Aymeric Laporte

[JamDav1982]

Bayern had to give the money to Javi Martinez who paid out his clause himself, that way Atheltic had no choice. Of course in return Bayern had to pay all the taxes, but then again Martinez took a pay-cut which helped the case.

Yeah I remember that Martinez actually had to pay it himself after Bayern gave him money but in principle it is the club stumping up.

Spanish clubs need to get rid of the buy out clauses really.

 

[DonAndres]

I think the same but have seen some quick players take him to the cleaners this season.

Sergio Garcia at Espanyol dragged him all over the place and taught him a bit of a lesson. That put me off a bit.

Any time we play De Marcos at RB, the defense gets destabilized easily and players get dragged out of position (happened vs. Barcelona). Any time the backline is that exposed and caught out on the break, it's difficult for any CB to do well without organization or security.

Of course, Laporte's age has still shown from time to time as he's not invulnerable to errors. He's been more consistent than all of Barca's central defenders bar Pique (even then, probably equal since Pique took a shitter around all of February).

At the age of 19, being the best defender in a backline that has conceded the 4th least amount of goals in the entire league is no mean feat. If you said that Neymar is a long term investment that'll be worth the money for 57m plus an abnormal amount of add-ons, then the same principle can be applied for Laporte who's well on his way to becoming a WC defender under the right development.

The only possible issue is over-expectation as he's going to be heavily relied upon due to the ban and our lack of depth. Barca would've been better off with Hummels during this window due to the short term necessity, but I can't think of any other option that we've targeted that'd be better. He's by far more reliable and more likely to succeed than Luiz who gives absolutely ZERO reason for assurance in our high line.

 

[DonAK]

Laporte and Mathieu could do the trick.

I dont believe this rumour one bit though.

 

[JamDav1982]

Any time we play De Marcos at RB, the defense gets destabilized easily and players get dragged out of position (happened vs. Barcelona). Any time the backline is that exposed and caught out on the break, it's difficult for any CB to do well without organization or security.

Of course, Laporte's age has still shown from time to time as he's not invulnerable to errors. He's been more consistent than all of Barca's central defenders bar Pique (even then, probably equal since Pique took a shitter around all of February).

At the age of 19, being the best defender in a backline that has conceded the 4th least amount of goals in the entire league is no mean feat. If you said that Neymar is a long term investment that'll be worth the money for 57m plus an abnormal amount of add-ons, then the same principle can be applied for Laporte who's well on his way to becoming a WC defender under the right development.

The only possible issue is over-expectation as he's going to be heavily relied upon due to the ban and our lack of depth. Barca would've been better off with Hummels during this window due to the short term necessity, but I can't think of any other option that we've targeted that'd be better. He's by far more reliable and more likely to succeed than Luiz who gives absolutely ZERO reason for assurance in our high line.

I am not totally against him just dont see him as being as good as a lot of others on here seem to and have expected more when watching him.

Reminds me a bit of Bartra in that he is so eager that he dives in a bit early and gets caught out of position but that enthusiasm will be e benefit to him in long run.

Would have preferred a more established CB but hopefully he can be the answer.

 

[Ursegor]

Laporte and Mathieu could do the trick.

I dont believe this rumour one bit though.

Alves-Pique-Laporte-Mathieu.

And all of a sudden proper strength and height in the backline. If this happens I will go into the Fabregas thread and write a praise poem.

 

[Sumlit]

Any time we play De Marcos at RB, the defense gets destabilized easily and players get dragged out of position (happened vs. Barcelona). Any time the backline is that exposed and caught out on the break, it's difficult for any CB to do well without organization or security.

Of course, Laporte's age has still shown from time to time as he's not invulnerable to errors. He's been more consistent than all of Barca's central defenders bar Pique (even then, probably equal since Pique took a shitter around all of February).

At the age of 19, being the best defender in a backline that has conceded the 4th least amount of goals in the entire league is no mean feat. If you said that Neymar is a long term investment that'll be worth the money for 57m plus an abnormal amount of add-ons, then the same principle can be applied for Laporte who's well on his way to becoming a WC defender under the right development.

The only possible issue is over-expectation as he's going to be heavily relied upon due to the ban and our lack of depth. Barca would've been better off with Hummels during this window due to the short term necessity, but I can't think of any other option that we've targeted that'd be better. He's by far more reliable and more likely to succeed than Luiz who gives absolutely ZERO reason for assurance in our high line.

He's got talent, there no doubt, but like I said buying promise is a slippery slope. There are a lot of variables that can ruin a young player, heavy expectation like you said being among them. I like the player as he is now, but he is still not worth 36M. 36M is buying the player plus his promise, and that is risky.

Though I agree, this is a better investment of 36M than Luiz would be.

 

[Ryan_Cule]

Deportes: "Aymeric Laporte will be joining FC Barcelona in the summer. Agreement signed for 36M."

 

[JamDav1982]

Alves-Pique-Laporte-Mathieu.

And all of a sudden proper strength and height in the backline. If this happens I will go into the Fabregas thread and write a praise poem.

Mathieu is a CB now and one of best in league but dont think he has the legs to play full back like he used to.

 

[Sumlit]

Alves-Pique-Laporte-Mathieu.

And all of a sudden proper strength and height in the backline. If this happens I will go into the Fabregas thread and write a praise poem.

Well if your going to sacrifice a fullback for defense, might as well be Alves instead of Alba. Alba is younger.

 

[DonAndres]

I am not totally against him just dont see him as being as good as a lot of others on here seem to and have expected more when watching him.

Reminds me a bit of Bartra in that he is so eager that he dives in a bit early and gets caught out of position but that enthusiasm will be e benefit to him in long run.

Would have preferred a more established CB but hopefully he can be the answer.

He's got talent, there no doubt, but like I said buying promise is a slippery slope. There are a lot of variables that can ruin a young player, heavy expectation like you said being among them. I like the player as he is now, but he is still not worth 36M. 36M is buying the player plus his promise, and that is risky.

Though I agree, this is a better investment of 36M than Luiz would be.

An established CB would have been the smarter transfer but we're heavily restricted. The market itself doesn't have many players for a decent price with the profile we need that are willing to come. Hummels would be the one with the least glaring flaws (not coming though). Added to that, our squad isn't near reinforced enough nor do we have a healthy transfer influx for us to afford to take a slight gamble with smart scouting (which we don't even have). Given the parameters of the ban, we have no choice but to panic buy and accept overspending. What Barca are doing this window is primarily damage control, so no option would ever be 100% perfect.

 

[hulinat]

Mathieu really? He's like 50 years old

 

[DonAK]

I wonder if we would manage to get Benatia for 35m.

 

[JamDav1982]

Here is he is against Villareal last week.

Just put up few hours ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOIbcvR775s

 

[Ryan_Cule]

An established CB would have been the smarter transfer but we're heavily restricted. The market itself doesn't have many players for a decent price with the profile we need that are willing to come. Hummels would be the one with the least glaring flaws (not coming though). Added to that, our squad isn't near reinforced enough nor do we have a healthy transfer influx for us to afford to take a slight gamble with smart scouting (which we don't even have). Given the parameters of the ban, we have no choice but to panic buy and accept overspending. What Barca are doing this window is primarily damage control, so no option would ever be 100% perfect.

This. 100%

 

[Ursegor]

Well if your going to sacrifice a fullback for defense, might as well be Alves instead of Alba. Alba is younger.

I would do that but I don't know which rightback could replace Alves to be frank. FYI: I wouldn't sell Alba for Mathieu. I want them as a pair and ditch Adriano.

Mathieu really? He's like 50 years old

He is 1 year older than Adriano. Ditching Adriano for Mathieu would be the sensible thing. Alba and Adriano are too similar anyway (small wingbacks with more offensive than defensive qualities).