Maybe we've offered them first option on Cucho. GD deal went through smoothly so maybe that bodes well for any further deals.
Barca did exactly the same type of deal with Yerry Mina so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary. De Ligt is a superstar aged 19 so I'm not fussed about Todibo's age. We just need defenders or we can forget about top 10. Can't keep clean sheets!
We don't just "need defenders". We have defenders. We need dependable first team defenders who we can rely on. De Ligt is the exception and has been able to develop in a weaker Dutch league. You don't often see CDs hold down first team places at 18 in the prem as every mistake can lead to a goal. It's less of an issue for offensive players. I'm not saying don't sign him, but a short loan is ok if he is back up but I'd prefer an experienced player if we are looking for a first team starter for next season. Perhaps we are planning to stay with our current best 3 and just shuffling the back up players ?
I can't say I know a thing about this chap but if there is any truth in it then it does seem that we have a nice little rapport with Barcelona currently which cannot be a bad thing. We sign their young talent and they get the option to buy back. We get some good players and they don't get fleeced. Everybody's a winner
?? All premier league first choice CHs at 18 were they ? Ake was 2-3 years older than this guy when he was with us and played at LB. "Good enough, old enough" of course but are you convinced this 18 year old untried is "good enough" ie the sold CH we are looking for as a starter for next season after 10 games at Toulouse and 2 at Barca ?? If he was a forward, a young exciting attacking option off the bench, I'd be less concerned.
Actually despite the initial post he's actually 19, 20 in Dec so not quite as young as I'd thought. Wiki says he's 6 ft 3 rather than 6 ft 2 so he's grown an inch too.
Actually Wiki says 19 (dob 30/12/99) and Barcelona website says 18 (dob 30/12/2000). He's probably 47. And 1.90m is 6ft 2, not the 6ft 3 Wiki says. So he's basically back to being just a short child. I'm out.
Ake was 20 when he was with us. And he turned 20 in February of that season. The rest are all first choice now and are 18-20yr old - being a CB in the PL shouldn’t be different from being a CB in the Bundesliga for example. Am I convinced? Not entirely but I am convinced that the age of the player shouldn’t matter - it’s ability.
I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm less confident of the ability of an 18 year old who has only played a dozen first team games than I would be of an experienced 26 year old international with a few hundred games under their belt. I'd be concerned if the plan was for this guy to start as first choice in 2 month's time with no first 11 track record. He might be amazing but it would be a greater risk.
If they offered us a swap of Todibo for Cucho I'd accept it without blinking. Wouldn't be too keen on a deal with a buyback clause, but perhaps a first option clause could be doable.
He's 19. I kinda get what you mean, but he has still already started 10 games in Ligue 1, which was enough to cement his reputation as an excellent prospect and get Barca to sign him. He was considered one of Toulouse's best players during those games and got 1 MotM award. He's not entirely unproven. He'll make mistakes, sure, but he's also demonstrated that he's likely already good enough to start for a mid-level team in a top league. As I've mentioned, and as others have pointed out, it's true that he's not enough of a sure thing right now to only sign him on loan, without gaining as a club from developing him long-term, but I still reckon he'd be good in his first season.
Years ago a decent player who was going to have a career in the top division would be a first team regular by the age of 18 and certainly if they weren't there by 20 they wouldn’t make it at that level at all. Nowadays only the wunderkids (e.g. Rooney) are in the team as teenagers because Premier League teams have so much money they can take your view and buy a ready-made 26 year old international who has been developed elsewhere and played loads of games. It makes me smile when I hear someone like Lingard referred to as a ‘young player who is still developing’ at the age of 25; way back when, especially as a forward, his career would be half over. For the record: of the team that won England the World Cup, Cohen was 23, Moore was 25, Stiles was 24, Ball was 21, Peters was 22 and Hurst was 24.
Obviously the type of deal you lean towards is far more preferable. But I just don’t think clubs like Barcelona let their talented youngsters go unless they are given a chance to buy them back with certainty. It’s how it’s done there. We sign him for £8m say and they insert the clause that says they can have him back for £25m after season 1 or £35m after season 2. After that, it expires. Whether that would sit well with Gino’s theory of selling players at top price, would be anyone’s guess. It’s a shame we have left it this long to start the search for CB’s as that seems to very much be the ‘vogue’ position at the moment given the performances of De Ligt and VVD on the world stage. Personally, I’d twist next season and have this lad (if we got him) AND Wilmot starting next season.
As has been discussed to death on earlier threads, it is highly unlikely we can afford the fee/wages of these mythical proven CBs who can just walk in & do the job that some people envisage. Decry it all you want, but you’re effectively railing against the daily setting of the sun.
The video for Aha's 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' was filmed in St Albans Cathedral. I expect Toblerone knows this.
Not sure that's true. We aren't talking about a proven top league goalscorer. There'll be an experienced CB knocking around in the German, French, Italian or Spanish league's who wouldn't cost the earth.
Of course we can. We pay Prodl/Zeegelar/Okaka a combined 100k per week. It’s just a matter of allocating resource. The notion that we can’t afford a superior defender to Marriappa is bizarre.
Bar*a are reportedly ‘confused’ with both Todibo’s development and attitude changes, could potentially be beneficial to Watford
Because signing experienced CB's is a formula that has been so successful for us before... We have experienced CB's that were cheap and they're a load of *****, it's about time we spent some money on something better than cheap and experienced. Todibo would be a huge upgrade on anything we currently have and anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly deluded at the quality of our centre backs.
You're expecting girls in Watford to know who are footballers for Watford are! I once bumped into Ekstrand and Abdi in Oceana smoking area (the day before Sannino got the sack I believe which is probably why they were out) and asked for a picture, they were speaking to 2 horrendous girls who didn't have a clue who they were and then questioned them as to why I wanted a pic with them. Although now we're slightly more of a bigger deal I guess.