A young player I've started to follow is Amadou Kone from Reims. He has athleticism, speed, good engine, decent passing ability and height. He actually reminds me of Baleba a lot. If we get priced out of moves for Baleba or Adam Wharton, I think we should take a look at him as someone who can come in and take a bench position. I think he will have similar growth as Baleba and take over from Ugarte in a year or two given the right development. Would be a smart INEOS type signing if you look at the transfers we have been making. I think him and Mainoo as a pair in 2-3 years would be a very formidable pairing.
Replacing Casemiro
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
- Start date
Klepstadt from Agunnaryd fc, but youll have to build him up a bit first
Pay whatever it takes to get Carlos Baleba. He's incredible and could be a midfield general for a decade.
£120m
If thats what it takes. People would scoff now of course, just like with Rio and Rooney in the past. But again, for 120M you get a midfield general for a decade. He just dominated Chelsea's very expensive midfield, and made it look easy.
I might be overhyping him a bit, but I really think he is awesome and will only get better.
Your takeaway from a player who cost peanuts from Lille bossing a 'pay whatever it takes' midfield of Fernandez and Caicedo is that we should... pay whatever it takes?
It is tempting cause he looks an amazing player, but like you say so did Caicedo and Fernandez so it’ll not be a guarantee. We need to stick to the buy younger philosophy we seem to be on now.
Plus we obviously don’t have the money for it anyway.
We've quickly gone from 'we don't want to sign Kylian Mbappe, we want to find the next Mbappe', to 'we can't afford to sign Carlos Baleba, we need to find the next Baleba'.
We definitely have to start finding the same kind of deals that the likes of Brighton do, but very sad that both clubs fortunes have changed so much that even a 21 year old off Brighton would now be well out of our price range.
Just do a Real Madrid and start tapping up these high valuation youngsters and bring them in on a free at 24yo
Haha when you phrase it like that, it sounds negative. But, do I need to repeat that we can have a midfield general for a decade?
Really surprised that such a decorated player is happy to sit on the bench and collect paychecks rather than go some place which is at his level and play football. I thought he would have more pride.
We actually don't need to replace him like for like. We need an all action midfielder with a good passing range to partner Ugarte.
We actually don't need to replace him like for like. We need an all action midfielder with a good passing range to partner Ugarte.
Last edited:
It seems he is happy accumulating retirement fund at only 32. He looks 42 to be honest.
It's United effect. At Madrid, he was itching to get out and prove himself. This is what happens when you're surrounded with folks with no purpose, you get infected. This is one of the biggest issues Amorim and Ineos have to fix.
Who are you talking about?
At this stage I'd be tapping up your nan.. literally anyone is better than this rabble.
The guy is playing on his own in midfield today. Respect to him, doing his best.
So it looks like he's staying next season. As with Mount and Shaw, the club has got to find a way of getting them fit and contributing. Alongside Foden, Mount was the best English kid I've seen at youth level and he played as a 10.
He’s going to run his contract down according to the interview he’s recently done. Not good news for us. Hasn’t been good enough for a couple of seasons and he’s defo a player we need to move on. Doubt he will get much game time so it’s clearly obvious the contract is keeping him for searching for a new club. Another mess of a signing that we are stuck with.
If Cas is digging his heels in and wants to fulfil his contract (as is his right) then we need to make use of him.
He can still be serviceable if paired with a defensive runner like Ugarte or Collyer
He can still be serviceable if paired with a defensive runner like Ugarte or Collyer
He clearly looked like he was on his own. He also forgot there were other players on a different team as well.
He’s just letting the club know he won’t leave on the cheap, he’s getting his money whatever ends up happening in the summer.
He has every right to see out his contract, and we have every right to make it as uncomfortable as possible for him in order to try to persuade him to leave.
Once the season ends, strip him of his shirt number and first team privileges.
Once the season ends, strip him of his shirt number and first team privileges.
Or make use of him?
Not his fault our previous football director and CEO were a pair of idiots.
Maguire decided to stay the summer before last when tried to sell him to West Ham. He didn't want to take a pay cut. Neither does Casemiro, neither would you I imagine.
Give Cas the odd game with a runner next to him and he'll do ok.
I agree that we shouldn't have substitutes/squad players on his kind of wages but I also don't think we should be bullying contracted players out of the club.
Completely agree it's not his fault, and like I said he has every right to sit on his contract. I'd do the exact same thing in his position.
But if the club wants him out and doesn't have a use for him in the squad, I expect them to be ruthless about it.
Would absolutely hate us to treat him like that. Why would we?
We haven’t exactly helped. Playing him on his own in midfield is asking for trouble. But it’s not like we can play him as an 8 with 2 runners around him to do the leg work, so he simply isn’t suited to Amorim’s team. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him forced out, payed off etc
33 year old Casemiro will be replacing 32 year old Casemiro
You lot do realize Caicedo is the best all around DM in the league right now right?
Because it's a common negotiating tactic and the club is skint? We're not a charity.
He probably is but took him a while to get back into form after his move.
I would say Carlos Baleba is superior. But Caicedo is also very good and would have been a great signing for us.
I think we might got one with Sekou. 18 months I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a Baleba type of talent ourselves with him. That said, I’d happily take Baleba here, although the price would be astronomical.
I am not sure what the profile of this new player should be. Yes, a Baleba would be great but not sure he is gettable.
After that, we may have to settle for someone who can provide some of the qualities we require but not all the qualities. Mix of physicality, speed, technique and distribution is so rare.
After that, we may have to settle for someone who can provide some of the qualities we require but not all the qualities. Mix of physicality, speed, technique and distribution is so rare.
Didn't we already replace Casemiro with Ugarte? We need a more of a passer in the midfield. Someone who is capable of controlling the game with his passing and is also mobile enough to cover spaces. That player will also free Bruno to play as one of the #10's, where he is the most effective.
Would you be happy to spend 100m on Baleba if it means that we cannot spend more money other than swap deal and free agent such as do straight swap Garnacho and Osimhen, and may be sign some free agent signing like Lamptey, Dominik Calvert Lewin, and Norgaard?
Baleba is the one we should be chasing in an ideal world, but with the state of our finances, we need to find the next Baleba. Amadou Kone of Reims is one we should be looking at, defensively dominant and a great carrier of the ball. His passing is a work in progress but improving with every match he plays. His Fbref profile actually matches up very well to Baleba
Amadou Kone doesn't look as experienced since he is 19 and barely a starter at Reims. I would prefer if he was about 2 years older. We even have a very talented DM from Mali on our own. But maybe you know him better.
I found some other interesting names in Ligue Un, but don't know them well.
Does anyone here know more about these players?
- Ngal'ayel Mukau (20, DM/CM, Lille)
- Habib Diarra (21, DM/CM, Strasbourg)
- Tanner Tessmann (23, DM, Lyon)
Also I have written this before but Ardon Jashari of Club Brugge seems like a very talented DM/DLP, in the mould of Granit Xhaka. They not only share their backgrounds (Swiss NT players of Albanian descent), but also their playing style (though Jashari seems a bit less hot headed than Xhaka). He's 22 and could be ready for the next step, though I could see him at a German club first.
He's not experienced but neither was Baleba when Brighton got him from Lille. In fact, Brighton got him at 19 and wasn't a full time starter at Lille but he's come on in leaps and bounds in 2 years. I guess what I'm saying is that Amadou Kone can replace Case's role in the squad, which is as a bench player who can rotate with Ugarte. But the upside with him, is that I can see him developing at such a rate that in 2 years he becomes a starter in the first 11. I think him and Sekou Kone can play together or he could play with Mainoo.
However if the club have huge hopes for Sekou that he can come into the squad next season and they want to give him minutes, then we might not need Amadou Kone. I think it all depends on the plans for Sekou and the rate of his development. If they want to ease him in, perhaps give him a loan or two and take their time to build him up, then if we sell Case, I wouldn't hesitate to get Amadou Kone now.
Another young player I like is Ayyoub Bouaddi, althought he's not a Case replacement, more a replacement for Erikksen as a defensive playmaker.
Of the players you mentioned, I only know of Habib Diarra, who's not really a DM. He's even played as a winger, I think he's more a AM as he's got quite good attacking instincts. He's at Strasbourg so means Chelsea will poach him if he's any good.
I will look out for Mukau and Tessman.
That is pathetic and nasty behavior, and benefits no one.