Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

btw what's the consensus on this courtois move? i don't think we've discussed it at length on here.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/11463704/chelsea-goalkeeper-thibaut-courtois-fails-to-return-to-pre-season-training

good non critical signing. at least we will stop talking about signing a Gk for the next 5 years

Even if Kovacic leaves i don't feel the club would feel an urgency to buy another young kid this window. We would have Casemiro, Llorente, Kroos, Modric (in theory), Ceballos, Isco, and possibly Valverde to play around with. Maybe next summer depending on what happens.

The club will sign, as reported by JLS, that's the plan. He has on paper too unique a skillset for us not to replace him.

So Nick, do you think if Kovacic goes (and Modric stays),do they go after Thiago? And will Bayern agree?

I find it funny that if a midfielder leaves, club is quick to replace them despite us having a million midfielders. But when an attacker leaves we do nothing. Brilliant planning

halamadrid2 wrote:I find it funny that if a midfielder leaves, club is quick to replace them despite us having a million midfielders. But when an attacker leaves we do nothing. Brilliant planning

For 2 years no less... not a big fan of Morata; but we needed to replace him. And CR.... need to do something lol.

Have they not watched Spain NT since 2012?

Marca now saying an agreement has been made between Chelsea and Madrid for a loan deal of Kovacic.

@Hala I think the skillset isn't the same. If Kovacic leaves it's a very unique skillset that no one in the team has.

But I have to admit that if this means opportunities for Valverde or Odegaard, then why not. People here are convinced Ceballos can do what Modric does lol. I don't think so

I do enjoy Odegaard a lot though. And I am a Valverde fan too but they are just too green to play at a high level for this team for now.

Kovacic going out on loan. Good as long as there is no purchase option

For me, Kovacic and Ceballos have similar skill sets, but Kova plays slightly deeper. I agree with Hala, if there is no purchase option, it’s a good deal as I think we do have the midfield cover, assuming Modric stays. Like Nick said, this could potentially open the door to Odegaard, who also plays further up the pitch than Kova, but is young enough to be remolded under a good coach.

If this speeds up the Courtois deal then I’m perfectly happy.

Just to be clear to me, if you lose a player that can play as a DM you must replace him and Odegaard or Ceballos can't play that deep. They clearly don't have the physique for that as well.

Well, I wouldn't say Kovacic is a DM either. He has played odd roles like shadowing Messi, but that doesn't make him a DM.

If we look at the type of profile he has- Kova is an excellent dribbler, good physicals/work rate, okay defensively- but not special.

That is not far off of what Ceballos brings to the table.

Personally, I've never seen Kovacic as a DM so I don't feel like we need to go out and buy a DM when we will likely not even play with a DM.

Since we are switching to a double pivot we have Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Llorente to fill those 2 positions + Fede. So who would we buy, and where would they play exactly?

what kovacic brings is that raw pace when carrying the ball on transition from the back. he's very dangerous on the counter and there is no mid in the world with that skillset. the guy could recover the ball in the first 30m and 2 seconds later he would be in the final third with the ball at his feet.

You have Casemiro, Kroos, Llorente and possibly Fede that can play deep.

You have Modric that can play deeper and Ceballos has at times before.

Then you have Isco, Asensio, Odegaard that are true AM’s.

You definitely are going to have games were they will play just 2 CMs and 2AMs.

I believe the options open once Kovacic goes, assuming Modric stays, are

Buy a new CM
Stay with what they have
Promote Fede

I don’t think Odegaard is an option in this case, but the squad numbers are such that he may be an option. But, he hasn’t been given the minutes to suggest he may be a consideration. I suppose we will see tonight. IMO, It might well be a choice between Vinicius or Odegaard, and based on minutes thus far, Vinicius have the advantage. A lot of course depends on will they sign anyone for up front.

What separates Kova from the rest (as Nick says, a unique skill set) are his technical ability and speed. We don't have a midfielder that matches that really.

He ain't no DM (I hated when Zidane played him there or making him do sled dog work), can't really tackle, not a good marker, loses concentration often, not that good of a header-er, he has speed but he isn't as strong on the ball as one might think and we already have two DMs in Casemiro and Llorente who does that role better than he ever could. So to say we need to replace him when he leaves is a bit, not wrong but not necessary either.

I do hope it's just a loan with no option to buy as he really is talented. If it does have one, well, wish him the best really. Still a fan of his talents and I hope he does well wherever he goes.

The issue was that you're not going to bench Modric and Kroos... just wasn't going to happen. Casemiro was easier given how meh he was most of the year. So Zidane was actually try to find playing time.

Sending Kovacic on loan is definitely a twist, it's hard to go to the market looking for a short term option if we want to bring him back in a year or so. What is going to change next summer? Modric or Kroos are going to leave? No.

This move weakens our bench for sure. I remember last year when we played PSG, Kovacic delivered big time in the double pivot. If we are in that type of situation next year we are gonna play Llorente or Valverde? Lol

It's driving me nuts when we fap to other team's young players but ours are never good enough

Valkyrja wrote:It's driving me nuts when we fap to other team's young players but ours are never good enough

Hey. We're not the ones with another team's player in our sig

lol @freeza

Freeza wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:It's driving me nuts when we fap to other team's young players but ours are never good enough

Hey. We're not the ones with another team's player in our sig

It's work in progress

Mr Nick09 wrote:Sending Kovacic on loan is definitely a twist, it's hard to go to the market looking for a short term option if we want to bring him back in a year or so. What is going to change next summer? Modric or Kroos are going to leave? No.

This move weakens our bench for sure. I remember last year when we played PSG, Kovacic delivered big time in the double pivot. If we are in that type of situation next year we are gonna play Llorente or Valverde? Lol

Actually, I think it is possible Modric leaves next summer. He is either going to sign a contract with us and stay for a few more years, sign a contract with inter and be gone or.. we may be able to hold on to him one more year, then he can get his last contract elsewhere if he wants- sell him with 1 year left on his current contract.

Lots of variables, but if it works out- Kovacic playing well on loan, and Modric playing well for his move away/ last beefy contract, in a year Perez could look like a mastermind.

Not saying it would happen that way, but with everything that has come out in the media, it sure looks like that would be Perez's angle.

i dont think the kids we have on the bench, ie Llorente or Valverde are good enough to perform like Kovacic did in big games for us. The kid was a monster for us at times, in CL included, and vs Barca. He had the technical abilities to go toe to toe with the best teams.

Losing a player like that with no apparent replacement just leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth.

i hope we sign someone, i dont want us to just wait...

Lopetegui: SI sale un jugador del nivel de Mateo tendremos que buscar a un jugador del mismo nivel. Porque Mateo nos da equilibrio y debemos luchar por los objetivos y tener el mejor equipo para lograrlos

— RealEspartaβ (@RealEspartaB) August 8, 2018

Lopetegui saying that if someone like Kovacic leaves, we have to find someone of the same level. Which makes sense, kid is too good for the guys i saw today insecond halfto just replace him lol

ive always rated kovacic. if he really is going on loan, maybe we do need a backup. at the same time, would like to see our other mids given a chance at least.