15 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

If 4 of the 5 centre backs are Silva, De Ligt, Chalobah and Colwill, then at least if Ake is the Rudiger replacement, and considered a downgrade, we will still have overall better options than last year.

Silva = Silva

Chalobah = Chalobah

De Ligt > Christensen

Colwill > Sarr

Ake < Rudiger (probably)

Ake might surprise us as being on a par with Rudiger, possibly even an upgrade once you factor in better ability on the ball and his versatility. And the fact that he has managed to get 27 caps playing in the Dutch international defence is a good sign I suppose ... considering De Ligt and Van Dijk are the competition at centre back ...

I've come around to the idea and like the Ake signing now. Will provide competition but should allow someone Colwill can bypass and make a backup that won't throw the toys out of the pram.

Hopefully we make De Ligt and Ake our priorities.

Times are reporting we’re in advanced talks with City for Ake. 

7 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Times are reporting we’re in advanced talks with City for Ake. 

Have been for a while though I think 

This feels very underwhelming after Kounde and de Ligt

Edited July 7, 20224 yr by Adamrb

12 minutes ago, Adamrb said:

This feels very underwhelming after Kounde and de Ligt

It's so underwhelming that I wish we wouldn't bother. An absolute waste of money on a CB who is, in my opinion, very ordinary. We have sold CB's that are arguably better than Ake, Tomori and Guehi and have 2 that arguably have a higher ceiling, Chalobah and Colwill.

This is the look of desperation. Maybe if we actually moved a bit quicker for these CB's, we could have had one of them. Kounde, De Ligt, Koulibaly........Ake is easily worse than all 3 of these.

This is a joke. Bang average player for a ridiculous amount of money. 

If we missed out on De Ligt, there's no need to panic and just buy whoever's available. It's Haaland/Lukaku all over again.

If you really want to sign garbage then export it from the french/italian league for 15 mill. Why give a huge chunk of money to a direct rival. People here are betting on TT to conjure magic out of current squad but he ain't no magician. We'll be lucky to get top 6 with the current set of players.

 

 

 

The epitome of a squad rotation player. At least I hope so, I'd hate to think we're about to sign him to fill Rüdiger's shoes as first choice LCB. That said, most people on here thought Rüdiger was a total waste of space before Silva joined, so maybe playing alongside Silva will bring the best out of Aké as well.

This is such a mistake... Kimpembe is 20 times the player Ake is and available for the same amount...

And then it is probably going to be Kounde the last defender to arrive after De Ligt joins Bayern and we reject others such as Koulibaly.

Ake - T. Silva - Kounde is a back three asking for a lot of trouble... 

This smells of being a desperation signing. As backup and squad rotation, Ake ticks most boxes. As a  first-choice starter though, unless we add in a dominant third CB the backline will look very lightweight. Let's hope Colwill lives up to his expectations...he probably will though in a Leicester shirt. 

From De Ligt to Koulibaly to Ake. f**king hell.

Is this some sort of money laundering scheme we're involved with City because I cannot for the life of me comprehend who in their right mind would spend the reported fee for someone like Ake.

18 minutes ago, charierre said:

This smells of being a desperation signing. As backup and squad rotation, Ake ticks most boxes. As a  first-choice starter though, unless we add in a dominant third CB the backline will look very lightweight. Let's hope Colwill lives up to his expectations...he probably will though in a Leicester shirt. 

He is experienced and covers the left side of a back 3 nicely, but I tend to agree with you on a desperation signing. 

Reckon Ake will surprise quite a few this season.

Should be ideal for the LCB spot. If we get him for £40 million that's a very decent price as well. We got £20 million when we sold him to Bournemouth many years ago and he's a much, much better defender these days.

1 hour ago, petre ispirescu said:

This is such a mistake... Kimpembe is 20 times the player Ake is and available for the same amount...

And then it is probably going to be Kounde the last defender to arrive after De Ligt joins Bayern and we reject others such as Koulibaly.

Ake - T. Silva - Kounde is a back three asking for a lot of trouble... 

Not sure Kounde is really still on our radar. We may end up going for Kimpembe if De Ligt doesn't happen.

19 minutes ago, Sindre said:

Reckon Ake will surprise quite a few this season.

Should be ideal for the LCB spot. If we get him for £40 million that's a very decent price as well. We got £20 million when we sold him to Bournemouth many years ago and he's a much, much better defender these days.

I haven't seen much improvement at all in all honesty. 

He panics in defence, doesn't know when to make a tackle and when to contain, not great at defending set pieces because his positional play is poor, isn't very tall and not a physically strong CB.

He's a massive downgrade on Rudiger in almost every area of the game.

Edited July 8, 20224 yr by Scott Harris

If following Chelsea has taught me anything it’s the less glamorous signings that are usually the best 

24 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I haven't seen much improvement at all in all honesty. 

He panics in defence, doesn't know when to make a tackle and when to contain, not great at defending set pieces because his positional play is poor, isn't very tall and not a physically strong CB.

He's a massive downgrade on Rudiger in almost every area of the game.

"He panics in defence, ....and not a physically strong CB.". As I suspected, the perfect replacement for Christensen then 😉

Don’t get this one at all, very underwhelming. If we’re honest he’s no better than Christensen let alone Rudiger.

40 minutes ago, Blueboys said:

If following Chelsea has taught me anything it’s the less glamorous signings that are usually the best 

Like Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Kepa, Zappacosta, and Batshuayi? None of these were glamorous, but all of them were a waste of money.

 

I don’t think he is Rudiger’s replacement, more like Christensen replacement and they’re probably at the same level in terms of consistency, maybe Ake edges it for not having the sh*ts before big games.

40m definitely is far too much for a squad player, I would prefer a 10m signing from french league or anywhere obscure, like Ivanovic.

Ake isn’t worth 40m, that’s ridiculous. I’d have said the same about Christensen btw.

Such a ill thought out transfer.

Ake is bang average and does not improve us. Save that money and invest in proper quality. 

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

I haven't seen much improvement at all in all honesty. 

He panics in defence, doesn't know when to make a tackle and when to contain, not great at defending set pieces because his positional play is poor, isn't very tall and not a physically strong CB.

He's a massive downgrade on Rudiger in almost every area of the game.

With all due respect I got to disagree with almost everything there.

Ake is strong, quick and good in the air. Despite not being as fancy as Kounde I think he's every bit as good. City supporters do not want to lose him and there is a reason for that. Played 27 times for them last season and was generally excellent. MOTM performances v Liverpool and Atletico for example.

City will take the 40m and buy someone better with it.

Apparently after 3 defenders now, Ake then 3 of de ligt, kounde, Koulibaly, and kimpembe. 

Probably end up with Joe gomez and lidelof for £100m.

55 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Like Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Kepa, Zappacosta, and Batshuayi? None of these were glamorous, but all of them were a waste of money.

 

Bakayoko and Kepa were big signings though.. one was taking a key player from the form young team at the time and the other a highly rated youngster for a record fee. Even Bats was averaging a goal every other game as a 22 yo at the time we signed him.