I too am unconvinced he seems to lack the fundamentals of being a good defender. My biggest concern would be his positioning the games ive seen it's been poor. I don't think Godfrey is any more of a prospect than Tuanzebe.
Nathan Ake (Close to signing for Man City, £40m fee)
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That sentence is pretty much. He's basically carbon copy of Lindelof but with pace and offer more in goal threat (11 league goals in 4 seasons for Bournemouth). If Lindelof-Maguire can give us only 33 goals conceded, I think Maguire-Ake can improve it.
Not too sure with Lindelof-Ake partnership though if we plan to rest Maguire since those two are not good in the air. Ake is not good with his jumping reach due to short but he is good in heading while Lindelof & Bailly can't aim their headers. However, I won't pass Ake if he's available cheap. Experienced & proven PL 25 yo CB for around 25m-35m is worth a punt. If not working, I think we can at least get around 20m back by selling him the next following season.
VVD was an absolute monster for Celtic before Soton. He was hardly under the radar. Robertson was pretty coveted too, not to the same extent.
I really like Ake but at 5' 11", do you think he's suited to us? We aren't exactly peak era Barca who could put in a DM into a CB position because they dominated every aspect of the game.
Along side height like Maguire's and due to the fact he is good in the air Like Danny blind and Canavaro were. I believe he'd suit us fine
. Not to mention he'd even be a viable extra option at left back
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Close to signing for City in a £35m deal.
He's a good player, whether or not he can play at that level we'll see but he's very good on the ball. Spells the end for Stones and Otamendi you would have thought.
I think he'll be good in City's system.
We should be in for him at that price.
Don't think he is good enough for them. Could be more fun to watch with defensive errors.
Not sure he's the elite quality to take City on to the next level, but definitely better than their current options.
He is exactly what they lack. a player compatible with all their other center halves not named laporte
So much for Koulibaly (unless of course they're spending 35m on a CB to sit on the bench?)
Yes but would he be your first team choice for the foreseeable? I would like him for rotation but it’s still 35 million quid.
I’d rather pile that into somebody like Upamecano.
They going to revert him back to a fullback?
Mentioned in the transfer tweet thread but I’d rather they signed him over one of Kalidou Koulibaly, Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Umpecano
I don't think he's near good enough. Strange signing
More as depth or someone to challenge Lindelof. He has more complimentary attributes for Maguire.
He’s quick and good on the ball so he would fit Guardiola’s system on that basis.
You making out £35m is a lot to them? It doesn’t mean they won’t go for Koulibaly. They had Stones sitting on the bench and he cost £50m. So they probably get rid of him and get another defender in.
Good signing but he and Laporte both prefer playing on the left I think.
I would prefer a right-footer to play RCB and a left-footer at LCB.
I would prefer a right-footer to play RCB and a left-footer at LCB.
Good signing as a squad player. They'll surely sign a higher profile CB as well as Ake.
He's played a couple of games recently at RCB for Bournemouth with Lloyd Kelly at LCB. He's looked fine there and they've done slightly better than before Kelly came into the team. So I guess its something they could try at City
True Ake could just be the Danilo in a summer of recruiting 3 players for the same position
Fair enough.
That's exactly what they're doing. A left footed centre back as backup to Laporte. They're not messing about.
not expensive enough to be a city fullback
Nice!Don't know if he's good enough as a starter but not a bad backup to have given they need a bit of a defensive overhaul. Nice fee to replace your backups CB for example
He's good enough to play for any of the 20 PL teams ''at the moment''. Underrated due to his height and being Bournemouth player. Pep wants him sums it up, we should be in for him, Lindelof's upgrade, versatile and will give our CB good rest when needed.
Is he not better than Lindelof right now though? I think he is.
Ake is safer than Dayot. Ake is more proven in PL and already have enough experience. Dayot is still 50:50 at this moment, looks talented but need to prove himself more to show if it wasn't just a one wonder season. Remember Mangala & Benatia back then?
For the price, it's much more sensible move than trying to go for Dayot at the moment.
I’m fairly sure that if we were in for him for 35m, people would say it’s too much.
I don’t think he’s good enough to be a starter for us or city, but it looks like we’re going to find out
I don’t think he’s good enough to be a starter for us or city, but it looks like we’re going to find out
He might turn out like VVD. He has been good in the premier league and perhaps if surrounded by better players and managers, he will take his game to another level. I expected Manchester City to go big in this department, so I m a bit surprised by the news. He is the type of defender you expect a progressive manager like Pep and Poch to sign though, so it is not a surprise that he ended up with such a manager.
Ake would be a good addition at United and will improve City but I'd love United to snap up Konate, he'd work with any of our central defenders and could eventually be classed as world class, I'm amazed Upamencano seems to be the more speculated about, for me his defensive partner is key in that defence.
I'm pretty sure if we went for him at that price with the intention of adding to our squad depth - and then going out to buy a first choice partner for Maguire (which I assume City will do for Laporte), we'd be thinking there is some serious ambition being shown here.
their form pretty much unravelled this season due to inadequate back up once Laporte got injured, so makes sense to strengthen that area
He’s very underrated on this forum going by the posts. Bournemouth have absolutely terrible players around him. Fast, strong, comfortable on the ball. He'd be a great fit at number of clubs in Top 6 including ours. Not a bad price either, iirc they quoted £70m to Leicester last season.
Will be a good signing for them. He’s a very good centre half who could play for any side.
City's team is getting shorter.
With him around Mendy can even get injured and not be missed. Plus Zinchenko can even be moved to midfield