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Transfer Rumour Kalidou Koulibaly

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Zatara said:
Yeah, I keep harping on about the need for pace in defence so we can play a high line. Obviously then the opposition is further away from our goal lol and our players can recover but also our team is also further up the pitch so our chances of scoring should be higher lol

Sounds simple to me....one thing, VVD and Koulibaly (especially) are both quick...Keane is meant to be fast as well so option 2 seems likely and it would make sense to add an English player into the team as well....I feel we need to aim for 1 though.

Key really is whether we land Keane, the other English players don't really interest me...it could be that Koeman can turn him into a top player but I think he can only further improve next to a star.
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Koeman would improve any defender we bring in.

Stones would have been better learning under his guidance rather than going to City. He has gained nothing under Pep as expected.

I have full faith that we will improve the back line this off season.
 
Zatara said:
I think keane, VVD and koulibaly are all 6'3-6'4 ish so then it makes sense to go for these tall centre backs as with our centre midfield being strong defensively we have big lads there to head away any long balls and pace to recover.

It makes further sense if we are after 6'1 Pickford as they will be a major plus on corners
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If we got siguardsson, imagine the threat at set pieces from the them at the other end of the pitch as well;)
 
Thought it was telling in his interview yesterday about buying players in 26-28 age bracket. Koeman is after the 'finished article' proven players to take us to the next level. Sadly, although he has promoted youth this year, he didn't sound overly optimistic about any other under 23s coming through to the first team, stating the gap between that level and the premiership. So you can see why he possibly wants proven quality at the right age as a priority.
 
rochdaleblue said:
Thought it was telling in his interview yesterday about buying players in 26-28 age bracket. Koeman is after the 'finished article' proven players to take us to the next level. Sadly, although he has promoted youth this year, he didn't sound overly optimistic about any other under 23s coming through to the first team, stating the gap between that level and the premiership. So you can see why he possibly wants proven quality at the right age as a priority.
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rochdaleblue said:
If we got siguardsson, imagine the threat at set pieces from the them at the other end of the pitch as well;)
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Yeah, having the height of two big centre backs with a dead ball specialist aiming for them or them dragging big players away from lukaku for example is another benefit. Jags and Williams are both 6ft so nowhere near a threat compared to Koulibaly etc

I think he's being a bit strange again to be honest....I mean of course there are exceptions like Tielemans surely...or other fabulous teenagers. Perhaps he means that he cant see our u23s having the same impact as Davies?

I mean, Tielemans, Gimenez and Pickford would massively improve us...I just hope that we don't not sign younger players and go for older players for 'experience' only....I hope it was a poke at Walsh about Koulibaly and to get a bid in for him :)
 
rochdaleblue said:
Thought it was telling in his interview yesterday about buying players in 26-28 age bracket. Koeman is after the 'finished article' proven players to take us to the next level. Sadly, although he has promoted youth this year, he didn't sound overly optimistic about any other under 23s coming through to the first team, stating the gap between that level and the premiership. So you can see why he possibly wants proven quality at the right age as a priority.
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Baningime is possibly one to break through. But he is 18 and has Gana, Schniederlin and Davies in his position with Besic and McCarthy too.

Thing is he still has a few years to develop further so Koeman is right in that aspect.
Kenny has an outside chance too.
Walsh and Dowell are at a point now where they need to be getting 1st team exposure. To break into a top 7 side in a very hard league is a challenge for any young player. Many need to move away to prove themselves (Keane at Burnley the prime example).

Koeman appears to be saying that we have given many youngsters the exposure this season. Holgate and Davies have grabbed it with both hands. DCL and Lookman have looked a bit raw.

Koeman wants a team able to go to Chelsea, Spurs, RS etc and not just compete but win.
 

Zatara said:
Buyout fee supposedly 49mil. VVD would be around the same price and no buyout...

If Moshiri wasn't fibbing last year then we should just pay the buyout and make him an offer.
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Yeah. Lets see then. Main thing is not to mess around. If meeting the buyout clause brings a swift answer from the club and then the player then that would at least make it clear where all parties stand.
 
bluestevon said:
Suppose the difference is, IF we are after him and already making contact etc (big IFS i know), then we are doing it long, long before we tried last summer, so all the excuses about them not having the time to get a replacement in etc etc won't apply.

Last season it always looked utterly pointless after they sold Higuain as honestly they had zero financial need to sell and it would have gone down terribly with their fans as well.

Him signing a new contract - with a reported release clause less than what they had been asking and we supposedly where willing to pay makes it interesting (yet again if thats reported accurately)

Don't mind these links and us trying for these calibre of player, as long as we are doing so with a huge amount of time to spare to change targets without a panic of time running out etc.

Another caveat to all that though, is that we aren't sitting around just waiting by the phone for weeks or months for one players decision and are actually trying for multiple players as it's not like we need just one player this summer - otherwise we face the prospect of scrambling to get a stop gap in like last summer.

Always a worry when we decide to try for a player from a club like Napoli though with a huge reputation for being an absolute ball-ache to do any deal with
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Agreed mate. Swift action needed. No stalling, no waiting around. Lets be quick out of the blocks this time round if we can.
 

Darth Toffeeman said:
Baningime is possibly one to break through. But he is 18 and has Gana, Schniederlin and Davies in his position with Besic and McCarthy too.

Thing is he still has a few years to develop further so Koeman is right in that aspect.
Kenny has an outside chance too.
Walsh and Dowell are at a point now where they need to be getting 1st team exposure. To break into a top 7 side in a very hard league is a challenge for any young player. Many need to move away to prove themselves (Keane at Burnley the prime example).

Koeman appears to be saying that we have given many youngsters the exposure this season. Holgate and Davies have grabbed it with both hands. DCL and Lookman have looked a bit raw.

Koeman wants a team able to go to Chelsea, Spurs, RS etc and not just compete but win.
Click to expand...
McCarthy will go
So hopefully Walsh will become 5th choice?

I'm hoping that the youngsters we will make up the squad. And get rid of the older fringe players. The Likes of Lennon. With Europe there will be plenty of games for some of the youngsters.

Also there's only 1 yr between Walsh & beni
 

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