Welcome Riyad Mahrez.....26

[johnny crossan]

what are we supposed to be looking at?

removed Phipps - clearly fakery - showed Mahrez betwixt Pep and Sorryann holding a number 22 shirt

[Hazy2]

NO from me pay Madrid the dough for Asensio him with Sane, would be scary.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

NO from me pay Madrid the dough for Asensio him with Sane, would be scary.

LOL

How the HELL would REAL MADRID, Champion's League holders and probably best team in the world right now, let their young future superstar leave? In fact, why would he leave?

I don't think Mahrez would be hit with us and I would much rather look for someone younger but likes of Asensio are simply out of reach.

I still can't believe we didn't break the bank for MBappe. That boys is next Messi. Guaranteed future superstar. He would've been worth every penny in future shirt sales alone. In next five years every little kid on the planet will worship him. Generational talent.

[Mase]

NO from me pay Madrid the dough for Asensio him with Sane, would be scary.

LOL

How the HELL would REAL MADRID, Champion's League holders and probably best team in the world right now, let their young future superstar leave? In fact, why would he leave?

I don't think Mahrez would be hit with us and I would much rather look for someone younger but likes of Asensio are simply out of reach.

I still can't believe we didn't break the bank for MBappe. That boys is next Messi. Guaranteed future superstar. He would've been worth every penny in future shirt sales alone. In next five years every little kid on the planet will worship him. Generational talent.

I personally think that's what's holding the Mahrez transfer up. Not Leicester asking for more, but is holding off incase PSG need to pie Mbappe off.

[PrezIke]

what are we supposed to be looking at?

A "Welcome to Manchester" sign?

[Hazy2]

NO from me pay Madrid the dough for Asensio him with Sane, would be scary.

LOL

How the HELL would REAL MADRID, Champion's League holders and probably best team in the world right now, let their young future superstar leave? In fact, why would he leave?

I don't think Mahrez would be hit with us and I would much rather look for someone younger but likes of Asensio are simply out of reach.

I still can't believe we didn't break the bank for MBappe. That boys is next Messi. Guaranteed future superstar. He would've been worth every penny in future shirt sales alone. In next five years every little kid on the planet will worship him. Generational talent.

Think big head for the stars. 100 points young squad, he is just on my wish list to push us on again,Mahrez is Mahrez mate..

[bigblue]

NO from me pay Madrid the dough for Asensio him with Sane, would be scary.

Kovacic is much more attainable and would be incredible under Pep

[Hazy2]

NO from me pay Madrid the dough for Asensio him with Sane, would be scary.

Kovacic is much more attainable and would be incredible under Pep

Very good player mate

[dick dastardley]

Mahrez that desperate to come to city, that he wants a huge payoff by leicester before he'll sign.
Beginning to think this fuckwit could be trouble!!

[PrezIke]

Mahrez that desperate to come to city, that he wants a huge payoff by leicester before he'll sign.
Beginning to think this fuckwit could be trouble!!

The "payoff" os probably in the contract he signed after they won the title where he gets some type of "loyalty bonus," because he knew he would likely leave/be sold in the coming seasons and was an incentive offered to him to stay.

Issue I think may be that he handed in a transfer request and "went on strike" for a bit last season. Leicester trying to use that, I think, to deny it to him this bonus, and hence the hold up. I suspect he'll get something, maybe not all of it, via negotiations instead of a legal argument which would drag out.

They're just trying to get the most they can out of the deal, and send a message to future players who might consider leaving to prevent it from happening again.

[South Stand Balti]

This deal will be in his agents hands. Mahrez himself won't have any involvement in negotiations. This is the deal I really want to go through. I think he will be brilliant for us whereas I think Jorginho is a decent player but probably not worth all the fuss.

[PrezIke]

This deal will be in his agents hands. Mahrez himself won't have any involvement in negotiations. This is the deal I really want to go through. I think he will be brilliant for us whereas I think Jorginho is a decent player but probably not worth all the fuss.

I think it's pretty unlikely we don't sign him.

Thing is, who else would be in for him at the price they want? United are the only ones, but he'd be competing with Sanchez. I hate to say it, but that is the one club I could see paying the price, but they want Milocivic-Savic (I think) who Lazio want 100m Euros for.

Leicester would be foolish to wait until next year as his value will diminish significantly. This is just a long drawn out saga to get the most they can. I just hope its resolved by preseason.

Meanwhile, I think you are underrating Jorginho. He is going to be very helpful against high pressing teams like Liverpool because he's better with the ball than Fernandinho, who as much as I love him, gave the ball away a lot against those teams and is a pass master with reportedly excellent vision that could be great to start counter attacks with our pacey attackers.

We could also play him alongside Fernandinho in certain games, who can still play his box to box role, but this would allow Jorginho to again use his passing ability, possibly push forward a bit more, whilst having protection.

Jorginho is also a very strong penalty taker.

[South Stand Balti]

This deal will be in his agents hands. Mahrez himself won't have any involvement in negotiations. This is the deal I really want to go through. I think he will be brilliant for us whereas I think Jorginho is a decent player but probably not worth all the fuss.

I think it's pretty unlikely we don't sign him.

Thing is, who else would be in for him at the price they want? United are the only ones, but he'd be competing with Sanchez. I hate to say it, but that is the one club I could see paying the price, but they want Milocivic-Savic (I think) who Lazio want 100m Euros for.

Leicester would be foolish to wait until next year as his value will diminish significantly. This is just a long drawn out saga to get the most they can. I just hope its resolved by preseason.

Meanwhile, I think you are underrating Jorginho. He is going to be very helpful against high pressing teams like Liverpool because he's better with the ball than Fernandinho, who as much as I love him, gave the ball away a lot against those teams and is a pass master with reportedly excellent vision that could be great to start counter attacks with our pacey attackers.

We could also play him alongside Fernandinho in certain games, who can still play his box to box role, but this would allow Jorginho to again use his passing ability, possibly push forward a bit more, whilst having protection.

Jorginho is also a very strong penalty taker.

Funnily enough it's the game against the dippers where I think Jorginho may suffer most. His lack of pace could lead to him being overrun like Gundo was. I have seen a bit of Jorginho but I can't pretend to be an expert. Hopefully I am wrong.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

This deal will be in his agents hands. Mahrez himself won't have any involvement in negotiations. This is the deal I really want to go through. I think he will be brilliant for us whereas I think Jorginho is a decent player but probably not worth all the fuss.

I think it's pretty unlikely we don't sign him.

Thing is, who else would be in for him at the price they want? United are the only ones, but he'd be competing with Sanchez. I hate to say it, but that is the one club I could see paying the price, but they want Milocivic-Savic (I think) who Lazio want 100m Euros for.

Leicester would be foolish to wait until next year as his value will diminish significantly. This is just a long drawn out saga to get the most they can. I just hope its resolved by preseason.

Meanwhile, I think you are underrating Jorginho. He is going to be very helpful against high pressing teams like Liverpool because he's better with the ball than Fernandinho, who as much as I love him, gave the ball away a lot against those teams and is a pass master with reportedly excellent vision that could be great to start counter attacks with our pacey attackers.

We could also play him alongside Fernandinho in certain games, who can still play his box to box role, but this would allow Jorginho to again use his passing ability, possibly push forward a bit more, whilst having protection.

Jorginho is also a very strong penalty taker.

Funnily enough it's the game against the dippers where I think Jorginho may suffer most. His lack of pace could lead to him being overrun like Gundo was. I have seen a bit of Jorginho but I can't pretend to be an expert. Hopefully I am wrong.

Fernandinho suffered against Liverpool because of his lack of composure under the press, haven't seen much of Jorginho myself but from what I can gather this is where he excels, playing accurate passes under pressure.

Gundo suffered because he was shunted out to the right side of midfield.

[Mase]

And because Gundo is fuckin shite! Don't forget that part.

[South Stand Balti]

This deal will be in his agents hands. Mahrez himself won't have any involvement in negotiations. This is the deal I really want to go through. I think he will be brilliant for us whereas I think Jorginho is a decent player but probably not worth all the fuss.

I think it's pretty unlikely we don't sign him.

Thing is, who else would be in for him at the price they want? United are the only ones, but he'd be competing with Sanchez. I hate to say it, but that is the one club I could see paying the price, but they want Milocivic-Savic (I think) who Lazio want 100m Euros for.

Leicester would be foolish to wait until next year as his value will diminish significantly. This is just a long drawn out saga to get the most they can. I just hope its resolved by preseason.

Meanwhile, I think you are underrating Jorginho. He is going to be very helpful against high pressing teams like Liverpool because he's better with the ball than Fernandinho, who as much as I love him, gave the ball away a lot against those teams and is a pass master with reportedly excellent vision that could be great to start counter attacks with our pacey attackers.

We could also play him alongside Fernandinho in certain games, who can still play his box to box role, but this would allow Jorginho to again use his passing ability, possibly push forward a bit more, whilst having protection.

Jorginho is also a very strong penalty taker.

Funnily enough it's the game against the dippers where I think Jorginho may suffer most. His lack of pace could lead to him being overrun like Gundo was. I have seen a bit of Jorginho but I can't pretend to be an expert. Hopefully I am wrong.

Fernandinho suffered against Liverpool because of his lack of composure under the press, haven't seen much of Jorginho myself but from what I can gather this is where he excels, playing accurate passes under pressure.

Gundo suffered because he was shunted out to the right side of midfield.

I thought Dihno was outnumbered as much as anything else, although his passing was off a bit. It will be interesting to see if Fern and Jorg play together with a view to us not being so open for specific games.

[South Stand Balti]

And because Gundo is fuckin shite! Don't forget that part.

LOL. He's great when he has time and space but not so good when the oppo get in amongst us.

[PrezIke]

This deal will be in his agents hands. Mahrez himself won't have any involvement in negotiations. This is the deal I really want to go through. I think he will be brilliant for us whereas I think Jorginho is a decent player but probably not worth all the fuss.

I think it's pretty unlikely we don't sign him.

Thing is, who else would be in for him at the price they want? United are the only ones, but he'd be competing with Sanchez. I hate to say it, but that is the one club I could see paying the price, but they want Milocivic-Savic (I think) who Lazio want 100m Euros for.

Leicester would be foolish to wait until next year as his value will diminish significantly. This is just a long drawn out saga to get the most they can. I just hope its resolved by preseason.

Meanwhile, I think you are underrating Jorginho. He is going to be very helpful against high pressing teams like Liverpool because he's better with the ball than Fernandinho, who as much as I love him, gave the ball away a lot against those teams and is a pass master with reportedly excellent vision that could be great to start counter attacks with our pacey attackers.

We could also play him alongside Fernandinho in certain games, who can still play his box to box role, but this would allow Jorginho to again use his passing ability, possibly push forward a bit more, whilst having protection.

Jorginho is also a very strong penalty taker.

Funnily enough it's the game against the dippers where I think Jorginho may suffer most. His lack of pace could lead to him being overrun like Gundo was. I have seen a bit of Jorginho but I can't pretend to be an expert. Hopefully I am wrong.

Fernandinho suffered against Liverpool because of his lack of composure under the press, haven't seen much of Jorginho myself but from what I can gather this is where he excels, playing accurate passes under pressure.

Gundo suffered because he was shunted out to the right side of midfield.

I thought Dihno was outnumbered as much as anything else, although his passing was off a bit. It will be interesting to see if Fern and Jorg play together with a view to us not being so open for specific games.

Good observations. I agree, as I stated previously, that he gave the ball away too much, and I love Fern.

To counter FIBD's point further, regarding pace mattering, I think it may appear that we lack speed against the likes of Liverpool, but I believe it is primarily due to it being a consequent of the antecedent that is retaining possession. Mane and Salah can't run past Otamendi at will if we keep the ball better after winning it back in our half or midfield.

That's the battle I believe Pep is also astutely aware of as the problem against them, and why he wants Jorginho. Check this recent scouting report:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/276 ... eld#slide1

To play as Napoli do, you need an unflappable signal-controller such as Jorginho.

The Italy international's ability to dictate games from a deep-lying central-midfield role has the rest of Europe fawning.

His reputation is so high that former Italy manager Gian Piero Ventura was harangued into parachuting him in for an Azzurri debut at the death to try to save their flailing World Cup qualifying campaign.

Players who are so efficient in the one-touch passing game are truly rare, making Jorginho the equivalent of gold dust for Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri. He's been coached well, but the fact remains there aren't many who possess his blend of skills.

Napoli's insane buildup passages from deep are at least partially instructed by Jorginho, who utilises wall passes and flicks to blitz man-marking schemes in the middle. His clipped through balls are also a true delight, creating clear-cut chances every game.

Perfect for: Liverpool, Manchester City

So, really Jorghino is about as good as it gets with addressing the issue reagrding ball controll/retention/counter attack play that's being outlined as key. Again, I believe Pep sees this as well as something we lack, and will fortunately have space for a foreign player as well with Yaya gone.

Pep figured out something similar after his first season his critics were clueless about how to play his way in the PL by going all in - with drawn out negotiations that our haters in the media and other less astute observers attempted to use to attack our "spending" - buying Mendy, Danilo and Walker last summer. He sees the key problems in the squad and finds EXACTLY the type of players that will FIT INTO OUR STYLE OF PLAY, not about whether they are the "best" player overall (i.e. SMS). So far, his record is pretty impressive, other than Bravo and Nolito. But after one season in the PL he picked up what the squad needed.

Notice a theme in all three of the fullback signings we were ridiculed for adding. It was not just their pace, technical and attacking ability, but also physically strong players - compared to many fullbacks - who also are not completely worthless in the air as Clichy. Kola was good heading the ball, but he did not have much lift compared to the three we signed last summer. Sagna also good in the air, but past it. Clichy not anywhere near good enough anymore for a club like us.

Getting back to Jorginho, I also agree that we could play Jorginho alongside Fernandinho with two CDM's for better ball retention plus defensive cover. Not sure how that would work with our formations, other than perhaps playing either as one of the roaming 8's , but it would give him that option.

[sniffer]

Reports now seem to suggest he will sign this week for 60 million. If correct this must be a good purchase at that price. We seem to value a player and stick to our it guns, good policy .

[sheblue]

I think he will prove to be a very good signing.