Could they see Darmian as a versatile option in case Skriniar leaves? We’re led to believe that Inter need the money, so can they really turn down what we’re offering? Or are they just trying to eek every last penny out of Daniel? - let’s remember, he got as much as he could from them for Eriksen...
Chelsea will not do business with us, relations between the clubs have not been good for years and add Jose into the mix and the fact that it has bee reported that they won't allow a player to leave for a direct rival and this one is not happening.
I think the latter is part of the problem with regards to people not wanting him. Sour taste from racism accusations. Though not sure why he doesn’t play much any more for Chelsea, he’s better than Rudiger/ Christiansen yet both seem above him in pecking order. In his first couple seasons he established himself as one of the best CBs in the Prem, not sure what’s happened the last year or two with him.
The progress of Sanchez has been a disappointment since WC2018 ended. Not the credit to the Ajax pipeline that Jan and Toby have been.
Am I alone in thinking that Dier, Tanganga, Alderweireld and Sanchez - with Jose training them - is good enough?
Yeah he’s not kicked on as much as we’d hoped. Shows flashes or brilliance but still too defensively naive. 4th season now in the Prem, it’s not wrong to expect better from him. He still has age on his side but how much longer does he live with the “potentially brilliant” tag?
Yes. No, if Ledley and Toby can use their experience to mentor Sanchez and Tanganga into the pairing that Toby + Jan were from 2015-17. Dier is no longer real CB material. I would be happier giving Davies more CB run-outs from time to time so he is match-sharp in the event a CB injury plague occurs.
I’d say yes. Toby should’ve been sold a year or two ago, not even half the defender he was, Sanchez hasn’t kicked on and Dier just isn’t at the level we need him to be as a top level CB. I have real high hopes for Tanganga and to an extent I think I’d rather he start now over one of the other three because I’d rather deal with a young defender potentially making mistakes than three experienced ones. With that said, we still need someone who can come in and ideally have a van Dijk-esque impact... Though I’d settle for someone that just isn’t ****ing up most weeks to be honest. It’s criminal how much Kane, Son and co have had to bail out the CBs’ mistakes over the last year or two.
I think that's ok if you also include Ben Davies who might even turn out to be the best centre back we have. But that would leave LB a little light.
I have very little confidence in Sanchez if I am honest, his defending in the 1st minute yesterday really summed him up, just not good enough. His pace is good and on that basis I think he will get picked ahead of Toby for certain matches, but its is lack of composure with the ball that is still his greatness weakness. I think Dier is clearly Joses first choice and that the others will rotate around him, Toby whilst not the player he was still reads the game and distributes the ball better than the others, but I do think its a position that we could easily improve.
Toby can definitely still ping a ball but defensively I actually think he’s the weakest now of the three senior CBs, which is mental considering how good he was in his first three or so years alongside Jan. Sanchez was a big punt for the club and whilst he has age on his side, the investment was mainly for him to turn into one of the best CBs in Europe and unfortunately I can’t see that happening now, can’t seem to cut out the naivety. He’s a bit like the CB version of Lamela, signed as the wonderkid for big money but we’ll get our money’s worth in terms of longevity more so than the player developing into the player we’d hoped. Dier is probably the most reliable of the three but still nowhere near the level we need if we’re looking to challenge for titles and trophies. He’s at the quality of what should be a third choice CB for a club like us, not a first.
Everton are also being linked with Romero from United, where he's fallen down the pecking order to third this season. Henderson's taken his place after returning from his loan with Sheffield United. That would be an excellent signing for them, in my opinion.
