we can afford him as well as Sancho, and I think we'd be like 5th or 6th on his list of places he can choose to go to. We still don't know yet if we have Champions League football next season, and that too will be a factor.
Tbh we don’t know if anyone has CL football next season at this stage.
 

NoPace

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Absolutely no chance of getting Havertz. He's Bayern bound I believe. Saul Niguez for 70 million could be an outside bet to come.
If Havertz is Bayern bound as rumours and logic and history suggest he will be, Tolisso might move, either to us or he could go somewhere new and lead to a player moving as well I suppose like if he went to Juve we could maybe Bentancur or Rabiot.

But yeah, I assume United, Arsenal, Napoli and a couple other teams in the zone we're in these days as well as maybe even PSG (French) and Barcelona (good fit as new Rakitic type providing energy on the right to let Messi conserve his?) will look at buying Tolisso if Havertz does go to Bayern.
 

reddevilchennai

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From some of the videos I have seen of him, he is good at dribbling, breaking the attack, more of a destroyer type. He doesn't play that much of long balls it looks. How good is his long range passing?
 

Inigo Montoya

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From some of the videos I have seen of him, he is good at dribbling, breaking the attack, more of a destroyer type. He doesn't play that much of long balls it looks. How good is his long range passing?
To paraphrase a coach from yesteryear, "there isn't a long ball or short ball, just the right pass." May not answer the question above but answers the question about whether he does the right thing consistently
 

Trezeguet17

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Anyone watching Gladbach right now?
This guy is the real deal!
First game after injury if i am not mistaken
 

croadyman

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Hopefully he can prove his fitness between now and the end of the season. Surely consistent performances will make Ole take notice of him
 

Bebestation

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I was watching some youtube videos of him recently and someone said that the way he played reminded them of Yaya toure.

I know he has been linked to City and I dont know if that's a coincidence but do people agree? Does he play like Toure or different? Other people said like Viera.

I'm just saying because Zakaria is quite a tactically disciplined players who is spatially aware but if he plays like Yaya toure then I'm not sure if he is exactly the type of player we need is he?
 

hasanejaz88

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I was watching some youtube videos of him recently and someone said that the way he played reminded them of Yaya toure.

I know he has been linked to City and I dont know if that's a coincidence but do people agree? Does he play like Toure or different? Other people said like Viera.

I'm just saying because Zakaria is quite a tactically disciplined players who is spatially aware but if he plays like Yaya toure then I'm not sure if he is exactly the type of player we need is he?
He's more of a DM than Yaya Toure, who had fantastic attacking qualities. Yaya was better offensively than defensively, which is he opposite of Zakaria.
 

Bebestation

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He's more of a DM than Yaya Toure, who had fantastic attacking qualities. Yaya was better offensively than defensively, which is he opposite of Zakaria.
I know. How do you find Zakaria?

He seems very disciplined as a CDM who also has the ability to play CB but at the same time goes on rampaging runs like he is Yaya Toure to some people.

Is his defensive abilities actually really good or is it his attacking ability as a DM that gets him his attention in Germany?
 

HowYouDoin

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I cant understand why is it so hard to find a player with such DM skills.
Say youre looking for a box to box player or an inside forward theres loads of them yet quality DM's few and far in between.
 

Pep's Suit

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According to Romano, he is City's no.1 target for midfield with Fernandinho leaving in the summer.
 

Holters

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I cant understand why is it so hard to find a player with such DM skills.
Say youre looking for a box to box player or an inside forward theres loads of them yet quality DM's few and far in between.
Goalscoring strikers and dominating defensive midfielders have always been the most difficult positions to find players for at any level of football.
 
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