Everyone seems to be talking about Mario Mandzukic today. What do you guys think? Random paper talk or do you reckon there's some actual truth in this?

 

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/08/21/report-chelsea-identify-mario-mandzukic-as-new-target-after-miss/

I wouldn't be surprised but I don't rate the player and never have.

25m for a 30 year old (even if he did just turn 30 in May) is...

They want Cuadrado, they should do a straight swap.

Don't see the why it's Chelsea so often willing to let these Italian clubs loan on the cheap when they are so damn stubborn when it comes to the other way around.

Would rather stick with Remy as third choice.

Big fan of Mandzukic and have been for years, he would offer something different from Costa and Michy, but I don't see why he would leave Juve's bench to sit on ours.

Big fan of Mandzukic and have been for years, he would offer something different from Costa and Michy, but I don't see why he would leave Juve's bench to sit on ours.

Can I ask and I'm not been funny here but what exactly do you see in him?

I would have taken him 5 years ago, not anymore though.

Can I ask and I'm not been funny here but what exactly do you see in him?

Target man, good in the air, strong, good tachnique, always puts himself about and knows where the back of the net is

Target man, good in the air, strong, good tachnique, always puts himself about and knows where the back of the net is

I've never seen him dominate a game myself although admittedly I haven't watched him a ton of times but when I have I haven't been impressed

I've never seen him dominate a game myself although admittedly I haven't watched him a ton of times but when I have I haven't been impressed

He is no Drogba who was unplayable at times, but he is a real handful to deal with when he is at his best.

He is no Drogba who was unplayable at times, but he is a real handful to deal with when he is at his best.

Well if we get him so be it, sure as hell we need someone.

Honestly, other than the big names already settled at their clubs, are there many goalscorers around right now who could do a good job for Chelsea?

Seems like they've either moved or prefer to stay put...

Not that many options it seems. I know a lot of us want Remy gone and it seems it will happen by the end of the window, but in a two striker system especially, a fit Remy would actually do a pretty decent job of scoring goals imho.

Bad move letting Traore go, think.

Looking at the names who had good 15/16 season... Quite underwhelming.

At least with Mandzukic his size and pedigree gives you something.

Jonas and Slimani done well in Portugal.

De jong in Holland.

Lacazette in France.

Ruben Castro, Aduriz, Lucas, in Spain.

(I wonder if Bony could be an option. He's a goalscorer and can link up well. Has been a bit part player at City and they might not be willing to sell to a direct rival, but who knows...?)

As I posted and as others have suggested swap him cuadrado. Make it an offer, or loan him. If it is OK for juve to loan our fringe players why can we not do so with one of theirs in return?

no, just no. he's like 30 years old and some west ham fans were saying he's not even good enough to join their side.

 

what we need is a center halve and a fullback, not another striker, we already have like 3 at this point, i doubt he'd leave juventus just to sit on our bench, if he'd go somewhere, he'd go somewhere he can get game time, i just see this as another falcao, pointless and useless.

 

EDIT: i don't think he's bad, i quite rate him actually. maybe a few years ago when he was terrorizing defenses in the bundesliga and la liga with bayern and atletico respectively, then i'd take him, but now he's 30, he's not scoring that much for juventus, and the fact they got higuain shows they don't have much faith in him as a target man, if we have to take him, 15m at best, 25m would be considered robbery in my eyes

Edited August 21, 20168 yr by Thunder

^Hmmm.... Agree (axman). The only thing is it looks like our pesky fringe player has his heart set on a move, whereas theirs maybe quite willing to stay and fight for his chances in a team playing CL.

Higuain, Dybala and Mandzukic are their three strikers currently, with Zaza available for sale.

@Thunder. Serie A is where 39 year olds like Toni and washed up second rate players like Maccarone seem to score a tons of goals. Always wary of forwards from Series A, so yeah, not good sign of you're struggling for goals over there.

Edited August 21, 20168 yr by Kante Conte

^Hmmm.... Agree (axman). The only thing is it looks like our pesky fringe player has his heart set on a move, whereas theirs maybe quite willing to stay and fight for his chances in a team playing CL.

Higuain, Dybala and Mandzukic are their three strikers currently, with Zaza available for sale.

@Thunder. Serie A is where 39 year olds like Toni and washed up second rate players like Maccarone seem to score a tons of goals. Always wary of forwards from Series A, so yeah, not good sign of you're struggling for goals over there.

Nonsense, Serie A is notoriously difficult league to score goals in, since defences are far more disciplined and well-drilled than in most other leagues.

 

Mandzukic is a very good player, strong, good technique, works extremely hard, and great at creating space for his strike partner. He may not score much, but a striker like him shouldn't only be judged on his goals. I doubt Juve have any intention to sell though, he's a very important player for the team.

Edited August 22, 20168 yr by Panda

Didn't he fall out with his last 2 clubs before Juve?

Nonsense, Serie A is notoriously difficult league to score goals in, since defences are far more disciplined and well-drilled than in most other leagues.

 

Mandzukic is a very good player, strong, good technique, works extremely hard, and great at creating space for his strike partner. He may not score much, but a striker like him shouldn't only be judged on his goals. I doubt Juve have any intention to sell though, he's a very important player for the team.

So we are always told (series A defences) but how do you explain the likes of 37/38 year old Toni, Di Natale, Now Maccarone, Kalanic tearing it up the way they do/did.

I know Chelsea have had a few good attackers signed from Italy in past decades, but it seems more often than not they come over here to the Premier League and flop, while those who go from here to there seem to do pretty well.

So we are always told (series A defences) but how do you explain the likes of 37/38 year old Toni, Di Natale, Now Maccarone, Kalanic tearing it up the way they do/did.

I know Chelsea have had a few good attackers signed from Italy in past decades, but it seems more often than not they come over here to the Premier League and flop, while those who go from here to there seem to do pretty well.

Maccarone and Kalinic never tore anything up - Kalinic scored 12 goals last season, which is a respectable output for a solid mid-table striker, but certainly doesn't constitute "tearing it up". Likewise, Maccarone never went above 13 goals in a season.

 

Toni and Di Natale were superb strikers who would have scored by the bucketload anywhere they went (and Toni was Bundesliga top scorer when he was at Bayern). At Verona Toni was playing in a team that was basically built exclusively to get the best out of him, allowing him to goal-hang and finish off opportunities.

 

Also, I'm not so sure about players from the Premier League succeeding in Italy - Edin Dzeko was generally considered the biggest flop in Serie A last season, and others like Podolski, Pelle, Shaqiri, Coutinho etc. have had far more success in England than they ever did in Italy. 

Edited August 22, 20168 yr by Panda

Okay, you've made your point. I don't have the energy nor the will to get into a detailed discussion on this. A lot can be said from my side, and I'm sure you will defend your point of view with a lot of passion.

Ultimately, I don't think anything I say is likely to change your mind, neither you mine and I prefer not to needlessly argue.

To the original issue though, Mandzukic would be an interesting buy. Hopefully not for too much. Costa, Mandzukic and Batshuayi would be a nicely balanced and very potent strike force - at least in theory.

Edited August 22, 20168 yr by Kante Conte