Summer Transfers 2017

[Bris Vegas]

8 minutes ago, Derby_EnglandLoyal said:

Kyle Walker and Fabinho could be signing for Man City. Thoughts on this one? @Bris Vegas

 

They definitely need fullbacks, as they've just let three leave!

Kyle Walker is IMO the best English RB and if they need him to fill the quota, I guess he would be the ideal candidate as Spurs seem to favour Trippier towards the end of the season.

Fabinho is also a right-back, so not sure if it's a case of one or the other? At 23, he's got numerous years at the top ahead of him and he looks like a potentially top player.

With City having a bottomless pit of cash and in need of buying practically half a squad, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go down the route of splashing big money on 22, 23, 24 year olds.

Exciting times for them.

[Bris Vegas]

9 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

So they have released three defenders and a goalkeeper and their first signing is an attacking midfielder. Classic Pep.

Of course, they will address other areas of the squad in due course but reading the articles around this signing, Pep's quotes indicate he is very set, surely too set in his ways.

Bernardo Silva is an interesting addition, a talented player with a growing reputation.

But my first thought was - is he what City really need? Is this the best move for Bernardo Silva? He is 22 years old, with his best years ahead of him, but he is coming from a club where he was first-choice, their star player, and playing week in, week out for a club re-emerging on the European stage.

At City, it's quite feasible he could find himself playing from the bench and this could stunt his development. He may displace Silva or de Bruyne in time, but at this time, you would be a brave man to put him in over your tried and trusted performers. David Silva has been consistently at the heart of City's best attacking play for the past seven years and doesn't show any serious signs of slowing down and de Bruyne has been City's outstanding player in the past two years.

So, yes, great signing, but I'm not actually sure what he will remedy, where he will fit into City's front line, or if he will find the consistency or the opportunities to elevate the team to new heights. But I could be wrong.

The real intrigue will come when Pep addresses the areas of the team that actually need addressing.

Pep has over the years played various systems, but at Bayern he had great success playing 4-1-4-1. Seemingly similar to 4-3-3, but with his central midfielders pushed further forward and a lot more attacking.

He resorted to this system a few times towards the end of the season with City, with De Bruyne, Yaya Toure, Silva and Raheem Sterling behind Aguero or Gabriel Jesus.

It's obvious Yaya Toure at 34 has one more year left in him, and there is no ready replacement for that attacking midfield role while Silva at 31 has what - two more years left at the top?

It was a position which needed strengthening, and with multiple midweek games in Europe it will allow him to rotate. 

All the best teams should have options. Real Madrid bought Isco when he was 22, and he was behind the likes of Modric and Xabi Alonso in their midfield and that was before James Rodrigues and Kroos later joined.

With so many games, attacking midfielders will always get chances to play and it won't be any different for Bernardo Silva. 

I think City will also try and bring in another wide player, with Jesus Navas leaving too.

[DEL]

Benjamin Mendy could be joining them as well. @Bris Vegas

[Bris Vegas]

3 minutes ago, Derby_EnglandLoyal said:

Benjamin Mendy could be joining them as well. @Bris Vegas

Poor Monaco aren't going to have a team left after this summer.

Another one at 22 and the world at his feet. Would be perfect for City.

[Jourdan]

3 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

Pep has over the years played various systems, but at Bayern he had great success playing 4-1-4-1. Seemingly similar to 4-3-3, but with his central midfielders pushed further forward and a lot more attacking.

He resorted to this system a few times towards the end of the season with City, with De Bruyne, Yaya Toure, Silva and Raheem Sterling behind Aguero or Gabriel Jesus.

It's obvious Yaya Toure at 34 has one more year left in him, and there is no ready replacement for that attacking midfield role while Silva at 31 has what - two more years left at the top?

It was a position which needed strengthening, and with multiple midweek games in Europe it will allow him to rotate. 

All the best teams should have options. Real Madrid bought Isco when he was 22, and he was behind the likes of Modric and Xabi Alonso in their midfield and that was before James Rodrigues and Kroos later joined.

With so many chances, attacking midfielders will always get chances to play and it won't be any different for Bernardo Silva. 

I think City will also try and bring in another wide player, with Jesus Navas leaving too.

I really don't know how necessary this signing is.

If Xavi could play 30+ league games for Barcelona at the age of 35, why would you be lining up a replacement for David Silva now? David Silva is in a similar mould but admittedly of a lesser standard. 

Why couldn't he play on until 34 or 35 at the top level? His game doesn't rely on pace and power, but skill, vision and technique much like Xavi's.

You mention Isco, who was probably in a similar position with Malaga to what Bernardo Silva is in now, but has Isco really progressed and achieved his potential at Real? It's questionable.

A replacement for Yaya Toure is completely understandable and I'm sure they will identify one. But I don't know how wise this move for Bernardo Silva will prove to be.

If he was going to join anyone, I would have thought Arsenal would be the perfect, logical move for him, especially with Ozil stalling over signing a new contract. At Arsenal, he would be their lynchpin. At City, not so much.

 

[David]

Bernardo sounds to me like a player that is pissed off with his parents for giving him a crap name, stuck an o on the end to rebrand himself, try and look cool. Doesn't work, tried it myself.

[Bris Vegas]

11 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

I really don't know how necessary this signing is.

If Xavi could play 30+ league games for Barcelona at the age of 35, why would you be lining up a replacement for David Silva now? David Silva is in a similar mould but admittedly of a lesser standard. 

Why couldn't he play on until 34 or 35 at the top level? His game doesn't rely on pace and power, but skill, vision and technique much like Xavi's.

You mention Isco, who was probably in a similar position with Malaga to what Bernardo Silva is in now, but has Isco really progressed and achieved his potential at Real? It's questionable.

A replacement for Yaya Toure is completely understandable and I'm sure they will identify one. But I don't know how wise this move for Bernardo Silva will prove to be.

If he was going to join anyone, I would have thought Arsenal would be the perfect, logical move for him, especially with Ozil stalling over signing a new contract. At Arsenal, he would be their lynchpin. At City, not so much.

 

Barcelona's problem was they didn't have anybody pushing Xavi. They stupidly stunted the progress of Thiago and allowed him to join Bayern, and it wasn't until Enrique came in that the finally went for Rakitic, allowing Xavi to play a part-role in his final season. 

City don't have anybody pushing Silva or Yaya Toure for that attacking midfield role, and if you want to win titles, you need to keep older players fresh for those big games.

Madrid previously stunted the progress of Morata too, but it wasn't until Zidane became boss that players such as Ronaldo are finally being rested (he started only one of Madrid's last five La Liga away games).

Bernardo Silva will get loads of chances, and the signing IMO is imperative now as they surely wouldn't want a rival snapping him up instead.

City are smart, buying the very best 22-25 year olds on the planet now even if at a high cost is going to set them up for domination over the next six or seven years.

City are in a unique situation where there is a great need to perform a squad overhaul. Guardiola can certainly have no complaints, he's clearly been give the green light to go out and build a team who can dominate for years to come and he doesn't have to worry about causing an upset as the majority of City's squad are coming to the end of their tenure at the top anyway.

Somebody taking over Arsenal for instance will have tougher decisions to make as they've got youth on their side, however a number of players (some very popular) just simply aren't good enough.

[Jourdan]

7 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

Barcelona's problem was they didn't have anybody pushing Xavi. They stupidly stunted the progress of Thiago and allowed him to join Bayern, and it wasn't until Enrique came in that the finally went for Rakitic, allowing Xavi to play a part-role in his final season. 

City don't have anybody pushing Silva or Yaya Toure for that attacking midfield role, and if you want to win titles, you need to keep older players fresh for those big games.

Madrid previously stunted the progress of Morata too, but it wasn't until Zidane became boss that players such as Ronaldo are finally being rested (he started only one of Madrid's last five La Liga away games).

Bernardo Silva will get loads of chances, and the signing IMO is imperative now as they surely wouldn't want a rival snapping him up instead.

City are smart, buying the very best 22-25 year olds on the planet now even if at a high cost is going to set them up for domination over the next six or seven years.

City are in a unique situation where there is a great need to perform a squad overhaul. Guardiola can certainly have no complaints, he's clearly been give the green light to go out and build a team who can dominate for years to come and he doesn't have to worry about causing an upset as the majority of City's squad are coming to the end of their tenure at the top anyway.

Somebody taking over Arsenal for instance will have tougher decisions to make as they've got youth on their side, however a number of players (some very popular) just simply aren't good enough.

I highly doubt City will dominate for the next six or seven years.

The Premier League is too competitive nowadays and Guardiola hasn't had any tangible success here yet to point towards such prolonged success. I don't think we will see another Ferguson-level cycle of success. Clubs find an answer to a dominant team much quicker these days.

For me, there is no point stockpiling young players if there is not a clear or realistic pathway to the first team for those players. How often do we see young players go to City, only to be farmed out on loan or glued to the bench? 

Equally there is no point buying all of these young players if you end up having the wrong balance or the wrong blend within the team. City's team could end up being too young and naive, all style and no substance, and people decrying 'Where are the leaders? Where are the battlers?' much like they have done with Arsenal in decades gone by.

Young players want to win trophies, young players want to make money, but they also want to play football, so they can develop. It's a risky move for a player like Bernardo Silva.

It's much different for a player like Mendy or Walker. In their positions, there are obvious gaps to fill, so they can join knowing they will have first team opportunities.

 

[Bris Vegas]

1 hour ago, Jourdan said:

I highly doubt City will dominate for the next six or seven years.

The Premier League is too competitive nowadays and Guardiola hasn't had any tangible success here yet to point towards such prolonged success. I don't think we will see another Ferguson-level cycle of success. Clubs find an answer to a dominant team much quicker these days.

For me, there is no point stockpiling young players if there is not a clear or realistic pathway to the first team for those players. How often do we see young players go to City, only to be farmed out on loan or glued to the bench? 

Equally there is no point buying all of these young players if you end up having the wrong balance or the wrong blend within the team. City's team could end up being too young and naive, all style and no substance, and people decrying 'Where are the leaders? Where are the battlers?' much like they have done with Arsenal in decades gone by.

Young players want to win trophies, young players want to make money, but they also want to play football, so they can develop. It's a risky move for a player like Bernardo Silva.

It's much different for a player like Mendy or Walker. In their positions, there are obvious gaps to fill, so they can join knowing they will have first team opportunities.

 

But there is a clear pathway to the first-team for Bernardo Silva, with a 34-year-old Yaya Toure most likely to play a bit-part role next season.

In Bravo, Kompany, Silva, Aguero, De Bruyne and Fernandinho they have first-teamers with bags of experience so they're still way off potentially having a team who is 'too young or too naive'.

I honestly don't see it as a risky move. If you want to play for the best, you have to understand that it's a squad game.

Has someone like Douglas Costa suffered at Bayern? He's a third choice winger behind Robben and Ribery but still gets plenty of game time.

Bernardo Silva may even replace Toure straight away and become first-choice alongside David Silva with Fernandinho holding, that wouldn't surprise me at all.

City are doing the right thing, and not to the extreme of Chelsea who have about 60 youngsters on their books farmed out on loan.

[RamNut]

Bernard O'Silva - fantastic signing. 

 

[Sexydadbod]

20 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

They definitely need fullbacks, as they've just let three leave!

Kyle Walker is IMO the best English RB and if they need him to fill the quota, I guess he would be the ideal candidate as Spurs seem to favour Trippier towards the end of the season.

Fabinho is also a right-back, so not sure if it's a case of one or the other? At 23, he's got numerous years at the top ahead of him and he looks like a potentially top player.

With City having a bottomless pit of cash and in need of buying practically half a squad, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go down the route of splashing big money on 22, 23, 24 year olds.

Exciting times for them.

Fabinho has been a holding midfielder the last few years for Monaco mate. I think it would be a case of signing Walker as a right back and Fabinho at cdm alongside Gundogan. Walker to provide the width when Bernardo Silva drifts inside. Something like this

                     *New GK

* Walker Kompany  *New Cb  *New Lb

                 *Fabinho  Gundogan     

       Bernardo     De Bruyne      Sane

                          Jesus/Aguero

[DEL]

Man City could sign Ederson (goalkeeper) as soon as next week. Could be most expensive goalkeeper in the history. 

[DEL]

@Bris Vegas

[David]

So Man City spend £15m one year on a dodgy 34 year old keeper, the next summer they are looking to spend £43m on another. 

£58m on keepers whilst having Joe Hart.

[KBB]

2 minutes ago, David said:

So Man City spend £15m one year on a 34 year d keeper, the next summer they are looking to spend £43m on another. 

£58m on keepers whilst having Joe Hart.

The scouting for keepers is shocking. Outfield they are being linked with the best young players in the world.

Maybe pep wants short term experience and is waiting for a world class younger player to become available long term. He could have probably spent that money on 3 young prospects at the age of 17-20 and kept Hart and been just as fine.

[DEL]

Watch out for ex Rams. 

[Boycie]

https://www.chesterfield-fc.co.uk/news/2017/may/20170525-striker-signs-for-spireites/

watch out er, erm, watch out anyway.

[DEL]

 

[Kernow]

Nigel Pearson's marquee signing for us, Chris Weale, has joined Southern Premier League side Dorchester Town.

Our loss is their gain.

[KBB]

15 minutes ago, Kernow said:

Nigel Pearson's marquee signing for us, Chris Weale, has joined Southern Premier League side Dorchester Town.

Our loss is their gain.

He was so obviously signed as a spy for Pearson in the dressing room.