Harry Maguire | Signed

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How sure are we that Napoli wouldnt take the money for their defender who's legitimately up there with the best in the world?

Why would they accept Harry Maguire money for Koulibaly? It's not like they don't see the difference between the two either.

The fact that nobody appears to even be trying to sign Koulibaly tells you how much Napoli are demanding.
 
Then honestly, you have to call everyone a gamble. Bear in mind this was 1998 and he was coming from the dutch league which had just produced the Ajax team that had gone to the final, won, and semi final of the CL in the three previous years, and many of the top dutch internationals were still playing in the league. It was much more internationally competitive than it is seen today. Stam was signed for a world record fee for a dutch player, and world record fee for a defender. He was the business. If you were to extrapolate this to today, it would mean paying 80M pounds for a defender, as that it what it would take to break the current world record. So not a "30-50M" gamble.

Ajax won the CL in 1995. By that time their team had been sold off and most of their defenders had proved to be either meah (de Boer) or utter dunces (Reizeger, Bogarde). Stam was a risk. Back then the dead certs were the likes of Maldini and Costacurta. Stam was a bigger gamble to the likes of Campbell and Nesta who were doing an excellent job at a top league. Which is why we were able to sign him at a time when the EPL was still the third choice league in Europe
 
That list includes de Ligt, some veterans, some young punts worse than Bailly and Tyrone Mings. You seem to be missing the point that taking a punt is worthless to us now because we need an instant improvement. A league leading team can take a punt, wait to see if they develop and can normally survive just fine if they fail but we cannot do that right now. We need to stop the bleeding and at a minimum make top 4 or better to get back into the CL and get our seat back at the big kids table. Maguire is a significant upgrade over anyone on our roster and unless you can find someone else like that who is available and wants to come then we have to commit to this deal and get it done.

It is already obvious from the 2 pre season games that the heart of our defense is still a massive weakness and is going to cost us in a big way if we don't fix it in this window and as others have already pointed out, the difference Maguire would have made last season in the goals allowed column probably would have been worth the 6 points we needed for top 4 and then we would be ordering our Sancho jerseys this summer. For fecks sake lets not make the same mistake 2 years in a row or before long it will be Leicester picking over our squad and not the other way around.

As said I don't mind us spending 100m on a prime Rio Ferdinand. Hell, I don't mind doing that (or pay slightly more then that) for Koulibaly either. However spending 100m for a CB whose clearly not WC simply because he's EPL proven is mad. The guy is nowhere near to WC let alone Rio or Vidic standard.

Under such circumstances Id rather spend the money on a decent CB and a mobile DM. Defence is not a 1 man thing, it requires a good defensive unit were one covers for the others weaknesses. Juventus in the 90s for example had a fantastic defensive record despite not having WC players in defence. If DDG signs a new contract and AWB settles down quickly then I think we can easily achieve that with a mobile DM and a decent CB whose good in air and whose a decent passer of the ball.
 
Ajax won the CL in 1995. By that time their team had been sold off and most of their defenders had proved to be either meah (de Boer) or utter dunces (Reizeger, Bogarde). Stam was a risk. Back then the dead certs were the likes of Maldini and Costacurta. Stam was a bigger gamble to the likes of Campbell and Nesta who were doing an excellent job at a top league. Which is why we were able to sign him at a time when the EPL was still the third choice league in Europe

For a World record fee...... He was not even close to be the lower cost gamble or punt you have been extolling in this thread the last couple of pages. I think that's what is not being grasped here.
 
When we bought Stam, Johan Cruyff said that we could finally win the Champions League that season and he was proved right.
 

Great stuff, we can expect a bid prepared for roughly 2022 then ey.

If that tweet is true, which it likely isn’t, it suggest either Ake or another project defender like Tah, Konate, etc because we all know how well they work out. The Caf will be ecstatic when we pay 50m for another gamble, who then turns out to be another Bailly, Darmian, Smalling, etc

I think there's a good crop of promising young CB's out there at the moment who would represent far less risk than Bailly, who came having had experience of what, 1 and a half years professional football?

I think Ake / Tah would be smarter purchases than Maguire (who I'm not against signing btw, think he'd do well), as-well as a whole host of other less prominent names.

Milenkovic, Upamecano, Konate, Godfrey - I'm no scout but I'm sure there are plenty out there who will improve us. As long as the fundamentals of their game are solid then we'll be out of Bailly territory to start.
 
For a World record fee...... He was not even close to be the lower cost gamble or punt you have been extolling in this thread the last couple of pages. I think that's what is not being grasped here.

We couldn't do otherwise else he would become a target of Spanish/Italian clubs who could offer way better salaries then we do.
 
They will, provided the money is 150m which is the price they quoted us.
The least we can do is test their resolve. Italian clubs talk big but things never work out that way. If we were to put in a 80 million quid bid for him, they'd consider it.
 
Why would they accept Harry Maguire money for Koulibaly? It's not like they don't see the difference between the two either.

The fact that nobody appears to even be trying to sign Koulibaly tells you how much Napoli are demanding.
De Ligt is better than Maguire and hes gone for less than what we've offered for Maguire. These things never make sense. Prem clubs are always ready to take clubs to the cleaners.
 
The least we can do is test their resolve. Italian clubs talk big but things never work out that way. If we were to put in a 80 million quid bid for him, they'd consider it.

He won't be an easy signing. Ancelotti threatened to leave Napoli if they dared selling Koulibaly. Having said that, I think they are more likely to accept a fee + player deal then Leicester would.
 
Personally I really don't care whether we sign Maguire or not, as long as we sign someone at CB and move on. Every option I see mentioned is either overpriced or a risk so just accept that and take our chances with whoever seems like the appropriate balance of talent to cost. As long as we're sure they'll improve us at least somewhat, which shouldn't be that hard, then we can risk them ultimately failing to live up to any higher expectations.
 
So who on that list should we have bought that would have come and would have immediately made us better?

Kounde, Anderson, Diallo and Hermoso are all ball playing CBs. Their strength despite being at smaller clubs last season (Diallo withstanding) was their ability of passing the ball, all of whom were high up on passes last season despite being at relatively weak clubs. These are the types of punts we should be going for, players who are comfortable in possession at the back and playing the modern game. None of our CBs except Lindelof can do this.
 
Can I ask, why isn't Maguire worth £80m? Because he's English?, Because he's young?, Because he has little European experience?, Because he's only won the Prem once? VvD was a gamble for £75m and look at him now, potentially a Ballon D'or candidate and he went from a mid table, so-so team to a top 6 team and has made a massive difference. He's big, strong, athletic, determined and can lead from the back. I personally think in Maguire, if we purchase him, we will have the English version. If it takes £5m more than VvD to get him, then so be it. For christ's sake, we are still paying a fortune for barely average players, maybe Woody should bite the bullet and get him, god kknows we need someone like him. As fans, we would have happily sanctioned £100m+ for Koulibally.
 
Kounde, Anderson, Diallo and Hermoso are all ball playing CBs. Their strength despite being at smaller clubs last season (Diallo withstanding) was their ability of passing the ball, all of whom were high up on passes last season despite being at relatively weak clubs. These are the types of punts we should be going for, players who are comfortable in possession at the back and playing the modern game. None of our CBs except Lindelof can do this.

I take the point about their ball playing skills but as you said yourself, they are punts. I would rather sign a Maguire who is PL proven and better than what we have or failing that try and see if Ole can develop Bailly and Tuanzebe and spend the money on the midfield instead. I quite liked the look of Anderson but he got some pretty negative commentary in his thread from posters who watch a lot of Serie A and the fact that Lyon got him for such a low fee and with seemingly no competition suggests he is not the level we are looking for.
 
Kounde, Anderson, Diallo and Hermoso are all ball playing CBs. Their strength despite being at smaller clubs last season (Diallo withstanding) was their ability of passing the ball, all of whom were high up on passes last season despite being at relatively weak clubs. These are the types of punts we should be going for, players who are comfortable in possession at the back and playing the modern game. None of our CBs except Lindelof can do this.
Whilst I agree with the general point, maybe not Kounde (don’t know enough), but the rest are shite in the air in comparison to Maguire. We do need a player that can do both, sadly.
 
Incredible that this takes so long. A far from world class but decent CB that wants to join us after a pretty underwhelming season. We are inept.
 
Incredible that this takes so long. A far from world class but decent CB that wants to join us after a pretty underwhelming season. We are inept.

I’m not following your logic? We have his interest but Leicester don’t want to sell this decent centre back for less than £85m.

Do you think we should have paid £85m by now?
 
De Ligt is better than Maguire and hes gone for less than what we've offered for Maguire. These things never make sense. Prem clubs are always ready to take clubs to the cleaners.
And has been discussed this was an exception due to his agreement with the club.
 
I’m not following your logic? We have his interest but Leicester don’t want to sell this decent centre back for less than £85m.

Do you think we should have paid £85m by now?

No I don’t but I think you should have move do on by now, Maguire may want his “dream move” but he won’t force it having just signed a new deal last year.
 
No I don’t but I think you should have move do on by now, Maguire may want his “dream move” but he won’t force it having just signed a new deal last year.

Is that your other account?
 
I think Maguire is the best defensive option out there. Great player.

The grass is always greener.. The foreign unknown is of course more exciting, but I doubt we'll get anyone close to Maguire's quality for similar money.
 
Hopefully not.

He'll still come. not at all surprising we are leaking stuff that we are moving on. Clearly a leak from us given the lack of names he has used.

He's our number 1 target and should be brought in for the manager.
 
As said I don't mind us spending 100m on a prime Rio Ferdinand. Hell, I don't mind doing that (or pay slightly more then that) for Koulibaly either. However spending 100m for a CB whose clearly not WC simply because he's EPL proven is mad. The guy is nowhere near to WC let alone Rio or Vidic standard.

Under such circumstances Id rather spend the money on a decent CB and a mobile DM. Defence is not a 1 man thing, it requires a good defensive unit were one covers for the others weaknesses. Juventus in the 90s for example had a fantastic defensive record despite not having WC players in defence. If DDG signs a new contract and AWB settles down quickly then I think we can easily achieve that with a mobile DM and a decent CB whose good in air and whose a decent passer of the ball.

There are countless CBs that weren’t deemed wc before they signed. Vidic was a surprise. Stam was coming from the Dutch league. Brilliant ‘lesser’ players like Berg and Johnson wouldn’t have been anyone’s first choice. Point being Maguire is a good player. I suspect a great many, me included, don’t watch 90 mins week in week out...and it just might be that upon signing we actually realise how good/great he really is. He could be CB saviour in the mould of VVD at Liverpool. And if his attitude and application is what the media suggest, then the attitude of the squad will also be greatly improved
 
I’m not following your logic? We have his interest but Leicester don’t want to sell this decent centre back for less than £85m.

Do you think we should have paid £85m by now?

Yeah or just moved on. Not waste half the freaking window trying to lowball.
 
Reckon the wait is due to that Leicester probably made sure nothing is official until they have secured a replacement.
 
I actually think you need more than the one player and need to replace Matic too.

In terms of CBs-

Aké
Romagnoli
Skriniar
Elvedi
Djene
Akanji
Tah
Konate
Milenkovic
Upamecano
N’Dicka
Llorente

CDMs

Gbamin
Neves
Brozovic
Zubeldia
Roca
Tonali

If you spread the £80,000,000 over two of those, I actually think you’d be better off personally.
 
Reckon the wait is due to that Leicester probably made sure nothing is official until they have secured a replacement.

I never got this argument, any club receiving a bid from Leicester for a CB will know it’s a Maguire replacement. It seems At the minute Leicester do not want to sell and Maguire so far has kept his own council.
 
I never got this argument, any club receiving a bid from Leicester for a CB will know it’s a Maguire replacement. It seems At the minute Leicester do not want to sell and Maguire so far has kept his own council.
Wouldn’t you say it is a fair strategy in order to not inflate a price for a replacement? Meaning that they leak fake news to the media via intermediaries, and secure a better deal? Would think Leicester could afford Dunk/Tarkowski easily without the Maguire transfer, but after it, they could be asked for silly money - like United are btw.
 
Can I ask, why isn't Maguire worth £80m? Because he's English?, Because he's young?, Because he has little European experience?, Because he's only won the Prem once? VvD was a gamble for £75m and look at him now, potentially a Ballon D'or candidate and he went from a mid table, so-so team to a top 6 team and has made a massive difference. He's big, strong, athletic, determined and can lead from the back. I personally think in Maguire, if we purchase him, we will have the English version. If it takes £5m more than VvD to get him, then so be it. For christ's sake, we are still paying a fortune for barely average players, maybe Woody should bite the bullet and get him, god kknows we need someone like him. As fans, we would have happily sanctioned £100m+ for Koulibally.

He was relegated with Hull when Leicester won the league. Leicester's CB partnership that season was Wes Morgan and Robert Huth.
 
Personally I really don't care whether we sign Maguire or not, as long as we sign someone at CB and move on. Every option I see mentioned is either overpriced or a risk so just accept that and take our chances with whoever seems like the appropriate balance of talent to cost. As long as we're sure they'll improve us at least somewhat, which shouldn't be that hard, then we can risk them ultimately failing to live up to any higher expectations.
That’s exactly the attitude that has got us where we are. We’ve signed several CB’s already, though none were fit for purpose.
 
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