I'll tell you something now, if we end this window with 

 

Sterling.

Koulibaly

Cucurella

Fofana

FdJ

Aubameyang

as first team additions, that's a solid window.  Although i dont see FdJ or Auba happening... even Fofana tbh.... much as id like it

1 minute ago, RickUK said:

I think this deal is done, both clubs know it is done but neither club wanted it leaked yet as there is a joint transaction linked to it, Colwill.

So I'd suspect Brighton's tweet is a little bit of a white lie, to..

 

Once his deal is sewn up, then you'll see a pretty quick double announcement from both clubs.

 

cue the hijack 😄  Nah in all seriousness, I'd be shocked if he isnt ours by end of the week

i agree 

but from Brighton there is no need to put that tweet out. What do they gain from that?

7 minutes ago, HazardousChoice said:

I think Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge is the perfect example.

I don't rate Chilwell as high as most he's definitely more Wayne Bridge than Ashley Cole and that's before you factor in such a bad injury which could impact his level long term and we had to act.

If Tuchel has identified that Cucurella can be an Ash level of improvement for us it makes perfect sense to sign him.

Despite Bridge being decent bringing Ash in worked out pretty well for us didn't it?  If Cucu performs half as well for us I don't think anyone will regret us spending 50m

Fair enough if you feel that way about Ben and Cucurella. Personally I don't but we will see how it works out.

 

8 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

or maybe just maybe he wants to play Chilwell as LCB 

besides the 50 million doesn't matter

we don't have to do everything like Liverpool 

it took them like 25 years to win a title that way

Hmm I doubt it but you never know.

4 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

i agree 

but from Brighton there is no need to put that tweet out. What do they gain from that?

Nothing really, i think they just dont want it being leaked/confirmed until the Colwill part is signed off.   I dont think any other club would have done it, maybe its just a Brighton thing.

the agreement for Cucurella is also dependant on Colwill, its obvious despite it not being a "swap" per se

 

So as far as Brighton are concerned the deal isnt agreed, until Colwill part is sorted..

10 minutes ago, RickUK said:

Nothing really, i think they just dont want it being leaked/confirmed until the Colwill part is signed off.   I dont think any other club would have done it, maybe its just a Brighton thing.

the agreement for Cucurella is also dependant on Colwill, its obvious despite it not being a "swap" per se

 

So as far as Brighton are concerned the deal isnt agreed, until Colwill part is sorted..

Agreement with Brighton for Cucurella

Agreement with Brighton for Colwill

Colwill signs for Brighton

11th hour bid from Barca for Cucurella

Cucurella signs for Barca

Brighton and Barca:

5 hours ago, Valerie said:

Agreed. The hair is obviously not real.

 

So, what if David Luiz and Marcelo had a baby? 

 

Seriously why does anyone listen to a word Nathan Gissing says on twitter. He is the biggest waffler and bandwagon jumper on there!

 

Always reports his info once someone else does first.  He's about as ITK as me

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

We can but hope. Spending 52mill on a backup to Chilwell, or to make Chilwell a back up, is an incredible waste of resources.

We are supposed to be looking at Liverpool but they would not do this. Ignore the fact Robertson was a steal and TAA is a youth product like James is to us, they have backed them up with good back ups happy to be back ups that cost 13mill and 6 mill. Neither Cucurella or Chilwell will be happy as a back up imo and then you end up loaning or selling one at half value or worse.

With Alonso wanting to leave and Chilwell returning from a big injury, there is a clear need for us to sign someone for the position and like I said Cucurella is qualitywise probably the best player available for us to realistically get for the position in this window, he is 24, played a good season in the Premier League, has good versatility and looks like a stylistic fit to our system, yes we pay premium like we often do for transfers, but from the clubs pov we pay premium for a potential improvement to our squad, like with Sterling and Koulibaly.

I do think with our league campaign last season in mind, it is necessary for us to have enough cover for our wingback positions if we want to challenge for the title. Of course we could sign someone cheaper, but if Cucurella is our top option for LWB and the player Tuchel wants, should we really skimp over 30% overpay on the fee if we assume 40m the sum City priced him at would be his market value?

From a sporting pov I find it good to see that Boehly backs Tuchel in the market, at least until now I don't think we had a big error of judgement in the market this window.

Let me start I barely watched cucurella so I can't say much but he can play lwb and lcb and he is a left footer which will help our ball progression on the left side. So based on position that he can play this is a big plus. 

What I don't like is the fee and the fact that we outbid city. Maguire, alexis, jorgi are 3 players that I remember where team outbid city (you can add mbappe here also but it was psg who outbid them so that is whole another story). Are those 3 bad players? Nope. Maguire is England key cb, jorgi won uefa poty, and Sanchez was brilliant for arse n barca. But are they worth the fee? Nope. 

Edited August 4, 20223 yr by Bob stark

Selling Colwill to Brighton in order to get Cucurella is like selling the crown jewels to De Boy in order to buy a stand to put the crown jewels on, and paying double and a half for the privilege...

2 hours ago, Number4 said:

So, what if David Luiz and Marcelo had a baby? 

 

He's also a very talented musician as well!

41 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

But are they worth the fee? Nope. 

How can you say that? What evidence do you have? and I would add (1) what they are worth to Man C may be different to what they are worth to another club and (2) Man C are not immune to making mistakes and i'm not putting them on a pedestal. Is Grealish worth his fee?

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

Let me start I barely watched cucurella so I can't say much but he can play lwb and lcb and he is a left footer which will help our ball progression on the left side. So based on position that he can play this is a big plus. 

All of our LB/LWB options are left footed so that fact alone is not going to make any difference to our ball progression. How good an individual left foot is compared to other left feet might make a difference though. 🙂

Either way, what really helps with ball progression is for fullbacks to be two-footed. There are always passing angles available with the 'weaker' foot, that are not on with the natural foot. Nothing on a football pitch winds me up more than seeing a full back drop a nothing pass back to the CB because he (or she) lacks the confidence to take on a progressive pass with their weak foot. I will never ever understand why any professional footballer should have this problem.

I would sometimes manage to forgive Ashley Cole for this crime because he was such a brilliant defender but the rest of 'em give me ulcers. Cucurella is vey one footed.

Edited August 4, 20223 yr by OhForAGreavsie

24 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

All of our LB/LWB options are left footed so that fact alone is not going to make any difference to our ball progression. How good an individual left foot is compared to other left feet might make a difference though. 🙂

Either way, what really helps with ball progression is for fullbacks to be two-footed. There are always passing angles available with the 'weaker' foot, that are not on with the natural foot. Nothing on a football pitch winds me up more than seeing a full back drop a nothing pass back to the CB because he (or she) lacks the confidence to take on a progressive pass with their weak foot. I will never ever understand why any professional footballer should have this problem.

I would sometimes manage to forgive Ashley Cole for this crime because he was such a brilliant defender but the rest of 'em give me ulcers. Cucurella is vey one footed.

Hmm we had only one left footed cb last year. He is just not good. 

 

1 hour ago, ozboy said:

How can you say that? What evidence do you have? and I would add (1) what they are worth to Man C may be different to what they are worth to another club and (2) Man C are not immune to making mistakes and i'm not putting them on a pedestal. Is Grealish worth his fee?

Not sure what Grealish has got anything to do with this. 

Is Sanchez and Maguire worth what United paid for them? 

Even Jorgi who imo has been good for us. City didn't want to match our offer and they signed a better and younger version of Jorgi for 60 the next year. 

My point is city can outbid most team. When you outbid them, usually you tend to overpay for the player. Unless you are 100% sure of  the player quality it is usually not a good idea. 

Edited August 4, 20223 yr by Bob stark

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

Hmm we had only one left footed cb last year. He is just not good. 

 

 

I was not talking about CBs.

I think there’s an element where we’ve had to overpay with some deals because we’re in real need. As time goes on, I would expect us to be abit sharper with our deals. 

9 minutes ago, JM7 said:

I think there’s an element where we’ve had to overpay with some deals because we’re in real need. As time goes on, I would expect us to be abit sharper with our deals. 

When we are operating so late (for obvious reasons), we don't have the luxury of driving the deals as we want to.

7 hours ago, axman2526 said:

If Man City, with all their riches, don't feel he is worth more than 40mill to be a starter for them, why do we feel he is worth 52.5mill to bench Chilwell or to sit on the bench?

Just because City did not pursue it, does not mean another team should not of done it. I tell you what, it makes more sense for City to splash £50m or so on Cucurella than it did splashing £100m on a rotational player in Grealish and £40m on a fourth choice CB in Ake. Would you take Grealish or Ake at those prices? I am sure you would not so for me I don't see how City being a benchmark for who they buy and don't buy is relevant. Man City selling Zinchenko and not going after Cucu is a massive blow for them imo. I am sure that is a board decision and not Pep's decision anyway. Also, what you hve to remember is Cucurella will start a lot of games. I don't see him being back up. I see him being a rotational player. We are going to have games in week in, week out and if that means him rotating with Chilwell at LWB, whose just got over a serious injury and sometimes featuring LCB, then it makes sense.

7 hours ago, HazardousChoice said:

Cucurella wouldn't be both City's best left back and a starting centre back for them like he will be here.

We need him more

City have Diaz - Laporte and Canelo 

We have Sarr, Chalobah and Chilwell coming off one of the worst injuries a footballer can have.

If City were in our shoes they'd have signed him for 60m and had him settled in the team to start this weekend.

I think City need him more than us. They need another LB badly. Walker is injury prone and will be 33 next season. Cucurella is a long term investment and would get many games as Pep always rotates. The only one defender who starts majority back to back games in that team is Dias, who himself got rotated the odd games. Cucurella would be no different. Man City defo wanted him to play at LB as they rarely play a back 3 formation but them penny pinching for Cucurella is there lost. He is worth it imo and City are targeting the LB at Anderlecht now. I just am baffled by them. The signings they made last season and one before for back up players yet don't want to put £50m or so on Cucurella is amazing. I am not complaining anyway as he would of just added to the quality squad depth already in that team.

1 hour ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

I was not talking about CBs.

Ahh, my point on cucurella was mostly about CB. A left footed cb should make getting the ball out wide from lcb easier. 

3 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Selling Colwill to Brighton in order to get Cucurella is like selling the crown jewels to De Boy in order to buy a stand to put the crown jewels on, and paying double and a half for the privilege...

If there's a reasonable buy back it's not the end of the world, he'd learn a lot being here, but he wouldn't get the game time.

There's still also no guarantee he carries on developing on the trajectory he's currently on (sure he will), just ensure there's a buy back in so we don't have another Tomori situation. 

If we played 4/3/3, we’d all be banging on how we need 4 quality wingers (two to start and two quality back ups).  TT is not going to change to a back 4.  Those fans who keep talking up a back 4, forget it.  Therefore, we need 4 quality wing backs….  Those who argue that we don’t need both Cucu and Chilwell would definitely be talking about decent back up wingers if we played 4/3/3.  What’s the difference!!!!

48 minutes ago, DukesOfHazard said:

If there's a reasonable buy back it's not the end of the world, he'd learn a lot being here, but he wouldn't get the game time.

There's still also no guarantee he carries on developing on the trajectory he's currently on (sure he will), just ensure there's a buy back in so we don't have another Tomori situation. 

The only minus with buy backs is if eg. after a good year a decent to good team buys him and it would not be a right timing for Chelsea at that point. 

Then you lose the clause. I think that is a bit what happened with Ake when he played at Bournemouth. And now (1-2 years after city got him) we were considering to pay 50 mil or so. 

 

59 minutes ago, Chris Gundleton said:

If we played 4/3/3, we’d all be banging on how we need 4 quality wingers (two to start and two quality back ups).  TT is not going to change to a back 4.  Those fans who keep talking up a back 4, forget it.  Therefore, we need 4 quality wing backs….  Those who argue that we don’t need both Cucu and Chilwell would definitely be talking about decent back up wingers if we played 4/3/3.  What’s the difference!!!!

Koulibaly said in press conference that the system was a 3-5-2 implying that TT might have spoken to him about switching to that sort of system 

47 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

Koulibaly said in press conference that the system was a 3-5-2 implying that TT might have spoken to him about switching to that sort of system 

That’s system is still wingbacks so imo cucu is a good signing as we need more than just James and Chilwell to play 3/4/3 or 3/5/2…