23 - Jules Kounde

[serghei]

The model to follow is Bayern's which pains me to say because I hate them. The core of the team can't be made with 80-100m transfers. You need 2-3 of that max (in attack preferably), and the rest should be scouting work (Coman, Gnabry, Davies) or opportunistic top signings with low-risk high reward (Goretzka, possibly Pavard). Also, you can fill positions with experienced players with an impeccable work ethic and a good mentality and physique (like Perisic last year, sort of like Seydou Keita was for us, or Adriano, or other players like that).

 

[El Gato]

Inb4 Kounde is named best defender in the CL this season

Was already named in EL squad of the season and won it

serghei being a standard contrarian + applying accomplishment flat criteria in favour of one side but not the other as per usual

 

[malvolio]

we payed more on other duds. 80M for a young athletic defender and a future leader, is a bargain.

 

[te amo barca]

He's not worth 80m imo. These prices are absurd. Didn't we pay 80m. for De Jong who was named the best midfielder in the Champions League that season? This guy is relatively unproven at the top.

Don't think you've seen him enough, he is a beast. In the pre-covid market, he would easily go for 80m. Now, of course, it is less likely, but I can see clubs paying 60m for him.

 

[JamDav1982]

The model to follow is Bayern's which pains me to say because I hate them. The core of the team can't be made with 80-100m transfers. You need 2-3 of that max (in attack preferably), and the rest should be scouting work (Coman, Gnabry, Davies) or opportunistic top signings with low-risk high reward (Goretzka, possibly Pavard). Also, you can fill positions with experienced players with an impeccable work ethic and a good mentality and physique (like Perisic last year, sort of like Seydou Keita was for us, or Adriano, or other players like that).

Bayern are in a league where can cherry pick the best players and take time to rebuild while still winning titles. Much easier for them to be patient.

Cant compare that to Barca/Real or team in EPL who are constantly looking to compete the next season. Even now Barca are under pressure to have a team that will compete despite the squad.

It is always easy to cherry pick the teams currently with top squads and just assume they have cracked the code and it is way to follow.

 

[Luftstalag14]

The prices are going up despite the setback. In short time, you'll need to rely on great scouting plus talking players into signing early contracts for big clubs to get such guys for cheap. Also think 80m would be too much, for us at least, but soon enough, 80 might seem like a jackpot.

To me this is the hardest part. Many younger and relatively unknown talents don't want to sign with bigger clubs because of concerns of not having enough playing time, which is what clubs like Dortmund and Porto etc. can offer and that is essentially the business model for those selling clubs to thrive. And we are not particularly known for being good to persuade players to sign with us and send them out on loan etc. Too bad we are not like City with affiliated clubs mostly on the first division level to send players to.

I think there is a lot of room for our scouting to improve and do better, at the same time I think we will continue to pay premium prices for many players we want because of their initial unwillingness to sign with us too early.

 

[Bulgroz]

we payed more on other duds. 80M for a young athletic defender and a future leader, is a bargain.

Yeah, you're right to mention that: he is a real leader. It was already obvious in Bordeaux when he became a starter at a very young age and started to take responsibilities, but it's even more blatant in Sevilla. You can tell he's a boss.

Also, I think I already mentionned that a couple times (I really like him), but he's apparently a great guy out of the pitch too. Sure, it's not THE most important thing, but for fans it's always nicer to root for good/relatable/smart/fun players imho. Don't know if I already told that story (I might have), but here goes:
When he first started playing for Bordeaux, he was rather unknown in France (obviously), even though people following les Girondins knew he was one of the most promising young player there. He was actually so unknown that one of the most famous fantasy league website in France listed him not as a CB or RB, but as a CF. When he started playing more and more, a bunch of people complained about it on social medias, and the Fantasy League website said "it's really complicated for us to change a player's position mid season so we won't do it, unless Kounde asks for it personaly". Sure enough, Kounde ended up posting a fun video on social media, where after a clip from one his games, showing him being terrible a dribbling, he said "we all dreamed of being a CF, but unfortunately for me my feet didn't agree! Would be great if you guys could put me back as a CB please!". Obviously, the website did as requested, but it proves he doesn't have a huge ego and can make fun of himself pretty easily.

 

[mc_lovin]

He feels like Sevillas next great (last one was Dani Alves). I am ridiculously hyped.

 

[khaled_a_d]

He's not worth 80m imo. These prices are absurd. Didn't we pay 80m. for De Jong who was named the best midfielder in the Champions League that season? This guy is relatively unproven at the top.

Liga is 2nd best league in the world atm, he is doing great there, done great in CL and EL too.
Unless you want to pay for a defender already in big club, I am not sure how more proven you want.
And FDJ is terrible example, we signed him before he was named anything. He was signed in January when he had only group stage in CL, couple of decent matches in NT and Eredevise games.

The prices are going up despite the setback.

Hmmm? Are you sure?
2020
2019
2018

The market has simply adjusted to the pandemic, and selling clubs will have to adjust too. Like Lyon who asked Barca for just 5M for Depay, in other circumstances no way they wanted that amount even with 1 year left.
If Seville need to sell, they will have to adjust to this and ask for less, if they can survive without selling, all they need is to wait till fans and economy are back.

 

[Joan]

Hmmm? Are you sure?
2020
2019
2018

The market has simply adjusted to the pandemic, and selling clubs will have to adjust too. Like Lyon who asked Barca for just 5M for Depay, in other circumstances no way they wanted that amount even with 1 year left.
If Seville need to sell, they will have to adjust to this and ask for less, if they can survive without selling, all they need is to wait till fans and economy are back.

Well, maybe not this summer, but I'm not even sure of that. The pandemic is a setback, but I believe it'll be overcomed sooner than expected. I meant in general.

If Sevilla is under preasure for money, of course, they might sell cheaper.

 

[Bulgroz]

Sevilla will have to give 20% of anything above 20 millions to Bordeaux, so they won't sell him for cheap. They might try to pull the same bs they did with Nancy when they sold Lenglet to Barca though (refusing to pay the percentage on the sale by arguing the player wasn't "sold" since he actually paid the buyout clause) but in the end they lost in court so not sure they'll bother this time.

 

[Porque]

Sevilla will have to give 20% of anything above 20 millions to Bordeaux, so they won't sell him for cheap. They might try to pull the same bs they did with Nancy when they sold Lenglet to Barca though (refusing to pay the percentage on the sale by arguing the player wasn't "sold" since he actually paid the buyout clause) but in the end they lost in court so not sure they'll bother this time.

Any one in Ligue1 worth looking at instead of Kounde for paupers, such as FC Barcelona?

 

[Bulgroz]

For CB you mean? Well for a starter, the french league is not great at the moment. I've been defending it a lot on this board the past couple years, but right now it's pretty bad.

On top of that, regarding CB's the issue is that you either have defenders who have already proved themselves at top level but won't go for cheap, or defenders who are doing well in Ligue 1 but never played UCL (or played it in a team that got destroyed overall, so it's hard to judge them). Let's not even talk about Marquinhos and Kimpembe, but even good CBs playing for Lille/Lyon/Marseille/Monaco would be quite expensive. Botman is very impressive with Lille but you can bet they won't let him go for cheap. Same with Denayer, about which I was very skeptical but who's having a great season (I have no idea if he would adapt to a top club though). Apparently Klopp was very interested in Marseille's Duje Caleta-Car, who's price would "only" be 30 millions. In Marseille, you also have Kamara who was a very promising young CB a couple years ago but whose progession slowed down a lot (he's most often played as DM now, and he's doing ok but nothing very special). Only has 18 months left on his contract, so I assume he would be cheap, but he's not proven enough to play for a top team imho. I can kinda see him going to Sevilla if they sell Kounde though.

Honestly I don't really feel there's anyone in Ligue 1 who could be a great addition for FCB without costing too much.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Renne's Nayef Aguerd who's pretty impressive, and a threat on set pieces. I like him a lot, but he hasn't proved much yet at the highest level (even though he won the Africa Nation cup 2 years ago).

 

[Messi983]

I've heard good things about Loic Bade (Lens). What do you think about him?

also, a bit OT but do you have any interesting names for a DM (or a defensively solid box to box midfielder) and a striker from "smaller" Ligue 1 clubs who wouldn't be too expensive (so not "well known" players like Camavinga or Jonathan David) but could be ready for a move to a bigger club?

 

[Bulgroz]

Funny you mention Bade, as I was watching Lens play this weekend I realized I forgot to mention him in my last post! Weird that I forgot about him since he's easily one of the most exciting defensive prospect in the league. Very athletic and great on the ball too. He actually used to be a DM in youth teams iirc. From what I've seen he does seem subject to the occasional brainfart (like most young players though, it's just more obvious when you're playing as a CB, Kounde had a few of them too when he was playing for Bordeaux), but he's probably going to leave Lens for a bigger team this summer. Milan was very interested apparently.

As for DM, well in Lens also there's Seko Fofana who's been pretty impressive so far. He's not a complete stranger though, he was doing very well for Udinese in Calcio and it was a bit surprising that he ended up in Lens (who paid 10M to get him). The best midfielders right now in France are in Lyon though. They have quantity and quality: Aouar of course, but mostly Paqueta who's been absolutely incredible so far in his new team, and they're rotating with Caqueret (who's not playing that much and could probably go to a bigger team by the end of the season if it doesn't change), Thiago Mendes (who can be superb for a couple games, and absolute trash three games in a row afterwards) and Guimaraes (very interesting player, but lately he's been struggling a bit). I do think Caqueret could be a steal honestly if he keeps on getting that little playtime overall.

Monaco has an interesting midfield too, with two young very powerful players, Fofana and Tchouameni. I know more about Tchouameni because he's from Bordeaux, very clever player, good athletic skills, nice passing. Fofana is probably a bit better at carrying the ball and breaking through the midfield (he's not necessarily a better dribbler, but that's more of his playstile from what I've seen). They've been a fantastic pairing these past few months. Doubt they would go for very cheap though considering Monaco bought them for 15 and 20M, but they clearly wouldn't be as expesinve as Camavinga (they're not as promising either though).

For strikers, lately I've been pretty impressed by Term Moffi (Lorient). Young Nigerian striker who came from Belgium (just like Osimhen). Raw power, great runs, nice finishing. Lorient has been doing very good for a couple months now after a very rough start, and he's one of the main reasons. Scored twice against Monaco this weekend, and scored the winning goal against PSG the week before that. No idea if he can keep it up for for the whole season and succeed in a bigger team.