Not at Porto or Valência mate. He never played in a 3 man defence at Porto. They have been playing 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 for ages now.
Nicolas Otamendi | City Player
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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Yep, has been excellent both defensively and offensively (his assist for Negredo's winner v Almería a couple of days ago was sublime). Valencia sure know how to develop their left-backs... first Jordi Alba, then Bernat and now Gayà.
Apparently Valencia have confirmed that they have received and rejected an offer for Otamendi.
The source is Sky.
The source is Sky.
Gaya has been really impressive whenever I've caught them this year.
Typical South American hothead CB. He's been great for Valencia this season.
Arsenal are also interested apparently. 10 years from now Wenger will come out with the statement "i almost signed him".
He has had a great season with Valencia and is definitely one of the better CBs in La Liga. But... If they've rejected £25m I can't see us going much higher. That'd be boarding the amount for the more proven stars, or younger talents like Marquinhos, Varane, Godin etc...
For a typical South American hot head, he's only got 3 yellow cards to his name all season.
Sorry, hothead wasn't really the right word. Maybe very emotional and passionate. Similar to Rojo, who also only has 3 yellow cards this season.
Don't Valencia have some rich owners now? I doubt they want or need to sell in that case. Let's be honest, he's not really worth the money we offered in teh first place, no way we will pay the release clause. they bought him for like 10M a year ago.
Better wait until summer and when chances of signing better players are higher, no point of spending big money just for the sake of it, no matter how bad our CBs are. Surely we should finish top 4 with the current lot, as long as 2-3 of them are fit every week...
Better wait until summer and when chances of signing better players are higher, no point of spending big money just for the sake of it, no matter how bad our CBs are. Surely we should finish top 4 with the current lot, as long as 2-3 of them are fit every week...
He would instantly be the best CB in the league. He's not as good as Godin thats true, but he would improve us a huge amount
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What's been said? Or have they not spoke about it yet?
Its time to buy Garay for the 6th time
Didn't we say that we weren't interested in Herrera before we paid his release fee?
That sounds a bit OTT, is he really that good?
Jeez can anyone be worse then Rojo sly? I mean he makes OShea look like Baresi in his prime.
It seems like United sources are just denying everything, but sources in Spain are saying it is us.
I suspect that the guys in Spain are right and we clearly don't want to briefing journalists that we just had a bid rejected.
I suspect that the guys in Spain are right and we clearly don't want to briefing journalists that we just had a bid rejected.
Maybe even the master that is Mendes realised he couldn't do anything with Anderson?
He hasnt been a lot worse than Godin this season. Very solid and has been the main reason Valencia have gone from a dodgy defence to a solid one.
I started the season not rating him at all, he's been completely convincing. That said Rami had a good first half season as well... And then was dodgy the rest of the time and discarded
Well. Rojo was good for Argentina at World Cup. Otamendi nowhere to be seen.
If thats Otamendi at his best then I hope we stay well clear. Doesn't look like the kind of defender we need in the slightest.
Also looks pretty short for a centre back, which could lead to serious issues in the Premier League.
Looking at this guys career progression and this deal makes no sense to me whatsoever. Valencia loaned him back to a Brazilian team after signing him last season. He has also never played 30 league games in a season, 29 being the highest and then 20 the next highest FFS! Why is that? The fee seems insane if we have to go beyond what has already been offered.
I really don't want us buying a defender on the basis of 6 months of good form. We need proven top quality.
I agree with you there, all our great partnerships down the years, we one who could bring the ball out and one what will put his body on the line. This rumour isn't making sense unless he has given up on poor Rojo as well.
Need to look a bit harder. Valencia were unable to register him due to the lateness of the deal so had to find somewhere to send him where he could play. They spend a significant amount of money on him for a squad built mostly on the cheap and free transfers and is only a couple of years on from players not being paid their wages.
Go and check Diego Costa's career and tell me he isnt a top striker that Chelsea are getting their money's worth from. He went on loan to half the league for year after year and when he finally made it at Atletico it was as a hard worker doing the grunt work for Falcao and it wasnt as a starter every week. It doesnt matter how a player arrives at the top level, it just matters that at some point something clicked and they made it to that level with a good 3 or 4 years at the top to come. Something has clicked with Otamendi and he's not far off some of the best CBs around.
Sure if we can get Hummels or Godin then do it. Do it now. But what if they arent available? Do we just sit tight for a year and do nothing? No of course not. During that time players will start to reach their level and Otamendi might be one of them. He's closer than most
The guys who are more than 6 months of good form are Godin and Hummels and we havent managed to get them yet. We may never.
Two words: Kevin Philips.
There is such a thing as form as well. How exactly do you know that he has 'clicked'?
Also, you didn't address his poor appearance record, is he another injury prone player?
Exactly why would you pair Rojo with someone who didn't even get to play in that team. Garay maybe.
Rojo is a ball player, he averages the most passes in our squad. More than Carrick and Blind and with 85% accuracy (its just a shame that the other 5% includes lots of passes to the other team in dangerous areas, but thats clearly something he can work on)
Otamendi will put his body on the line. He averages 1.3 blocked shots a game which is the most in the league and in the premier league would be top 4.
I dont understand why people who clearly dont watch him and havent done any research are talking like this.
Philips was a terrible CB
How do I know something has clicked with Otamendi? I dont know, probably from watching him play a lot this season?
I wasnt expecting him to be good, I've watched him in the past for Argentina and seen plenty of rumours in the past so did my research and was entirely unconvinced. So I was ready to call him out right from the start judging him from what I'd seen in the past.
But he's done as much as he could have so far this season to convince Valencia/anyone watching that he's a top CB. He's definitely good enough to play in a top team, the only question mark is the price.
He's played the 2nd highest minutes behind the goalkeeper this season, I dont know if injuries were a problem in the past I just know it hasnt been an issue at Valencia
Decent defender. Mostly saw him last year in Brasil whilst he was on load to Mineiro, thought his career took a turn for the worse but he did fairly well in the Serie A. His price should be no where near that fee though.
How come he was loaned to Mineiro immediately after signing for Valencia?
Seems a bit much to pay for a CB who cost them only £9m a year ago. Had it been a player who had been there and done it in a top league consistently (Portugal isn't, Brazil isn't, he's played in just 18 La Liga games) then it might be something people were naturally warm to. But having already seen us pay big for Rojo another fairly untested player, seeing us pay more for Otamendi would be very very odd.
I hope it's Valencia/agents attempting to get something going because we don't need more question marks at the back. If they're going to invest big in defence, it's surely got to be someone with a better track record?
Seems a bit much to pay for a CB who cost them only £9m a year ago. Had it been a player who had been there and done it in a top league consistently (Portugal isn't, Brazil isn't, he's played in just 18 La Liga games) then it might be something people were naturally warm to. But having already seen us pay big for Rojo another fairly untested player, seeing us pay more for Otamendi would be very very odd.
I hope it's Valencia/agents attempting to get something going because we don't need more question marks at the back. If they're going to invest big in defence, it's surely got to be someone with a better track record?
Miranda? Varane? Garay?
Wasn't this the guy we were linked with briefly about 18 months ago? But at the time it was for much less money, and nobody rated him?
Miranda is 30 and only had last season to suggest he's worth mentioning, wasnt as impressive as Otamendi has been this season
Varane is a young player who still makes mistakes and needs to be more consistant, but one that Mourinho says is the best CB in the world and will buy the second he becomes available. For now hes not available. And for us he never will be. He'll either make it longterm at Madrid or go to Chelsea
Garay is 28 and has never proven himself in a top league. Personally I was convinced by his performances in the europa last season, but thats less games than half a season in la liga so I dont think he's proven any more than Otamendi has
All three are more proven then Otamendi though, which was kind of my point. Though Varane is the only one from that list I'd want us to spend big money on.
Absolutely mental post. He was fantastic against Madrid, and if played like that for us he'd walk into our team.
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