27 May 2019 12:22:51
There is no doubt that a new CB should be top of our priorities this transfer window and i tend to agree with Ed that's mdl is not it. He may turn out to be a great centre half in 5 years time but to expect a 19 year old to be our defensive kingpin having never played in the premiership would be a big risk.
I know I will get pelters for this but I still believe that we should be targeting maguire. He is premiership battle hardened and with the amount of international football he is going to be playing in the next few years he is only going to improve especially having a former international centre back as his manager. At mid 20s he is the right age and I just can't understand why people say that he might be good enough for England but he isn't good enough for utd.
I recently had a look at a 10 min YouTube clip of jaou Felix. No doubt that he is a skilful player but in my view he looks a bit of a skinny 19 year old who, like depay, might struggle to adapt to the intensity of the premiership. Again therefore I think that meeting the asking price of 105 million would be a huge risk and that better and less risky value could be held elsewhere.
27 May 2019 14:44:10
Allan, i could not disagree more. Have you actually seen de Ligt play and lead? He is absolutely made for our league. Even jaap Stam has said that, and he knows a thing or two about central defence.
De Ligt is head and shoulders above all central defenders bar vvd, Ramos, Verane and Alderweild. Ramos and Alderweild are in their 30s leaving de Ligt as the best defender around.
In 2 years, he'll be the best.
27 May 2019 14:46:44
Because no one seriously expects England to challenge. The world cup was a total fluke borne by the fact that the only good team we played won both games.
27 May 2019 14:49:28
Also, joà o Felix is already better than any attack minded midfielder around. It makes me laugh when i read that players are not bulky or strong enough for PL. It reminds me of players in 70s and 80s. Times have changed. Silva and Silva at City, Salah at Liverpool, Erickson at Spurs. Non of these are body builders, yet they are the best players in the PL. You don't need to be built like Fellaini to compete in PL, in fact, the opposite is true.
27 May 2019 15:38:05
AAA totally agree
We need agile players with guts and guile who can beat a man and cross the fe**** ball.
27 May 2019 15:50:10
Joao Felix along with Sancho and Vinicius Jr are probably the best attacking prospects in world football under the age of 20.
IMO Maguire struggles against pace and mobile attackers most of the time. His main strengths are areal duels and being comfortable on the ball.
For a reported 65m plus fee, we need a commanding established CB like Koulibaly or a top prospect like De Ligt who can offer more than a decade of service.
27 May 2019 17:16:20
Reddevilfan, we've been making the mistake of buying big players for years, Fellaini, Pogba, Lukaku, Matic. These kind of players do not have any versatility, they're being found out in our league as more technically gifted and smaller players are running rings round them. The future cannot be about buying big bulky players in midfield and attack, we need clever, gifted players who can create goals and turn in tight spaces.
27 May 2019 17:18:00
I'd maybe go Alderweireld for a short term fix. Bring on Tuanzebe. Try for de Ligt or look for an alternative.
27 May 2019 18:53:07
Two of Rojo, Bailly, Smalling and Jones need to be sold before we go in for Alderweireld although I’d take de Ligt and him in a heartbeat with Axel and Lindelof.
27 May 2019 23:10:06
A name that hasn’t come up is Kristopher Ajer he plays for Celtic and still quite young but also a very good centre back with good ability on the ball. Think at 6ft 5 he will win some headers too.
28 May 2019 05:07:21
Ajer is norweigian, and if any good norweigian players comes up I believe Ole would be the first to know.