£45 million fee agreed between the clubs.
BBC says £40 mill but whats £5 mill these days?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53594421
Great to see fast and decisive action, that is the main thing.
Thus swift action was what was missing last summer, identify targets and get them dont dilly dally and if the price is not right or the other club messes about walk away, onto next target.
Great to see Ake (almost) signed.
Thought he wanted to go back to Chelsea
He had a clause in his contract that Chelsea get first refusal.
decent buy at that price . Pep sees potential in the Dutchman
Better than Stones and Otamendi in my opinion so an upgrade there but not quite the world class CB I was hoping for. Young enough though to develop into a very good player under Pep, he’s got some pace, technique and can head a ball. Quite looking forward to watching him play.
Ignoring the leftie racists, the most noticible thing about Ake is his height.
5 foot 11 is short for a cb.
But... peps played with small cb's before.
Mascherano is 5ft9.
Fernandinho is also 5ft9.
Ive done a comparison between him and Laporte using the prems stats.
To note, only prem league
Description. Laporte. Ake
Age 26 25
Appearances 59 146
Wins 50 51
Losses 6 67
Draws 3 28
Goals 4 12
Headed goals 4 6
Goal R/ foot 0 1
Goals L/ foot 0 5
Hit post 0 4
Clean sheets 25 30
Conceeded 31 220
Tackles 63 254
Tackle success 52% 63%
Last man tackle 0 3
Blocks 7 20
Interceptions 70 206
Clearances 147 757
Headed clearances 88 413
Off the line 0 5
Recoveries 342 633
Duels won 226 657
Duels lost 144 442
Successful 50/50s 8 29
Aerials won 127 311
Aerials lost 79 272
Own goals 0 0
Errors leading to goals 0 0
Passes 4,957 5,580
Pass completion 92.5% 87.6%
Passes per match 84 38
Big chance created 1 9
Crosses 8 61
Cross accuracy 13% 20%
Throughballs 1 3
Accurate long balls 274 259
Yellows 5 15
Reds 0 1
Fouls 40 97
Offsides 2 7
Difficult to compare the stats considering how different the teams they have been playing in are.
sure, b'mouth were under considerably more pressure at the back than us
It’s more pace at the back we need and he has that. I would not be surprised if Pep grooms him as a replacement in time for Fernandinho.
I was thinking the same, whether he'd be good at dm.
I do like Rodri in that pivot hole though.
his wiki page for whatever thats worth says he prefers midfield
Can we just buy a defender and play him as a defender? That is what we need really.
Quote from: gavin on August 02, 2020, 21:13:36
Can we just buy a defender and play him as a defender? That is what we need really.
Well yes that is what will happen when we shortly buy another CB. We need three good CBa to provide injury cover, competition to improve performance levels, for rotation and to shut up shop and see out important tight games. Example, Koulibaly or Alaba.
Don't think we will get Alaba
Officially sign for us. Welcome to City Nathan!
https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/nathan-ake-signs-63732245
Welcome Ake. All going well just three more to close out our team strengthening.
Welcome to Manchester
Definitely gonna need him next season, big things nathan, big things!
Read somewhere recently that Pep still wants another four signings including an Argentinian striker
yeah, interesting times. We might be a bit inconsistent in the first half of next season if a large influx of players come in. Takes time to develop partnerships on the pitch.