Contrary to Lukaku, Kounde deal is very interesting to me. Although it is weird Tomori or Guéhi had no chance and left I think Kounde is regarded as one of the most promising defenders in Europe. At 22 he is at the perfect age joining our squad. 

As soon as we ship out Zouma/Emerson we will strike a deal with Sevilla. 

On the Athletic podcast, they were saying Chelsea will sign him regardless of what happens to Zouma etc but they are just prioritising Lukaku first. 

11 minutes ago, JM7 said:

On the Athletic podcast, they were saying Chelsea will sign him regardless of what happens to Zouma etc but they are just prioritising Lukaku first. 

Yes have seen that said a few times and now it has come out Inter set a deadline of Sunday for Lukaku to go or not by it makes sense.

With Pep alluding to Laporte asking for a move, and Barca his preferred destination unable to afford him, should we be looking at him? Sounds like a no brainer to me, as he is quality. With Rudiger not signing a new contract, we will be getting a ball playing CB capable of playing at LCB/LB also. I also don’t think City will be demanding anywhere near the crazy amounts Sevilla are asking for Kounde.

3 minutes ago, ducavis said:

With Pep alluding to Laporte asking for a move, and Barca his preferred destination unable to afford him, should we be looking at him? Sounds like a no brainer to me, as he is quality. With Rudiger not signing a new contract, we will be getting a ball playing CB capable of playing at LCB/LB also. I also don’t think City will be demanding anywhere near the crazy amounts Sevilla are asking for Kounde.

Never been too impressed by him. Current Rudiger is miles better. Rudiger has a habit of changing though...I feel if Stones is ahead of Laporte he can't be all that. 

37 minutes ago, evissy said:

Never been too impressed by him. Current Rudiger is miles better. Rudiger has a habit of changing though...I feel if Stones is ahead of Laporte he can't be all that. 

You can’t be serious saying Rudiger is better than Laporte. He was the best defender in the league 3 seasons, and was just unlucky with injuries. As for Stones starting ahead of Laporte, I think his competition is Dias who looked awful at the Euros

51 minutes ago, ducavis said:

With Pep alluding to Laporte asking for a move, and Barca his preferred destination unable to afford him, should we be looking at him? Sounds like a no brainer to me, as he is quality. With Rudiger not signing a new contract, we will be getting a ball playing CB capable of playing at LCB/LB also. I also don’t think City will be demanding anywhere near the crazy amounts Sevilla are asking for Kounde.

Why would he ask to leave Man City? If there is a possibility there we should go for it definitely, he's a top CB. 

I am in favor of Kounde but i dont understand why Zouma has to leave to get Kounde on board. Last time i checked we had only 5 central defenders and for a team that plays 3 at the back we need 6. All that needs to happen is 2 defenders get injured/suspended and we are down to the bare bones. I really hope we stop playing James as a RCB, it doesnt suit his game and diminishes the posives he brings in. 

53 minutes ago, The Don Antonio said:

I am in favor of Kounde but i dont understand why Zouma has to leave to get Kounde on board. Last time i checked we had only 5 central defenders and for a team that plays 3 at the back we need 6. All that needs to happen is 2 defenders get injured/suspended and we are down to the bare bones. I really hope we stop playing James as a RCB, it doesnt suit his game and diminishes the posives he brings in. 

We could always start implementing an academy player as 6th choice. 

3 minutes ago, Night-T said:

We could always start implementing an academy player as 6th choice. 

Not really as it will just mean they don't play much when they need to play a lot and develop. Would rather keep Zouma as a squad CB, he's a good quality player who would get in a lot of EPL teams and would give us some great depth in defence.

1 hour ago, The Don Antonio said:

I am in favor of Kounde but i dont understand why Zouma has to leave to get Kounde on board. Last time i checked we had only 5 central defenders and for a team that plays 3 at the back we need 6. All that needs to happen is 2 defenders get injured/suspended and we are down to the bare bones. I really hope we stop playing James as a RCB, it doesnt suit his game and diminishes the posives he brings in. 

Silva, Rudiger, Christensen, Dave, Zouma and James. We already have 6 players to play in the back 3. If either of Emerson or Ampadu stick around then that's 7.

Zouma is the least suited of the current players to play in the back 3 and to be honest I think it speaks volumes that a club like West Ham are leading the race to sign him. 

3 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Silva, Rudiger, Christensen, Dave, Zouma and James. We already have 6 players to play in the back 3. If either of Emerson or Ampadu stick around then that's 7.

Zouma is the least suited of the current players to play in the back 3 and to be honest I think it speaks volumes that a club like West Ham are leading the race to sign him. 

Like i said earlier i don't think james is great in that RCB position just look at our record with him in that position last season. Thankfully Tuchel got smart at the end and played him at RWB with Azpi at RCB in the UCL final and not Vice Versa. He is strong and fast but his positional awareness in that position is lacking. 

     I think you do Zouma a disservice with your assessment of him. You might be right about him being the least suited to a back 3 but he is the most suited along with Silva if we switch to a back 4 which is a possibility. I think we should keep Zouma and loan out Ampadu 

19 minutes ago, The Don Antonio said:

Like i said earlier i don't think james is great in that RCB position just look at our record with him in that position last season. Thankfully Tuchel got smart at the end and played him at RWB with Azpi at RCB in the UCL final and not Vice Versa. He is strong and fast but his positional awareness in that position is lacking. 

     I think you do Zouma a disservice with your assessment of him. You might be right about him being the least suited to a back 3 but he is the most suited along with Silva if we switch to a back 4 which is a possibility. I think we should keep Zouma and loan out Ampadu 

If we get Kounde loan or sell Zouma and loan out Ampadu.

No Kounde then agree.

1 minute ago, Strider6003 said:

If we get Kounde loan or sell Zouma and loan out Ampadu.

No Kounde then agree.

I dont get why we need to sell Zouma. Its not even like he is on high wages. He is our most  physical defender and to me Kounde is a replacement for Azpi. Kounde is 5ft10 inches but has a good leap on him. I trust Kounde in the RCB position but i dont trust him in a back 2 in the premiership due to his height

3 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Silva, Rudiger, Christensen, Dave, Zouma and James. We already have 6 players to play in the back 3. If either of Emerson or Ampadu stick around then that's 7.

Zouma is the least suited of the current players to play in the back 3 and to be honest I think it speaks volumes that a club like West Ham are leading the race to sign him. 

Agreed, 

zouma is a good squad player, but can be very limited and at times is poor at reading the game. 
 

I dunno if that injury a few years ago knocked him back ? 
 

Not to mention Silva may not be here next season, and neither may Christensen or Rudiger, who can walk for free next season and we are hardly panicking to get them signed up.

Add to thar Dave getting older as well and there is no real need to sell Kurt, can always loan him this season if he will lack minutes and bring him back when we likely lose Silva and possibly Rudi and Andrea's too.

Before Fabrizio gets his "Here we go!" In several other sources say, with Lukaku basically done, we have "strongly" moved on to Kounde.

He is TT and our only CB target and we are determined to sign him, even if it means waiting till the end of the window. Some have said we have "promised" TT he is coming, as we "promised" him one of Lukaku, Kane or Haaland.

I don't see the need for another CB atm, unless Rudiger and Christensen refuses to sign a new contract. We should be looking for an attacking RWB/LWB, because James/Azpilicueta is best suited for RCB position in a back 3 and we don't have a proper backup for Chilwell.

21 minutes ago, comtrend said:

I don't see the need for another CB atm, unless Rudiger and Christensen refuses to sign a new contract. We should be looking for an attacking RWB/LWB, because James/Azpilicueta is best suited for RCB position in a back 3 and we don't have a proper backup for Chilwell.

I don’t get all this RCB for James  mularky !

he’s probably the best crosser of the ball in the country and you want him wasted at RCB lol 

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Before Fabrizio gets his "Here we go!" In several other sources say, with Lukaku basically done, we have "strongly" moved on to Kounde.

He is TT and our only CB target and we are determined to sign him, even if it means waiting till the end of the window. Some have said we have "promised" TT he is coming, as we "promised" him one of Lukaku, Kane or Haaland.

The sooner we sign him the better though...

31 minutes ago, turnyitb said:

I don’t get all this RCB for James  mularky !

he’s probably the best crosser of the ball in the country and you want him wasted at RCB lol 

He dosen't do it enough, you got players like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson with almost twice as many crosses (300 to James 150). They also have 800-900 forward passes and 300-400 backward passes, James have 450 backward passes and just 395 forward passes. 

James got criticized for this in his game against Scotland, all he did was backward and sideways passes through the whole game. He is good at the defensive part, but against low block teams we need more then 1 goal and 2 assists. The best attacking wingbacks can provide 10 goals and 10 assists.

Edited August 9, 20214 yr by comtrend

3 hours ago, comtrend said:

He dosen't do it enough, you got players like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson with almost twice as many crosses (300 to James 150). They also have 800-900 forward passes and 300-400 backward passes, James have 450 backward passes and just 395 forward passes. 

James got criticized for this in his game against Scotland, all he did was backward and sideways passes through the whole game. He is good at the defensive part, but against low block teams we need more then 1 goal and 2 assists. The best attacking wingbacks can provide 10 goals and 10 assists.

Which is why I suspect we badly wanted Hakimi... But he joined PSG instead so there's not much we can do when there aren't enough quality options for RWB

James improved out of sight last season and has more in him yet. It was really his first season in the PL.  For a RWB he is great between the boxes and by the end of the season his defensive positioning was way better. I can agree he is unwilling to go to the byline. Personally I don't think his crossing is any better than Chiller's, but his first touch is fantastic and he is strong. In a funny way and I will be shot for saying this he reminds me of Mikel only quicker. He could score more goals, got a good shot on him when he can focus.

We are still learning, as fans, what works best with a back 3 and wing backs, a system we have only played for 1.5 seasons. Conte showed how it could be done, and he showed it again with Inter. In both cases one of the wing backs has to be aggressive in attack, fast, ready to shoot, ready to cut infield and ready to go to the byline. It was moses for us and hakimi for Inter. That's how you do an attacking team back 3. In both cases the left side was more conventional

We have CHO and potentially Pulisic (although he is maybe too light) that can do that role, but we also have plenty of personnel for a back 4 which when Lukaku arrives will be a tempting option particularly if there is a fast, skilful cb like Kounde.

Think Kounde will have to earn his way into the team. Whether Zouma is there or not there is a lot of competition in right side defence which ever system we play. Silva is 36 and Cesar 31. 31 is not so old but in terms of physical prowess fullback or wing back is arguably the most taxing position in the team and Cesar has been doing it at Chelsea for a decade. He is a fantastic servant to the club, but I think over the next two seasons he will play less and less. So there is probably room to blend in replacements for Silva and Cesar over a couple of seasons. At the moment Kounde is probably going to get one of those spots.

 

5 hours ago, comtrend said:

He dosen't do it enough, you got players like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson with almost twice as many crosses (300 to James 150). They also have 800-900 forward passes and 300-400 backward passes, James have 450 backward passes and just 395 forward passes. 

James got criticized for this in his game against Scotland, all he did was backward and sideways passes through the whole game. He is good at the defensive part, but against low block teams we need more then 1 goal and 2 assists. The best attacking wingbacks can provide 10 goals and 10 assists.

He is not a wb. 

This signing/cb seems a bit more important now with rudi and AC still to sign new deals