Non-Chelsea Transfer Pub

[Vesper 27,310]

4 minutes ago, Johnnyeye said:

i sure love reading your posts, your footy knowlegde is immaculate

tack så mycket!!!

[quickpassnmove 924]

On 9/19/2018 at 3:21 AM, Unionjack said:

LOL Its amazing how we are looking forward to the January sales still 3 months away

But then again here in England it wont be that long till the Xmas stuff starts hitting the shops.

 

My prevailing thoughts for this season on CFC's inadequacies regard our lack of scoring, so I am looking forward to more forwards who can score ASAP. Nevermind the defence for the moment; that can be addressed later --or when the right person is targeted/we make the CL again. Like Sarri, my focus would be on scoring and confidence in our attacking prowess in any given match as opposed to being too concerned about clean sheets. Time for Chelsea to evolve under Sarri and become that team that we want to see play regardless of the difficulty in any given matchup.

[coolhead23 1,146]

On 9/25/2018 at 10:57 AM, Vesper said:

Manchester City Targets for January and Summer 2019

I post this because I still think Shitty are our biggest team to overcome to win the title, with Liverpool 2nd, and I will point out players we both are going after

Shitty projected targets (they really dont give a fuck as to price, PSG and Shitty share that enviable position)

 

CB Marquinhos or Matthijs de Ligt or José Giménez or Dayot Upamecano or Benjamin Pavard (maybe even go for the top dog in Raphaël Varane, but Real would be INSANE to give Pep the best CB in the world, it would be like saying, HERE come take the next 3 CL's like we did. To be honest, the first 3 or 4 are (Marquinhos) or probably will be (the rest) sorta near to being as good as Varane (none are there yet, of course). I will say they make a move for Matthijs de Ligt (highest potential of them all), but I honestly have no gut feeling for sure.

 

LB One name only, and its a gut-wrencher for me, as he is my main realistic target for us. Júnior Firpo of Real Betis. We can offer a starting position if we sell Alonso (which we need to do to RM for £50-55m, which covers cost of Firpo). We have to block the Mancs on this one. They will move for Ryan Sessegnon perhaps if we get Firpo, not sure if he is a Pep-style player plus (and this affects us too) I also am not sure if he really wants to be a LB fulltime, I think he prefers LMF or LW.

 

DH DMF  Ruben Neves, Wolves says £110m, City will pay close to that, Pep is obsessed (probably rightly so). Only other DMF's I could see them even considering (as it has to be a deep holding type) would be Rodri (too late, Atletico Madrid scooped him up, and I think he is the next Busquets), Julian Weigl (HUGE talent, young, but has had a off year, Pep could fix him and make him a terror though, but Neves is better) and Leandro Paredes (maybe a slight step down, but still could do wonders there, is by far the most experienced and still only 24, but I say NO, they don't go for him). The only other remotely young WC DH DMF's out there are Jorginho, Busquets (not young, lol, but still a monster), and maybe (or very soon) a young 21yo Argentine who plays with Stuttgart, Santiago Ascacíbar. (I don't count Marco Verratti at this position, as he is a regista, like Kroos, Koke, Thiago, Pjanic, Pirlo (back in the day), etc) I am not sure if one could label Lucas Torreira from the goonas as either a genuine DH DMF or world class (for sure not there yet). Maybe also add in Frenkie de Jong from Ajax (see below) as he seems to be able to play almost any position other than striker and GK.

I say Neves all the way, he will someday be the best DH DMF in the world, IMHO, and he also can score (sniper of a shooter, 7 goals last year alone), which is crazy, given where he plays from. Its a crazy hard position to fill, as they are so few players who have the skillset need, its probably the hardest position in football to master and play.

 

CMF Adrien Rabiot  I do admit both of the first two that I now discuss could be also seen as DMF deep playmaking MF'ers as well, but really feel the are more forward-leaning players. I think, unless Barca scupper the Mancs, Rabiot goes to Shitty in January (maybe a pre-contract) or surely in the summer, on a free, he wants City, City wants him, both badly, BUT watch out for Barca. TBH, a better fit for Barca IMHO is Verratti, but who knows.

I think the only other CMF Shitty would REALLY covet if somehow Rabiot deal falls through would be Frenkie de Jong, the 21yo Ajax midfielder wunderkind who is going to be probably the most fought over young MF this summer, as Barca, Real, PSG, ManUre, Bayern, and Juve have all said they want him (not just want, WILL get him in some cases!). God help us and all football if Pep pulls both de Ligt AND de Jong from Ajax. Rabiot, btw, is better at this very minute (totally WC), but de Jong is OFF THE CHARTS scary down the road in 2, 3, 4 years. Same for de Ligt at CB, who is 2 years younger than de Jong.

Long shots, finally, would be Bryan Cristante (another favourite of mine) from Atalanta, now on loan at Roma or the poison dwarf's (Napoli) Piotr Zielinski. I do not see them making a run at SMS. He just doesn't, IMHO, for some reason, seem a Pep-type player. He seems to coast at times, which is never going to sit well with Guardiola. Doubt me, go watch the Serbian WC games, and some Lazio losses last year. It has always bugged me about him. He is like a much, much more talented RLC at times. Shitty only have one player like that, the horrid (and injured or would have been long gone) Eliaquim Mangala. John Stones used to have that issue, but Pep has, from all I can see, pounded it out of him.

 

Thats their only needs, literally, other than back-up GK, as Guardiola is contemplating whether to hand a Shitty debut to 19yo Arijanet Muric (big lad too, 1.98m and supposedly still growing a wee bit), He was recalled from loan at NAC Breda last month following an injury to Claudio Bravo.

 

If they bring in those 4 main targets (CB is the only one I am not clear on, I pray it isn't de Ligt they end up with) I do not see how anyone can touch them.

 

Long term insane bonus prediction: They get Mbappe within 3 years or so. Pep is the best manager on the planet, and I am sure he wants who will be the best player on the planet, having had that for years in Messi. Obviously Real and Barca will try too (he is out of Juve, AM, Bayern price range, ours too unless Ratcliffe buys us and finds a quarter to a third of a billion quid he wants to spend in his spare change drawer, lolol), Mbappe would be insane to go to Manure unless ZZ is the manager.(which actually MIGHT put Manure close to the top of the Kylian sweepstakes, goddammit)

He would make Shitty, IF they hold the team together, and get those 4 above, plus replace a couple aging stars (Sergio Agüero, who will be 33 in 3 years (hello Mbappe), David Silva (my number one AMF target, Kai Havertz is on Pep's radar as a replacement alas, as, I predict, will also be the one we fumbled this summer, Aleksandr Golovin, provide he progresses at Monaco, plus Carlos Soler from Valencia), Kompany (replaced by one of those CB's I listed, although its Otamendi who will be the first one benched), and Fernandinho (Neves replaces him) could, quite possibly (on paper) become one of the greatest sides ever, up there with the 1955-1960 5-in-a-row EC (CL now) winning Alfredo Di Stéfano-led Real sides, the early 70's Ajax sides, the mid 70's Bayern sides, the late 70's/early 80's scouser scum sides, the late 80's/early 90's AC Milan sides (my pick for greatest ever, due to defence and just insane generational talent, I am sure most won't agree with me), the mid 1990's/early 2000's Manure sides (a little light on the CL trophies, just the one, the Treble Year 98/99), Pep's Barca sides (especially the 2010-11 Sextuple winning team) and the most recent Real Madrid 3 in a row CL sides.

Wow ... great poster.  love the knowledge. 

On a flyer ... based on your knowledge what would your team (current under 23ish/24ish) be like? 

[Vesper 27,310]

7 hours ago, coolhead23 said:

Wow ... great poster.  love the knowledge. 

On a flyer ... based on your knowledge what would your team (current under 23ish/24ish) be like? 

You mean if I could have any players under 25yo? First off, I will not list Messi, CR7, or Neymar. Also, many players I would take on a full 25 man roster are 25 to 28. So this will exclude Oblak, Ederson, Varane, van Dijk, Koulibaly, Alaba, Alex Sandro, Sergi Roberto, Kante, Jorginho, Kroos, Pogba, Koke, Verratti, De Bruyne, Coutinho, Isco, Hazard, Salah, Firmino, Icardi, Kane, etc. There are a few older players than those who I might want for depth, but 28yo is always a cut off for any list I make, as I look at it like actually buying players for a team, not putting out a best of all-star ATM thing, like FIFA's bullshit (Dani Alves, was their starting RB, 35yo, hardly played in 2018 due to injury, no WC, etc, a joke he made it, enough said). I am super harsh age wise, I do not believe in buying any players over 27, 28, especially no 30 somethings. Thus my stance on Lewandowski, etc, when older names are tossed out for us to get in the reality based world. Higuain is also a perfect example. Production falls of the charts for almost all players once they hit 31, 32, even younger in some cases. GK are sometimes the exception (and the drop comes 3 years or so later), but even those are really rare if you are talking truly world class. Buffon was a freak.

My dream sub 25yo team (assuming we are Sarriball).

This also is NOT based off our current roster,this is a 'pick anyone' side. I can easily plug-in the players we DO have into this, and pull some out of this list, to be realistic in terms of who I would buy FOR US in the real world.

IF Hazard refuses to renew,and IF Kante simply cannot adapt well to Sarriball (there is no actual DMF destroyer role in the system, it's not possible to have one, so that really fucks Kante atm, I do think, however, he CAN adapt to new box to box role, but jury is out, I give him a full year to try), then these below are the only players I would keep off current squad (yes it is a harsh trim down).We HAVE to sell Hazard if he refuses to renew (and we are going to get fucked on price massively now)

 

Kepa

Antonio Rüdiger

Andreas Christensen

Ethan Ampadu

Emerson (UNLESS he is perma-fucked from his knee injury at Roma, which may, unfortunately, be the case) 

César Azpilicueta

Jorginho

N'Golo Kanté (explained above)

Mateo Kovacic (need to buy him perm!!)

Mason Mount

Ross Barkley

Callum Hudson-Odoi

Olivier Giroud (as 3rd striker, for 2 more years max)

all the rest need to go go go (also, if/when FIFA changes to allow only 8 players out on loan, we have 32 to sell, eeek, I already have that list, will post as I study it more)

 

So, Finally the team!!

 

GK Kepa - Chelsea

GK Thomas Strakosha - Lazio

CB Marquinhos - PSG

CB Matthijs de Ligt - Ajax

CB José Giménez - Atlético Madrid

CB Aymeric Laporte - Manchester City

CB Niklas Süle - Bayern Munich

LB Lucas Hernández - Atlético Madrid

LB Benjamin Mendy - Manchester City

RB Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich

RB Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool

DH DMF Rúben Neves - Wolves

DH DMF Rodri - Atlético Madrid

CMF Saúl Ñíguez - Atlético Madrid

CMF Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - Lazio

CMF  Frenkie de Jong - Ajax

AMF Kai Havertz - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

AMF Dele Alli - Tottenham Hotspur

LW  Ousmane Dembélé - Barcelona

LW  Leroy Sané - Manchester City

RW  Kylian Mbappé - PSG

RW  Leon Bailey - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

CF Paulo Dybala - Juventus

CF Gabriel Jesus - Manchester City

CF Pietro Pellegri - Monaco

 

Finally, to fudge/explain a bit

Dybala turns 25 on November 15th, so I would replace him with Marcus Rashford of Manure or maybe, probably (IF he continues to score like he has so far), Krzysztof Piatek of Genoa or finally, Lautaro Martínez of Inter Milan.

Pietro Pellegri of Monaco at 3rd CF is a pure potential inclusion (3rd strikers do not play much in Sarriball, unless there are injuries), he is only 17, but I think 4, 5 years from now (maybe sooner) he is going to be a monster, the next Italian superstar striker.

3rd GK would be absolutely be Alex Meret of Napoli

At CB I almost Included Ampadu, as his upside is MASSIVE, would drop Laporte

[quickpassnmove 924]

I've been watching so little football that I forgot Ruben Neves is still only 21 y.o. Still an interesting young 'baller.

And I've become one of those who does not know some of the players on Vesper's list here. However, I would never have included Dele Alli --not that he's over-rated; I think he's good, but he's not going to reach any higher IMHO and he's not at all intimidating, nor magical.

No way Chelsea were going to sign Benjamin Mendy it seems. Clearly, Ben was going to sign up for Pep only when he was the main target for Pep last summer.

 

[Vesper 27,310]

1 hour ago, quickpassnmove said:

I've been watching so little football that I forgot Ruben Neves is still only 21 y.o. Still an interesting young 'baller.

And I've become one of those who does not know some of the players on Vesper's list here. However, I would never have included Dele Alli --not that he's over-rated; I think he's good, but he's not going to reach any higher IMHO and he's not at all intimidating, nor magical.

No way Chelsea were going to sign Benjamin Mendy it seems. Clearly, Ben was going to sign up for Pep only when he was the main target for Pep last summer.

 

Neves, de Jong, and Havertz are 3 best 21yo and younger MF's on the planet atm IMHO.

Neves is a fucking beast, and the other two are just as scary high in potential.

Neves is so so rare, as he is a NATURAL DH DMF, the rarest players on the planet, AND he is also offensive in terms of shooting and goals. de Jong can play anywhere on the field, except GK and striker, so maybe Pep (or US!!!!!!!) turns him into a DH DMF.

My god, if we landed those 3, (especially if we lose Kovacic),we are set for the next 8 to 10 years or so in MF.

LOL, you hit the one player I struggled with, Alli. Havertz would start for me anyway.

I hate Spuds with the burning passion of a 1000 suns, and yes, he is overrated, but the only other 24yo and under AMF's who are remotely close close to him are Carlos Soler of Valencia or Talisca, who is on loan in China at  Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao until January from Benfica due to FFP shite.

After that I would go with Lucas Paquetá of Flamengo (potentially a superstar, Neymar is demanding PSG sign him)), Amine Harit of Schalke, Pablo Fornals of Villarreal, or Bruno Fernandes of Sporting Lisbon,but those 4 are a step down. I played by the rules, 24yo and younger, lol. Hell toss Barkley on the list with the 4 above.

If you insist no Alli, then I put in Carlos Soler.

[coolhead23 1,146]

15 hours ago, Vesper said:

You mean if I could have any players under 25yo? First off, I will not list Messi, CR7, or Neymar. Also, many players I would take on a full 25 man roster are 25 to 28. So this will exclude Oblak, Ederson, Varane, van Dijk, Koulibaly, Alaba, Alex Sandro, Sergi Roberto, Kante, Jorginho, Kroos, Pogba, Koke, Verratti, De Bruyne, Coutinho, Isco, Hazard, Salah, Firmino, Icardi, Kane, etc. There are a few older players than those who I might want for depth, but 28yo is always a cut off for any list I make, as I look at it like actually buying players for a team, not putting out a best of all-star ATM thing, like FIFA's bullshit (Dani Alves, was their starting RB, 35yo, hardly played in 2018 due to injury, no WC, etc, a joke he made it, enough said). I am super harsh age wise, I do not believe in buying any players over 27, 28, especially no 30 somethings. Thus my stance on Lewandowski, etc, when older names are tossed out for us to get in the reality based world. Higuain is also a perfect example. Production falls of the charts for almost all players once they hit 31, 32, even younger in some cases. GK are sometimes the exception (and the drop comes 3 years or so later), but even those are really rare if you are talking truly world class. Buffon was a freak.

My dream sub 25yo team (assuming we are Sarriball).

This also is NOT based off our current roster,this is a 'pick anyone' side. I can easily plug-in the players we DO have into this, and pull some out of this list, to be realistic in terms of who I would buy FOR US in the real world.

IF Hazard refuses to renew,and IF Kante simply cannot adapt well to Sarriball (there is no actual DMF destroyer role in the system, it's not possible to have one, so that really fucks Kante atm, I do think, however, he CAN adapt to new box to box role, but jury is out, I give him a full year to try), then these below are the only players I would keep off current squad (yes it is a harsh trim down).We HAVE to sell Hazard if he refuses to renew (and we are going to get fucked on price massively now)

 

Kepa

Antonio Rüdiger

Andreas Christensen

Ethan Ampadu

Emerson (UNLESS he is perma-fucked from his knee injury at Roma, which may, unfortunately, be the case) 

César Azpilicueta

Jorginho

N'Golo Kanté (explained above)

Mateo Kovacic (need to buy him perm!!)

Mason Mount

Ross Barkley

Callum Hudson-Odoi

Olivier Giroud (as 3rd striker, for 2 more years max)

all the rest need to go go go (also, if/when FIFA changes to allow only 8 players out on loan, we have 32 to sell, eeek, I already have that list, will post as I study it more)

 

So, Finally the team!!

 

GK Kepa - Chelsea

GK Thomas Strakosha - Lazio

CB Marquinhos - PSG

CB Matthijs de Ligt - Ajax

CB José Giménez - Atlético Madrid

CB Aymeric Laporte - Manchester City

CB Niklas Süle - Bayern Munich

LB Lucas Hernández - Atlético Madrid

LB Benjamin Mendy - Manchester City

RB Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich

RB Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool

DH DMF Rúben Neves - Wolves

DH DMF Rodri - Atlético Madrid

CMF Saúl Ñíguez - Atlético Madrid

CMF Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - Lazio

CMF  Frenkie de Jong - Ajax

AMF Kai Havertz - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

AMF Dele Alli - Tottenham Hotspur

LW  Ousmane Dembélé - Barcelona

LW  Leroy Sané - Manchester City

RW  Kylian Mbappé - PSG

RW  Leon Bailey - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

CF Paulo Dybala - Juventus

CF Gabriel Jesus - Manchester City

CF Pietro Pellegri - Monaco

 

Finally, to fudge/explain a bit

Dybala turns 25 on November 15th, so I would replace him with Marcus Rashford of Manure or maybe, probably (IF he continues to score like he has so far), Krzysztof Piatek of Genoa or finally, Lautaro Martínez of Inter Milan.

Pietro Pellegri of Monaco at 3rd CF is a pure potential inclusion (3rd strikers do not play much in Sarriball, unless there are injuries), he is only 17, but I think 4, 5 years from now (maybe sooner) he is going to be a monster, the next Italian superstar striker.

3rd GK would be absolutely be Alex Meret of Napoli

At CB I almost Included Ampadu, as his upside is MASSIVE, would drop Laporte

Superb!!! Would have to say it took me some time to go through it but was truly an interesting read with few new names which I wasnt aware of

Just one query ... You have included Kepa assuming your first choice and have not included Donnarumma. Do you really think Kepa is the next big thing in goalkeeper, just trying to get a perspective because honestly I have my doubts on both. 

[Vesper 27,310]

19 minutes ago, coolhead23 said:

Superb!!! Would have to say it took me some time to go through it but was truly an interesting read with few new names which I wasnt aware of

Just one query ... You have included Kepa assuming your first choice and have not included Donnarumma. Do you really think Kepa is the next big thing in goalkeeper, just trying to get a perspective because honestly I have my doubts on both. 

I absolutely would take Kepa and Strakosha over Donnarumma, Alex Meret probably soon too. Donnarumma is not very good with his feet and every single time I watch AC Milan, he looks shaky as shit oftimes.

I always pushed for Strakosha as our best target, (as I was going off incorrect idea that Kepa had a 150m euro release clause due to shit Spanish misreporting, plus the fact he told Real to piss off, but that was more  a Basque political/cultural thing) but was thrilled when we signed Kepa.

Only 2 GK's I would take over him are Oblak and Ederson atm. Maybe, really rate Kepa, over the moon we got him. I hate De Gea, I think he is a twat, plus he is in a slump for months, I think ter Stegen is overrated due to being a Barca bish, and Courtois can GO FUCK HIMSELF, LOL Alisson is great too, but I think Kepa has massive upside to go, he can be like Ederson in terms of distribution IMHO.

In real world, I want Angus Gunn for backup keeper (he is homegrown, a Scot, and I am afraid post Brexit the government will fuck the FA and not allow EU players to be counted like now (meaning only truly major stars can come in, just like it is with Africans, SoAms's etc.), thus mandating higher percentage (because of that) of homegrowns than now.

[coolhead23 1,146]

23 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Donnarumma is not very good with his feet and every single time I watch AC Milan,

Agreed on this 100% 

 

24 minutes ago, Vesper said:

I hate De Gea, I think he is a twat, plus he is in a slump for months,

He is the best out there without a doubt ... not in the best of form but that bloke is purely determination. 

 

I still have my doubts on Kepa though but I have my fingers crossed. 

[Vesper 27,310]

1 hour ago, coolhead23 said:

Agreed on this 100% 

 

He is the best out there without a doubt ... not in the best of form but that bloke is purely determination. 

 

I still have my doubts on Kepa though but I have my fingers crossed. 

Real wanted him over De Gea and Courtois,that should tell you something.

Early on when we bought him, people were saying he was short, ffs. He is 189.25cm (laser-measured during physical) tall, ie. 6 feet, 2 and half inches. So no weakness there (other than he is not a 2 metre tall giant, BUT if you look at almost all really tall keepers, they are sometimes slow, sometimes awkward,and leave bigger holes between legs (hello Courtois).

He is same height as Oblak, basically the same as De Gea (quarter of an inch shorter), almost 2 inches taller than Jasper Cillessen, half an inch shorter than Alisson, taller than Ederson by a cm, an inch and a half shorter than Strakosha, an inch taller than ter Stegen,a quarter of an inch shorter than Meret

he is only an inch and half shorter than Manuel Neuer, lol,who everyone thinks is a BIG keeper

People freak out because he isn't as tall as Petr Čech (1.96m) or Courtois is, or Donnarumma (196cm), but Čech is horrid with feet, Donnarumma is only average (maybe sub average),and Courtois is oki, but not great

The only other 1.95m to 1.99m big keepers atm who are even in top 25 are Alphonse Areola (1.95m) and Wojciech Szczesny (1.96m and please! zero chance I take him over Kepa)

Jack Butland is 196cm, I would be losing my shit if we had bought him. Fraser Forster is 2.01m (same as my father) I do not want EITHER near our goal! LOLOL

Kepa is a great athlete, he can dunk a basketball with ease, so obviously has great vertical leap,which many tall keepers do not have

For comparison, 9 of the all time greatest GK's in history

Iker Casillas  1.85m

Oliver Kahn  1.88m

Gianluigi Buffon  1.91m

Lev Yashin  1.89m

Gordon Banks  1.85m

Neville Southall  1.85m

Dino Zoff    1.82m

Peter Shilton   1.83m

Sepp Maier  1.85m

 

[coolhead23 1,146]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

Real wanted him over De Gea and Courtois,that should tell you something.

Early on when we bought him, people were saying he was short, ffs. He is 189.25cm (laser-measured during physical) tall, ie. 6 feet, 2 and half inches. So no weakness there (other than he is not a 2 metre tall giant, BUT if you look at almost all really tall keepers, they are sometimes slow, sometimes awkward,and leave bigger holes between legs (hello Courtois).

He is same height as Oblak, basically the same as De Gea (quarter of an inch shorter), almost 2 inches taller than Jasper Cillessen, half an inch shorter than Alisson, taller than Ederson by a cm, an inch and a half shorter than Strakosha, an inch taller than ter Stegen,a quarter of an inch shorter than Meret

he is only an inch and half shorter than Manuel Neuer, lol,who everyone thinks is a BIG keeper

People freak out because he isn't as tall as Petr Čech (1.96m) or Courtois is, or Donnarumma (196cm), but Čech is horrid with feet, Donnarumma is only average (maybe sub average),and Courtois is oki, but not great

The only other 1.95m to 1.99m big keepers atm who are even in top 25 are Alphonse Areola (1.95m) and Wojciech Szczesny (1.96m and please! zero chance I take him over Kepa)

Jack Butland is 196cm, I would be losing my shit if we had bought him. Fraser Forster is 2.01m (same as my father) I do not want EITHER near our goal! LOLOL

Kepa is a great athlete, he can dunk a basketball with ease, so obviously has great vertical leap,which many tall keepers do not have

For comparison, 9 of the all time greatest GK's in history

Iker Casillas  1.85m

Oliver Kahn  1.88m

Gianluigi Buffon  1.91m

Lev Yashin  1.89m

Gordon Banks  1.85m

Neville Southall  1.85m

Dino Zoff    1.82m

Peter Shilton   1.83m

Sepp Maier  1.85

 

Madrid went for him because they couldnt get De Gea ... Prerez fucked up with it, they could have it on the platter with De Gea waiting for the deal to happen. 

I m not obsessed with the height thing in a goalie though it makes a big difference ... for me it is the positioning of the keeper and the timing of his leap is the difference (among the other attributes). Thats what makes De Gea special, its not a coincidence that he manages to have the most stretched saves among the others. Donnarumma is a prefect example of a tall keeper and yet falling short on his leap. 

Not seen much of Kepa in Spain but of what I have seen in Chelsea, not fully convinced. He mite be a good jumper but I felt he hesitates a little to go for the ball when away from the body. It could very well be a confidence stuff, hoping it will work out for him. Fingers crossed!

[Vesper 27,310]

15 minutes ago, coolhead23 said:

Madrid went for him because they couldnt get De Gea ... Prerez fucked up with it, they could have it on the platter with De Gea waiting for the deal to happen. 

I m not obsessed with the height thing in a goalie though it makes a big difference ... for me it is the positioning of the keeper and the timing of his leap is the difference (among the other attributes). Thats what makes De Gea special, its not a coincidence that he manages to have the most stretched saves among the others. Donnarumma is a prefect example of a tall keeper and yet falling short on his leap. 

Not seen much of Kepa in Spain but of what I have seen in Chelsea, not fully convinced. He mite be a good jumper but I felt he hesitates a little to go for the ball when away from the body. It could very well be a confidence stuff, hoping it will work out for him. Fingers crossed!

Out if curiosity,  who would you have gone for?

Strakosha, obviously for me, was option number two (option 2 in retrospective), then,  pre window (as I knew Courtois was outta here), Alisson (who I also knew would be crazy expensive (oh the irony!) Next was Alex Meret, but the poison dwarf snagged him really early. Alphonse Areola next. Then Alban Lafont, 19yo but in fourth year of starting now and probabky will be France number one in 5 years, maybe less (Fiorentina STOLE him for only £7.5 from Toulouse) and finally, Mattia Perin (who Juve stole for only around £10.8m from Genoa, also early in the window).

[Unionjack 7,531]

@Vesper Love the passion Mrs. Takes all my time to read your posts mate  Once I see one of your posts I know I'd better get a drink and a spliff cause I know I'll be here awhile checking out the players you're on about cause I lmow I'll never have heard of them

If I was Jim I'd be asking ya to write a few articles mate. Ohhhh You already are lol

[coolhead23 1,146]

2 hours ago, Vesper said:

Out if curiosity,  who would you have gone for?

Strakosha, obviously for me, was option number two (option 2 in retrospective), then,  pre window (as I knew Courtois was outta here), Alisson (who I also knew would be crazy expensive (oh the irony!) Next was Alex Meret, but the poison dwarf snagged him really early. Alphonse Areola next. Then Alban Lafont, 19yo but in fourth year of starting now and probabky will be France number one in 5 years, maybe less (Fiorentina STOLE him for only £7.5 from Toulouse) and finally, Mattia Perin (who Juve stole for only around £10.8m from Genoa, also early in the window).

For now I couldnt find someone with the spark the next big thing in the u25... there are a few which I kept tab some time back but not sure if they are still on the top. 

Alisson was top of my list, near to having everything perfect... He could have been the perfect replacement for Courtois in all aspect. 

Strakosha - the one who i thought had that spark  ...  perfectly built for a keeper (big and strong) ... amazing reflexes, great agility for someone so big ... however the few games I checked him he parries the ball into dangerous place. 

Timo Horn (Wild card some year back) - Lot was riding on him. I liked what he brought to the table when he was 21 -22 but now I dont think he has manage to keep up

Kepa - I'm hoping he lives up to the expectation. I can be bias

 

[quickpassnmove 924]

We need another scoring forward in January or a couple of them lined up in advance of the summer window.

Over-reliance on Hazard and a slow left back for scoring isn't enough for a club still aspiring to be a "big club" that can take on any European side and win the PL without having to watch other weakened Premier League clubs fail (as in 2017, 2016, 2015).

[Vesper 27,310]

Man City 'line up Kylian Mbappe as Raheem Sterling replacement'

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/man-city-kylian-mbappe-sterling-15219221

Manchester City are considering Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe as a potential replacement for Raheem Sterling if the Blues winger quits the Etihad.

That is according to The Sun, who claim City are willing to pay a world-record fee for the striker, who only moved to PSG for a permanent £160m figure this summer.

Pep Guardiola is said to be a huge admirer of Mbappe, and a move could be made possible by the fact that PSG are under investigation for alleged Financial Fair Play breaches after spending £200m on Neymar on top of the fee paid for Mbappe.

The transfer would also depend on Sterling's future being resolved.

The England international is yet to sign an extension to his current contract, which expires in 2020, and Real Madrid have been linked with him recently.

City are reluctant to let Sterling leave, but if he does exit that could pave the way for World Cup winner Mbappe to join.

Meanwhile, City are said to be among a group of Premier league clubs that sent scouts to watch Lazio's Sergej Milinkovic-Savic last week.

The Mirror report that City - along with Liverpool and Spurs - watched Milinkovic-Savic score in Lazio's 4-1 win over Genoa.

Manchester United have been heavily linked with the Serbian midfielder, but did not make a move during the summer transfer window.

Lazio are said to be confident the 23-year-old will sign a new contract, with his current deal running out in 2022.

snip

 

Kylian Mbappe to Man City: Real Madrid SWEAT as Guardiola eyes Sterling replacement

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1024799/Kylian-Mbappy-Manchester-City-Real-Madrid-Pep-Sterling-replacement

[11Drogba 2,000]

On 9/25/2018 at 8:27 AM, Vesper said:

I will say they make a move for Matthijs de Ligt (highest potential of them all), but I honestly have no gut feeling for sure.
If they bring in those 4 main targets (CB is the only one I am not clear on, I pray it isn't de Ligt they end up with) I do not see how anyone can touch them.

De Ligt was solid against Bayern.

 

[Vesper 27,310]

Man City & Barcelona battle for Ajax pair De Jong & De Ligt

https://www.goal.com/en-sg/news/man-city-barcelona-battle-for-ajax-pair-de-jong-de-ligt/1fqf0tae7ai8o1hsp2anp2xper

Both clubs have been working to sign the Netherlands internationals and in recent weeks each has believed that the other has the upper hand
Barcelona and Manchester City have gone head-to-head in the race to sign Ajax prospect Frenkie De Jong, Goal understands.

The two clubs each believe that the other has an advantage when it comes to landing the 21-year-old, who is being chased by Europe's biggest sides.

And the situation is further complicated by a mutual interest in Ajax centre-back Matthijs De Ligt.

Barca spent the summer trying to open negotiations with Ajax for De Jong, withGoal having revealed that former technical secretary Robert Fernandez spoke with Ajax director of football Marc Overmars on numerous occasions , but the €30 million (£26.2m/$34.8m) fee on offer was well below the Dutch club's valuation.

De Jong has spoken of his desire to play with Lionel Messi at Camp Nou on several occasions, and sources at Manchester City had been of the belief that the Primera Division champions were in pole position.

But senior Barca sources now believe that it is City who have the upper hand thanks to a recent push by sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who has travelled to Amsterdam for talks on several occasions.

Barca are resigned to the fact that they would not be able to match City's financial muscle, although Manchester United's Paul Pogba does feature as an alternative midfield option. Paris Saint-Germain's Adrien Rabiot, whose contract is up next summer, is also under consideration.

There is a feeling within the Catalan club that City could even try to buy De Jong in January and loan him back to Ajax until the end of the season.

De Jong, for his part, insists he has no plans to leave the Amsterdam club : "For the moment I'm staying at Ajax, at least another year and maybe two or three more, I'm really enjoying it here," he told Elf Voetbal on Thursday.

Yet that public stance is not enough to put off his suitors.

City are chasing midfield reinforcements after missing out on top target Jorginho to Chelsea in the summer, and the Premier League champions are also drawing up their plans for next summer's window. A January move has not been ruled out; last season they moved to bring in a centre-back and a forward to aid their push for honours.

The versatile De Jong, who can play in several positions in defence and in midfield, is regarded as a special talent by virtually every leading European club and City do not want to miss their opportunity to sign him.

Ajax are hoping to take advantage of the situation to recoup as large a transfer fee as possible.

City have also been working on a deal for Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves , although the Midlands club have indicated that they will fight hard to keep the 21-year-old Portugal international, or at least hold out for as close to £100 million as possible.

It remains to be seen whether City are ready to buy just one midfielder - an effective replacement for Jorginho - or two. Lyon's Tanguy Ndombele is another player that City have been watching closely for several months.

 

snip

further confirmation of my previous Shitty post

Meanwhile we just sit on our hands and watch Eden's long goodbye (and will lose over £100m in valuation when he does leave in the summer, or even more if he leaves on a free in a little over a year and a half), offer contract extensions to ageing 30-somethings Luiz and Willian that will take them to 34/35 years of age, will probably lose Kovacic back to RM, are now supposedly once again chasing yet another Italian CB (Romagnoli) that will more than likely end in a giant stall/price gouge and partial window-wrecking, time-wasting failure as has almost every Serie A negotiation over the last 4 years, are also apparently going to offer an extension to an already too slow LB, Alonso, that will also take him well into his 30's, are failing to unload almost ANY of our large pile of deadwood, and, finally, are playing our young players so sparingly all but Ampadu may end up bailing out, CHO possibly on a free.