Transfer Rumours V4

danyjr wrote: I really want to know how good Mangala is.

He is good, but not 40m good. Relatively recently Porto have sold some very good centerbacks (Andrade, Carvalho, Pepe) for alot of money and they turned out to be pretty good. Mangala I think is of the same kind, but the question is do you want to pay for him. He will be more expensive than all of those guys but isnt better than them.

His biggest strength is the dominance in the air..both boxes he wins EVERYTHING. I dont think I am exaggerating to say he is one of the best in the air, both as a leaper or in terms of actually heading the ball.

I think he would be a much better foil for Pique than Fazio or any other big, slow, cumbersome defender.

Mangala is owned by the mob. We can't afford him.

I haven't watched Benatia but I'd be reluctant to sign a defender from Serie A who's had a good season. I have a feeling he may be flavour of the season more than anything? I'd like to hear from someone who watches him week in week out.

Guessing he's going to probably cost the same as Mangala, which one would you sign?

Franchise you'll be surprised by Balanta. The guy is also a beast in air.

Benatia's an excellent defender, however there is a 'flavour of the season' element to his tale, though I don't think it should necessarily be held against him. It is worth noting however that had Benatia been suggested a year ago people would have dismissed him as inadequate due to a lack of general recognition and hype yet he was the exact same player. As Dani has said in the past, when Barcelona signed the likes of Yaya and Abidal they were able to pick up good players who were ready before absolutely everyone wanted them and it's the difference between paying 10-15 and 40-50 a year apart.

As for Benatia, he's a very balanced player, reads the game well, great in the air, possesses great strength and isn't slow though he's not lightning either. He's yet to be truly tested against great opposition though and he's certainly had some rough matches this year, notably the 3-0 demolition by Juventus and against Napoli when he was nearly sent off with a very rash sliding tackle, though he had been sold into trouble by De Rossi in his defence. Even the Cup tie against Juventus saw him lucky to escape another red for a last man foul on Giovinco after the defence was caught napping on the offside trap for a quick freekick. He's certainly had a fantastic season however and he's proven a real leader at the back and he's raised the level of everyone around him, with Castan also looking much improved with such a solid partner next to him. He'd be a good acquisition, he does the basics well and has many years of good service ahead of him, however I personally feel that teams should be looking for the sorts of situations that Benatia was in at Udinese. A tactically solid defender with a well rounded game who just needs a good team to elevate his status.

danyjr wrote:I haven't watched Benatia but I'd be reluctant to sign a defender from Serie A who's had a good season. I have a feeling he may be flavour of the season more than anything? I'd like to hear from someone who watches him week in week out.

Guessing he's going to probably cost the same as Mangala, which one would you sign?

Franchise you'll be surprised by Balanta. The guy is also a beast in air.

I havent seen Benatia much, everytime I watch Roma he looked good but has very little to do. Oher than the 3-0 Juve game but I didnt think any less of him after that game, he couldnt do much about that. Between the two, it would be Mangala because he is younger..but if Benetia is as good as people say, they it doesnt matter about 3 years difference.

Balanta? I like the idea of signing one young guy and one established guy.

There have been some noise regrading Martino, out board wants to keep him and supposedly he said he would leave if we don't win a major title. I just read a report (rumour) about Martinez possibly taking over. What would everyone thought be on that? All tho we were also linked with Rodgers lol

I had mentioned a while back that we should look at Martinez and Rodgers.They are both excellent managers.We should definitely consider them.I would be happy with either of them.

I would prefer De Boer or Valverde, but I'd gladly take Martinez or Rodgers too. Don't think Rodgers would leave Liverpool though.

So we have renewed Montoya. Thoughts? He pisses me off, but as a sub I think he's okay enough. We always have Adriano to fall back on if Alves gets injured long term.

My thoughts are its based on where he is from, not his ability.

It saddens me.

Adriano should be the 2nd rightback and we should have signed a leftback.

Montoya means we will one way of the other, maintain mediocrity in the fullback position.

I think we will sell Adriano based on rumors.. keep Montoya because of depth reasons.

I am not okay with him even as a sub. It's true you can't have a squad brimming with talent in every position, looking to break into the starting XI. Especially when you have the best RB in the world in Alves. However, I'm not sure Montoya is good enough even as a sub.

Also because of this:

Adriano should be the 2nd rightback and we should have signed a leftback.

Montoya means we will one way of the other, maintain mediocrity in the fullback position.

We need a CB to partner Pique up with

Winter is Coming wrote:We need a CB to partner Pique up with

We need a CB to partner him and another to compete with him. Without competition Pique will go back to scrubbing against scrubs.

CB i don't think lack of competition is the problem.

The real issue is he lacks concentration and with no Puyol consistently in his ear anymore he just lets it slip when the competition he faces gets lower.

No matter who you buy i don't think that will change, you'll just have to get better defenders around him to help him out.

I do agree however you need two CBs though, mainly due to the lack of quality and quantity available.

Some italian rumours say Mascherano to Napoli   

masch and arbeloa to Napoli? Benitez saving spanish football all by himself.

Finding reliable CBs is tough, you just dont know until they get there. That's why you have scouts...

I hope for Napoli's sake they would plan to use Mascherano as a DM should they buy him.

Mascherano and Albilol would cause all time amount of lulz on the lulz'o'meter.

Mole Masche needs to go, so we need to bring in 2 CBs anyway. What's the point of bringing one that cant compete with Pique?

I didn't say that.... i'm saying i don't think that's what Pique's problem is (i.e. lack of competition) his problem is concentration.

I agree you need two CBs, i just don't think it would solve the issues Pique has against smaller teams.... his overriding problem is concentration and not fixed by signing players IMO.

totally agree Mole, but if he signs with Napoli under Benitez will come back surely in his role.

And passing from Inler/Behrami to Mascherano is a *bleep*' huge upgrade ( I could image 4231 with Jorginho and Mascherano, enough complete ) . I hope really no.

What Barca fans know about the Mascherano's future ? It can be a reliable thing?

We are now being linked to Klopp and Reus (for 40m).

Would Prefer Klopp and Gundogan

AnchorMan wrote:Would Prefer Klopp and Gundogan

Doesn't Gundogan have serious health concerns? Not worth the risk as he is always on the treatment table.

Sport:

http://estaticos.sport.es/resources/jpg/9/6/renovacion-plantilla-sera-asunto-prioritario-sobre-mesa-los-directivos-del-barca-1397422379769.jpg

T Silva again :lol:Dat tunnel vission. Because if it didn't work the first and second time, the third is the charm

Did i miss something? did they lift the ban?