Just now, icecoolguy22 said:

If Kovacic turns out to be a world class player under Pep, just have to give both of them credit. Even during his best period at Chelsea, he was never able to nail down that starting spot. So blame our managers and medical staff, with all due respect he just hasn't been that great for us. He could be a huge gain for City, but I don't see him as a huge lose for Chelsea.

Maybe, but then if Pochettino has given the green light for him to leave and kova wants to leave then it is what it is. 

5 hours ago, Breezy said:

Thank you for all the memories Kova go to City and win things no issue with you what so ever Mount on the other hand well that's a different story #CFC

Hopefully they'll be competing at the bottom of the English pyramid when their financial shenanigans get punished, so the only things he'll win will be lower league titles and promotion bonuses.

Great player but he clearly wasn’t trying this season. Time for him and us to separate. 

3 hours ago, ozboy said:

Great player but he clearly wasn’t trying this season. Time for him and us to separate. 

It's more that he came back from the WC (a) buggered; and (b) carrying niggling injuries that weren't given time to clear up.

10 hours ago, charierre said:

It’s the last part that Kova struggles with ‘easily set the likes…’ Far to often he beats the press and fails to deliver the pass at the correct time, overruns it or even worse attempts a shot!

That said, my biggest worry with this complete rebuild is that we are taking all the experience out of the team, those that contain it and remain most don’t want. Replacing it with a bunch of kids that can be inconsistent at best. Great when results are going your way but can be catastrophic if they dip.

The cynical side of me wonders if we're going down this route to give us an excuse if goals don't get hit.

Arsenal blowing the league the way they did is already getting brushed aside with "yeah but they're a young team". Compare that to the energy of Liverpool 13/14, Arsenal 02/03, United 11/12 and ofcourse Newcastle 95/96 and it's night and day. When you consider the teams they dropped points against in the run in it should absolutely be considered a choke at the level of the above but it isn't.

Also building a team for a decade sounds great in theory but teams need constantly refreshing to stay hungry and more importantly to keep the opposition on their toes. For example, look at Pep's first PL winning team compared to this one, only two have been untouchable starters in both.

6 minutes ago, Argo said:

The cynical side of me wonders if we're going down this route to give us an excuse if goals don't get hit.

Arsenal blowing the league the way they did is already getting brushed aside with "yeah but they're a young team". Compare that to the energy of Liverpool 13/14, Arsenal 02/03, United 11/12 and ofcourse Newcastle 95/96 and it's night and day. When you consider the teams they dropped points against in the run in it should absolutely be considered a choke at the level of the above but it isn't.

Also building a team for a decade sounds great in theory but teams need constantly refreshing to stay hungry and more importantly to keep the opposition on their toes. For example, look at Pep's first PL winning team compared to this one, only two have been untouchable starters in both.

This is where the 16-20 year olds that have been scouted/brought in hopefully come into play. 

Hypothetically if we have a midfield three of Enzo, Ugarte, and Caicedo, we have Santos and Casadei ready to jump in. Mudryk and Madeueke, we have Paez and Moreira ready to jump in. 

Long term vision seems to be in place, just needing a little more organization and without the stock piling of talent. 

10 minutes ago, Argo said:

The cynical side of me wonders if we're going down this route to give us an excuse if goals don't get hit.

Arsenal blowing the league the way they did is already getting brushed aside with "yeah but they're a young team". Compare that to the energy of Liverpool 13/14, Arsenal 02/03, United 11/12 and ofcourse Newcastle 95/96 and it's night and day. When you consider the teams they dropped points against in the run in it should absolutely be considered a choke at the level of the above but it isn't.

Also building a team for a decade sounds great in theory but teams need constantly refreshing to stay hungry and more importantly to keep the opposition on their toes. For example, look at Pep's first PL winning team compared to this one, only two have been untouchable starters in both.

The team of the decade thing always reminds me of who were tipped to be the ‘team of the 80s’ …Palace. Great young team, full of top academy products, good manager what could possibly go wrong? 

Agreed personal terms with City now reports Fabrizio.

Given we spent 47.5mill on Sterling from them last summer, who also had one year left on his deal, I will be disappointed if we get less than 35mill for Kova. 

Will be less for English player tax and attacker tax but 35mill should be the bare minimum as City are not hard pressed for cash.

I believe Kova has a book value on 8.06mill left from his 40.3mill transfer fee.

Annoyingly he's going to be perfect for them. We're desperate for goals from anywhere so having someone like Kova in the middle can be restrictive in some ways. 

City on the other hand, don't need goals. Everything he does best is going to stand out so much in that side.

Deal close to being agreed on all ends at an apparent 40mill euros. Leaving a book value profit of 26mill.

66mill book value profit to go then.

Clear as day he hasn’t been arsed to put a shift in for us last season. You do wonder what exactly has gone on behind the scenes for so many ‘top’ players to become so disillusioned and give half arsed performances, all just waiting to exodus the club at the first chance?

On 09/06/2023 at 17:08, Niall1905 said:

Annoyingly he's going to be perfect for them. We're desperate for goals from anywhere so having someone like Kova in the middle can be restrictive in some ways. 

City on the other hand, don't need goals. Everything he does best is going to stand out so much in that side.

At some point in time he was the best in the league when it came down to carrying and running with the ball and he did it through all possible tight spaces in the midfield. That alone made him our best player in a season. For Man City, that really is perfect, just another player that can use the space and that can make space.

Kovacic really is superb at some specific things, similar to how Mount was or Kante or Jorginho, only now in retrospect can we see just how good Tuchel was, he made most of those players shine in their best attributes.

I actually find it quite funny that Kova has managed to find yet another big club. The guy is decent dribbling with the ball, but as a midfielder he sorely lacks goals & creativity. He won't be missed.

59 minutes ago, Malcolm9 said:

I actually find it quite funny that Kova has managed to find yet another big club. The guy is decent dribbling with the ball, but as a midfielder he sorely lacks goals & creativity. He won't be missed.

@CaitlinCFC begs to differ, I'm sure.

The most 'pleasing on the eye' player you can find. Progessing the game, making plays, scoring goals it is not Kovacic. An artist in progressive runs to completely dump the attack after a wrong decision. That is Kova in the nutshell.

The difference is City has the guy to dump the ball to at the end.

2 hours ago, charierre said:

Clear as day he hasn’t been arsed to put a shift in for us last season. You do wonder what exactly has gone on behind the scenes for so many ‘top’ players to become so disillusioned and give half arsed performances, all just waiting to exodus the club at the first chance?

Given we are set to be shirt sponsored by a company like Stake.com that might answer a few questions of what things are like behind the scenes.

50 minutes ago, evissy said:

The most 'pleasing on the eye' player you can find. That is Kova in the nutshell.

Not fussed.. very limited skill sets for a midfielder.. can’t pass long .. isn’t very creative.. can’t tackle or press much.. can’t shoot or finish .. the only thing he was great at was “helping beat the press” so looked good against city and pool and top teams but against a low block pretty useless..

Two issues for me - availability and lack of end product (assists and goals).  Great technical midfielder transitioning play, but we need more from our midfield positions, with fitness being the first item. 

Surprise surprise- turned on the nations league finals and he’s giving it his all for Croatia. I respect that, but he’s really backed off for Chelsea. Hopefully the City interest is real. 

10 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

Surprise surprise- turned on the nations league finals and he’s giving it his all for Croatia. I respect that, but he’s really backed off for Chelsea. Hopefully the City interest is real. 

He also just did the most Kovacic move, beat 3 men in a tight space on the wing with great footwork, burst into the final 3rd....... then turned back and played it back to a centre back near his own penalty area.

The above is exactly why Real Madrid let him go in the first place. Footwork and touch on par with Iniesta and Xavi, but the passing skills of Pepe. 

I understand why City want him. Sterling said in an interview at the start of the season that the one player they really hated playing against was Kovacic, because he was impossible to get the ball off and could be upfield in an instant. However, he will be replacing Gundogan, who lacks Kovacic's speed and strength but is far superior at end product. Kovacic is going to be little more than a warm body.

2 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

The above is exactly why Real Madrid let him go in the first place. Footwork and touch on par with Iniesta and Xavi, but the passing skills of Pepe. 

I understand why City want him. Sterling said in an interview at the start of the season that the one player they really hated playing against was Kovacic, because he was impossible to get the ball off and could be upfield in an instant. However, he will be replacing Gundogan, who lacks Kovacic's speed and strength but is far superior at end product. Kovacic is going to be little more than a warm body.

Replacing the Gundogan creativity with Kovacic is something I can’t wrap my head around but Pep is brilliant and you would think he would have a plan. De Bruyne will be out till Jan I think, and usually in his absence Gundogan or Silva step up to the plate. How you replace a guy that normally hits double digits in contributions (G+A) with a player now in the twilight of his career who has never hit those numbers in  his career is an interesting one.

Edited June 18, 20233 yr by ducavis

2 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

The above is exactly why Real Madrid let him go in the first place. Footwork and touch on par with Iniesta and Xavi, but the passing skills of Pepe. 

 

Makes me smile. I actually think he is a bit better passer than made out here but all that really matters is he doesn't want to be at Chelsea. My other knock on him for his entire Chelsea career is that he basically only has 70 minutes in him.