jones wrote:
Ricky1985 wrote:
I think Lokonga is a factor in this. If you rate the kid and think he can become a top class player then signing someone of a similar age and profile is not going to work. For that reason, you've got discount Tchouameni.
Bellingham is a totally different type of player. I would suggest he's much more of an attacking midfielder - more of a more technically sound Joe Willock - than a holding midfielder or even a two way midfielder.
Bellingham is a classic two way midfielder, he's added a lot more end product to his game but he's no more an attacking midfielder than Ramsey was, I'd even argue he's already a bit more disciplined than the latter. When Dortmund play with a two man midfield he's in it, even when they play 433 he's not the most advanced midfielder.
On topic De Jong would be a perfect fit and dream signing, exactly the type of player you want in place of Xhaka. Always the first one to drop deep and carry the ball forward, his burst of pace and playing style are much more suited to England - where you have less time on the ball but more space to exploit - than to Spain anyway. He also said a couple of times that he wanted to follow Overmars' career path, now that he's seen Barca at their lowest we could even keep him for a minute if we play it right. Would be some statement if we pulled it off
I agree on both counts, De Jong would be the perfect signing for our midfield and I like the Ramsey comparison for Bellingham.
Like Ramsey at his best Bellingham's just everywhere on the pitch and as he matures physically he'll likely be much stronger than Ramsey ever was. His close control is already better as well. Ramsey was likely a better playmaker than Bellingham ever will be, but I think that part of the welshman's game is a bit underrated and Bellingham's still just 18. If he can stay fit he'd be a bit of a dream signing as well.
If we could get a bit of buzz going around the club, signing the likes of De Jong or Bellingham is not impossible. We have the money. Bellingham might like the idea of coming to play with Saka, Smith Rowe, Ramsdale and White (Who are a much more promising "british core" than the so advertised one around Ramsey and Wilshere ever was. Those two were the only good players, and already super injury prone, while these four might well end up being the core of the english national team.). De Jong might want to play with Odegaard and Partey instead of against them. But we need to start consistently performing to become a proper draw again, and probably against the likes of City moreso than against Norwich, because I'd guess De Jong is significantly more likely to watch the former game.
mentalvortex wrote:
Looks like atleast three Bundesliga starters will be available for free in Summer.
Zakaria and Ginter from Mochengladbach, Sule from Bayern.
Jones/Kurt Eisner, do you reckon any of them will be useful pickups ?
I don't think any of them would move the needle much for us, although Gladbach are a weird team and sometimes Zakaria looks like an absolute beast. He's 25, if he ever explodes it's probably going to be now, so he's the one I'd sign, we're short in midfield anyway. I wouldn't be happy with him as the only midfield signing though. Ginter's a solid centreback, but he wouldn't play over White or Gabriel and having him rather than Holding on the bench won't make much of a difference. If Holding leaves he'd be a good replacement.
I honestly don't have an informed opinion on Sule, because I avoid Bayern games like the plague. Why ruin my day by watching that absolute arsehole Thomas Müller celebrate 5 goals. And then they cut to Hoeneß and Rumenigge and the whole inbred lot and they're having a good day as well. Fuck that. Watching Hainer, Kahn and the like squirm as their own club members booed them at their annual general meeting for denying a fan's application to discuss their sponsoring deal with Qatar is pretty much the only content of Bayern I've seen this year. Oh and when they lose I watch highlights of course. The 5:0 drubbing at the hands of Gladbach was a joyous day and Zakaria was incredible in that game so maybe we should sign him for that alone.
