Defender for next season?

[gingerless]

Very true.

I'd still go for Chiellini although some people in his thread mentioned that he can be a really nasty bitch sometimes; then again, players change when joining our club. Although I seriously doubt that Juventus will let him leave it's worth a try.

what is he looking like? good in the air? tall? fast?

 

[Reasonus]

what is he looking like? good in the air? tall? fast?

He's good in the air, 6 cm shorter than Pique, very good positioning and anticipation and he is an excellent tackler. The thing is, the guy stayed with Juve when they were relegated, so it's hard to convince him to move at a time when Juve is on the way to claim the league title for the first time since the scandal. I'm not sure he is Barcelona material either. Maybe someone with more knowledge on Juve and Chiellini can comment on that.

Does Fontas stand a chance at being even a decent backup?

 

[gingerless]

nah, big doubts over fontas for me

 

[el tren]

- Hummels. Probably the most likely "top" defender we could get. But again: Dortmund is very ambitious. 2 times Bundesliga champions in a row and they've invested big (for their standards) in Reus to underline their ambitions. The only reason I see for him to join us is the fact that Klopp and the Dortmund players are heavy Barcelona admirers (Klopp quote: "There are many Bundesliga players good enough to play for Real Madrid. Not Barcelona. But Real Madrid? Sure." ). So their board might not want to hinder a dream move for Hummels. € 25 million might do. But I'm not sure if Hummels is actually what we need. We already have Pique who's good going forward but erratic at actual defending. I want us to buy a no-nonsense defender.

They ofc wont like selling Hummels. Although they would understand if he would want to go. Barca could make it interesting for Dortmund, if they send Puyol over for a year or so ... Klopp would drool over the chance to get some Barca experience, esp. with the CL in mind. And they had one more year to get a replacement CD and have a strong replacement in the meantime.

 

[impeh]

Personally, id like javi martinez.

can cover both positions. ( i have no problem with busquets but he doesnt get much rest)
Hes pretty big. (i think)
only young.

and the amount of times he starts/is involved in the attack (kinda like pique.. but even more impressively) would be really useful. Hes pretty creative for a DM/CB.

I like thiago silva, and as a pure CB hes better than martinez.. one of the in best in the world. But i think over the next 4/5 years Martinez would be better value for money.

Despite all that I think Tito knows we need the safer option, which is silva. He can slot in at the back for the next few years at least, i just hope we dont over spend.

 

[Ash1899]

Forget Thiago Silva - He aint coming

It is more or less likely that he will be Milan's captain next season. Atleast that is what this video hints at:

 

[Aryagorn]

They ofc wont like selling Hummels. Although they would understand if he would want to go. Barca could make it interesting for Dortmund, if they send Puyol over for a year or so ... Klopp would drool over the chance to get some Barca experience, esp. with the CL in mind. And they had one more year to get a replacement CD and have a strong replacement in the meantime.

Puyi? No way!
Keita? Probably

 

[Tezemery]

Javi Martinez, probably could get him for around 25 million euro's and he would be worth it.

 

[DennyCrane]

what is he looking like? good in the air? tall? fast?

He's good in the air, 6 cm shorter than Pique, very good positioning and anticipation and he is an excellent tackler. The thing is, the guy stayed with Juve when they were relegated, so it's hard to convince him to move at a time when Juve is on the way to claim the league title for the first time since the scandal. I'm not sure he is Barcelona material either. Maybe someone with more knowledge on Juve and Chiellini can comment on that.

Does Fontas stand a chance at being even a decent backup?

I want to add that can he be played as Left-Back and Center-Back; he's a leader-type and, more important, can organise a defense on the pitch. He's not really fast though, but he can compensate this with his positioning. Due to his lack of pace a back-four will be a must with him. Since we don't know what Tito is up to regarding our defense formation, he could turn out to be out of place. Furthermore, he's not what one would call a "smooth" player - so he's not a typical Barca player. Then again, Puyol ain't either and if we want to have Barca-DNA players, we could as well promote Bartra, Fontas and Muniesa.
Signing him would be a risk, I guess, but he's quality through and through.

 

[Der Kaiser]

I bought Chiellini for Barca in Football Manager, worked out awesome! 7.5 average rating!

 

[karthik]

One player who interests me a lot is Thomas Vermaelen from Arsenal. Strong in the air and good with the ball at his feet.

How has he been for Arsenal this season?

 

[Superfly]

Vermealen's good but makes too many mistakes at the back.

 

[karthik]

Vermealen's good but makes too many mistakes at the back.

Thanks. Let us see if our club would approach Arsenal for him. I would like to see him play for us. Just a personal wish lol

 

[Xavi_78]

If we buy one CB he must have one thing in particular, and that is pace. If he has to play with Pique he has to compensate for the lack of pace of the latter

 

[Uiks]

Hummels has been my personal wish for some years now, I think he would be perfecto for our style of play, just needs some more confidence.