It’s more that he’s young and made big/quick steps so far. Rather than being a defender for a back 3. He’s far from the finished article, yet already pretty good. The thing with him is that so far in his career, he’s played a lot of positions, up and down. His style is very proactive. But I think he should be fine to develop into a top CB, regardless if it’s a back 3 or 4. Other players with certain limitations and already of certain age, maybe we can say they’re more limited to playing in a back 3. With this lad, everything is possible.
Leeds wanted him before he signed for Leipzig, but he thought moving to Germany first would be a more wise move.
Maybe, maybe not. But I think the bigger issue is we wouldn’t want to be at a point with our squad where we’ve got enough senior players for that to be a concern. 25 senior players is a LOT and if you’re filling those last spots with players you think you may need to rely on then it means you’ve got maybe 5 players you dont think you can rely on.
Did anyone watch Dortmund v’s Monchengladbach? I’ve seen some highlights… I do apologise in advance for commenting under the threshold but Kone was excellent v’s Bellingham… Looked exactly the type of midfielder we’d need to complement a Bellingham/Fernandez etc. Was proactive and aggresive in the tackle something we need!
Kone, Caceido etc. Lots of options out there which would improve us, I’d hope we get one in this Jan for exactly the reasons @Limiescouse states above.
When you see the amount of midfielders in their early 20s that are breaking through and available there really isn’t any reason for us to be held to ransom for Bellingham.
Kone, Caicedo, Alvarez, Youssouff Fofana, Enzo Fernandez, Enzo Le Fee, Sangare etc, not to mention the likes of Tielemans and Laimer on a free.
So many potential options and we probably need two.
Yep, unless there is money there for Bellingham + 1 or 2 of the others then it doesn’t sound practical to waste everything on one player. I’d argue we need 3 midfielders…
Milner, Oxlade, Keita, Henderson, Thiago all to be replaced over the next 2 years?
Don’t know why but I see Thiago leaving at the end of this contract, somewhere like Italy.
In midfield we need back up/replacement for Fabinho, who is in steep decline. Whether that is due to fatigue, injury or some other factor we obviously don’t know and therefore his chances of returning to form are not clear, but it’s too much of a risk to hope that he’s going to massively improve after the WC.
There is also room for an energetic box to box player to replace Ox/Naby, unless anyone seriously thinks that they are going to remain uninjured for more than a couple of weeks.
If we could find good solutions for those positions our chances of top four would be greatly enhanced.
I don’t think availability will be an issue it’s just that we won’t pay the price needed to get these players. You’re looking at £50-60m for Caicedo or Kone.
Just speculating, but if Fabinho was to go (Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were rumored to be interested) then I could see us investing a bit more on top to make sure we got Caicedo or Kone, or whoever the preferred defensive midfielder might be.