They did indeed, for €15 million last summer. Kabak was very much ahead of Todibo at Schalke, though perhaps that wasn't a surprise given he was already their player and Todibo was on loan (albeit with an option to buy for a high fee). Former Man City defender Nastasic is their other first choice CB. Todibo only really seemed to play for Schalke when they adopted a back 3, or when coming on as a sub. Also worth noting that in that Barca vs Inter game he was also in a back 3. He's not really tested in a 2 CB formation at a high level and as per my post earlier in this thread I think he'd need time and a very good, experienced, all-round CB next to him to do well there.
This rumour won’t seem to go away. The scouting network seem very keen to get him in if they can - maybe this summer it will finally happen. I’ve watched him play once this season (can’t even remember when) and thought he was ropey in that game. I think he got tackled on the edge of his own box and they conceded.
I hope not. Todibo has been atrocious for Schalke. Just go read comments from there fans. Also plenty of other football websites where general chit chat takes place and every time he is mentioned, the words useless, overrated, nowhere near good enough, just your typical overrated French CB that will disappear like most others, are just some of the phrases constantly mentioned. Estupinan has been arguably the best LB in la Liga. Great LB’s are a hard find as it is. If we do decide to sell him if should absolutely be for stupid money, like I’m talking £50mil+. One more good season whether with us (if we’re in the Prem) or another loan to a la Liga side, and he will be worth that anyway.
I've not seen Todibo play and have only watched Estupiñán a couple of times so I'll take your word as to who is and isn't good enough for us. I was merely linking two persistent rumours and how a scenario may come about if both are true.
£50m would put him just outside the Top 50 most expensive players of all time and the 7th most expensive defender ever. I agree he’s been good this season but he’s not worth half of that based on one decent season in La Liga for Osasuna (who have an option to buy for £8.5m if you believe some of the lesser internet sources).
Not at all Markoa$, no problem. I didn't make it clear in my original post whether I rated the players similarly or one over the other so I was just clarifying I was adding 2 + 2 together. It's all good
Estupinan is a must. All modern full backs generally are more attacking than ever before. They are better going forward than going the other way certainly at a young age. The art of positioning and defensive awareness comes a little more with age and experience. Pervis will learn this. Montiel another if we could get him. Not too concerned by Todibo if he does not sign. He needs a lot of mentoring. I don' think we have a senior centre back capable of doing it.
Don’t disagree in the sense that it’s a lot of money, however in today’s transfermarket, when you players of lesser calibre players going for £20-30mil, I would slap a £50mil price tag on potentially the next best LB in world in the the next 2/3 years, if he carries on from this season. Like I said, if he repeats next season what he’s done this season, then £50mil won’t be out of the question at all. If we sell him for anything less, we will be kicking ourselves 2 years from now. There is a reason Barca and Atletico Madrid are sniffing around. They obviously see something in him. His stats are pretty incredible this season.
Being linked with this fella again. http://sportwitness.co.uk/southampt...erested-in-player-club-make-exit-terms-clear/ Barca asking for €25m so I can confidently say it won't happen. We won't spend that much all window, let alone on one player!
Would be fantastic and a player I'm confident we would have signed had we stayed up. I read somewhere that Watford were going to make him an integral member of the team and would have been our number one target had we avoided the drop. No chance we'd get him now though unfortunately. But how about a deal where we loan and have an obligation to sign if we go up? Job lot and get Busquets in too. Ok, not going to happen, but it's nice to be linked with some quality at last.
Player who was very reluctant to come when we were in the PL and (relatively) splashing cash suddenly interested when we are a league below and cutting costs? I think we all know where to file this one.
Almost certainly you are correct. The only way somethign like this happens is if the player has had no interest from the top leagues and now has a fire in him to prove that he's better. I give it a 3% chance.
Rubbish player. Was terrible at schalke last season. Major reason why they didn’t follow through was the option to buy. Barca have been trying to ship this kid for 2 years now and no- one has taken him. This is just your typically overhyped Barca player that showed potential initially but hadn’t progressed. People think he’s good but on the books at Barca. He is a championship player.
Exactly my point. He’s rubbish. Barca wanting €25mil, they will never get that for him. He isn’t worth more than £10mil.
I’ve just looked at a few articles and opinions on Schalke fans websites and can’t see that they thought he was awful at all - most of them said he had a shaky debut and then was their standout defender before lockdown and was sadly injured after lockdown. The main reason they didn’t sign him it seems is because they no longer felt in a financial position to do so due to the pandemic. He’s also only 20 so plenty of scope to improve further. That said, it’s defo not happening so ‘close thread’.
You reckon we’d have signed a CB had we stayed up rather than Gino and co feeling vindicated that the ones we have scraped it again? More fool you.
