27 minutes ago, ducavis said:

He is already on £90k/w at City, I will be surprised if he moves for anything less than £130k/w. We will effectively be signing City’s 4th choice CB as a starter, because he wants to play a back 5. He is bang average in a back 4, and if Tuchel was to leave/get sacked the next manager will inherit an average CB on massive wages. This is why we struggle to move on our duds because their wages are ridiculous.

Guehi and Fofana are better CBs, are on half his wages and will probably cost what City are demanding for Ake. But hey the manager gets to chose his signings right?

When it gets bad the only question we can ask - Is it going to be any worse than Lukaku ? Most likely not. 

But this is a massive downgrade for a 1st choice player for team aspiring to challenge for trophies. Wouldn't mind if it cost 15-20 mill but 40-45 mill is way too high. 

IMO, our best defensive signings in terms of value and performance were Azpi, Cahill and Silva the past decade. The cheaper the better..😁 

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

Guehi and Fofana are better CBs, are on half his wages and will probably cost what City are demanding for Ake. But hey the manager gets to chose his signings right?

Two excellent shouts there mate.

Based on various articles it seems TT is being well backed in his choice of targets, and he has been a fan of Ake since his days of managing dortmund.

Apparently Ake is his first choice to replace Toni as his main LCB, and Nathan was allowed to talk to us by City as they allowed Sterling to talk to us to decide their futures. Sterling is also TT top attacking target.

Both have now decided they want to come here and both agreed terms, both deals are said to be close with City.

 

Have to admit I would have liked it if TT wanted Gabriel Jesus, think he would have been a good signing.

9 hours ago, azpi28 said:

probably why TT sees something in him

 

 

No dribbles completed...clearly he is no ruddier 😄 

Joking aside, I am fine with this signing. Very sensible. EPL proven, knows the club, has won titles and fills a genuine need in the squad. Not glamorous or exciting, but a sound squad option.

 

What happened to wanting Kounde? 

8 hours ago, guddy69 said:

He is really slow and terrible decision making, Thomas can't make him run faster.. Or think faster. 

He isn't that good on the ball either 🙄

https://speedsdb.com/nathan-ake-top-speed

20 minutes ago, just said:

https://speedsdb.com/nathan-ake-top-speed

If you take that site as gospel, this puts Ake as nowhere near Rudiger and Christensen, and slower than Dave LOL

https://speedsdb.com/soccer/chelsea-players-top-speeds 

What I can't understand is how he is a £40/45 m player , we let him go because he wasn't good enough. 4th choice at Citeh they must be over the ,moon with this deal.

 

6 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Based on various articles it seems TT is being well backed in his choice of targets, and he has been a fan of Ake since his days of managing dortmund.

Apparently Ake is his first choice to replace Toni as his main LCB, and Nathan was allowed to talk to us by City as they allowed Sterling to talk to us to decide their futures. Sterling is also TT top attacking target.

Both have now decided they want to come here and both agreed terms, both deals are said to be close with City.

 

Have to admit I would have liked it if TT wanted Gabriel Jesus, think he would have been a good signing.

Lol.. not buying the idea he was a fan at Dortmund. That would have been around the time he was on loan from us at Watford or Bournemouth. A Bundesliga manager watching bottom of the PL matches.. lol. 

8 hours ago, ducavis said:

He is already on £90k/w at City, I will be surprised if he moves for anything less than £130k/w. We will effectively be signing City’s 4th choice CB as a starter, because he wants to play a back 5. He is bang average in a back 4, and if Tuchel was to leave/get sacked the next manager will inherit an average CB on massive wages. This is why we struggle to move on our duds because their wages are ridiculous.

Guehi and Fofana are better CBs, are on half his wages and will probably cost what City are demanding for Ake. But hey the manager gets to chose his signings right?

I don't think Guehi is better than Ake, Fofana might be a little better but he is coming off a serious injury and Leciester is going to demand an arm and leg for him probably  100m wages inclusive. For that amount, Ake is a better chioce

4 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

No dribbles completed...clearly he is no ruddier 😄 

Joking aside, I am fine with this signing. Very sensible. EPL proven, knows the club, has won titles and fills a genuine need in the squad. Not glamorous or exciting, but a sound squad option.

 

as he can play 3 positions in the back 5 and also as a DM it's a very sensible and relatively cheap deal to make

otherwise you would have to get a CB (and there aren't that many who are left footed) + a wingback (to replace Alonso)

also i think getting Aké somehow gives Colwill more of a chance as you could play them together (Colwill as LCB and Aké either as CB or LWB), in some of early rounds of the cup competitions

also he played in a back 4 with Man City but the Dutch team plays in a back 3 

54 minutes ago, d-one said:

I don't think Guehi is better than Ake, Fofana might be a little better but he is coming off a serious injury and Leciester is going to demand an arm and leg for him probably  100m wages inclusive. For that amount, Ake is a better chioce

It's really difficult to find a good squad player who has 150+ premier league games on a 50K a week salary

you would have to look at a brighton defender or smt or Tarkovski but he probably earns a lot more at Everton now 

Edited July 9, 20224 yr by azpi28

Maybe the plan with Kounde and Ake is for them to move into a midfield/fullback positions when we are attacking and the wingbacks to push even further forward.  With De Ligt seemingly preferring playing on the right maybe that’s why we’ve switched from Kounde to Ake?

 

7 hours ago, just said:

https://speedsdb.com/nathan-ake-top-speed

I can't take a site that lists a player's zodiac sign seriously 

5 hours ago, ducavis said:

Lol.. not buying the idea he was a fan at Dortmund. That would have been around the time he was on loan from us at Watford or Bournemouth. A Bundesliga manager watching bottom of the PL matches.. lol. 

Tbf German clubs have snapped up promising players from the Championship before, Bellingham being the best known example.

7 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

If you take that site as gospel, this puts Ake as nowhere near Rudiger and Christensen, and slower than Dave LOL

https://speedsdb.com/soccer/chelsea-players-top-speeds 

I have just gone back in and cross checked some of our people. It says Gladys Smelllmen the Chelsea tea lady is faster than Jorginho.

That looks accurate enough for me.

. 

43 minutes ago, just said:

I have just gone back in and cross checked some of our people. It says Gladys Smelllmen the Chelsea tea lady is faster than Jorginho.

That looks accurate enough for me.

. 

Werner's time isn't accurate - he went before the starter fired the gun....

My question would be what happens to Ampadu if we sign Ake!? Ampadu is taller, stronger and has similar level of experience, potentially he can play in a number of positions and he is free. 

Do we need to sell ampadu, colwill etc and buy them for 50 million to appreciate their talent. 

I am very baffled by this transfer.

3 minutes ago, Gentian said:

My question would be what happens to Ampadu if we sign Ake!? Ampadu is taller, stronger and has similar level of experience, potentially he can play in a number of positions and he is free. 

Do we need to sell ampadu, colwill etc and buy them for 50 million to appreciate their talent. 

I am very baffled by this transfer.

Maybe we prefer our back up centre backs with dreadlocks ? Image rights, marketabilily for sponsors, social media etc etc

Ampadu should never have had his hair cut LOL

17 minutes ago, Gentian said:

My question would be what happens to Ampadu if we sign Ake!? Ampadu is taller, stronger and has similar level of experience, potentially he can play in a number of positions and he is free. 

Do we need to sell ampadu, colwill etc and buy them for 50 million to appreciate their talent. 

I am very baffled by this transfer.

Ampadu is with the US tour. Like Gallagher, Colwill and later Broja they all need to convince TT to give them a shot.

3 hours ago, Gentian said:

My question would be what happens to Ampadu if we sign Ake!? Ampadu is taller, stronger and has similar level of experience, potentially he can play in a number of positions and he is free. 

Do we need to sell ampadu, colwill etc and buy them for 50 million to appreciate their talent. 

I am very baffled by this transfer.

I would be happy for us to sell Ampadu to be honest, I don't rate him.

2 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I would be happy for us to sell Ampadu to be honest, I don't rate him.

Also @Scott Harris....

 

38 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I would be happy for us to sell Ampadu to be honest, I don't rate him.

Really, not in the slightest?

For his age he is pretty experienced, he has played almost 5000 minutes of top league football in his last 2 years on loan, plus almost 2500 minutes for Wales in 35 appearances.

He has really good versatility, seems like he can play nearly any defensive position and has a solid overall skillset. According to whoscored discipline and concentration are his weaknesses, which are both attributes that can be improved as he gains more experience. Eventhough I agree that he has not really shown to be a top player on his loans, this should not be used against him based on the fact that both loans were at clubs who were relegation candidates before he even went there.

I think with his versatility we could use him as an utility player like Ruben last season, if Tuchel should decide to put him in the squad for the season.

24 minutes ago, Blue2 said:

Really, not in the slightest?

For his age he is pretty experienced, he has played almost 5000 minutes of top league football in his last 2 years on loan, plus almost 2500 minutes for Wales in 35 appearances.

He has really good versatility, seems like he can play nearly any defensive position and has a solid overall skillset. According to whoscored discipline and concentration are his weaknesses, which are both attributes that can be improved as he gains more experience. Eventhough I agree that he has not really shown to be a top player on his loans, this should not be used against him based on the fact that both loans were at clubs who were relegation candidates before he even went there.

I think with his versatility we could use him as an utility player like Ruben last season, if Tuchel should decide to put him in the squad for the season.

David Luiz would argue you don't need "discipline" and "concentration". But personally, I kinda like those traits in a defender