I would sign Laporte in the summer. He would have one year left on his contract. The wage is probably an issue but I think he takes the paycut to play in Madrid for 3 or 4 years. He is still 30, so its not like he is ancient. Alaba cannot be counted on even if he comes back. And I do not think Militao can be pencilled in more than a 4th cb with his injuries until he prooves otherwise. It is probably Rudiger/Tchouameni for the rest of this year. Add Laporte in the summer to make it 3, and Militao\Alaba are your 4th hybrid because neither can be counted as being healthy. I am not falling for we have plenty of cbs in the summer when 2 of them have missed like 2 years, and one of them is a converted midfielder.
Is Jacobo even fit? When given the choice between Tchouameni or Asencio at CB, who do you think Carlo would regularly pick? By the same token, one can claim: "he's the Everton coach for a reason", but then he went on to become the most decorated coach of the biggest club in the world. Ramos makes sense when you consider facts like the club needs someone now and someone for free. Oh and btw Rüdiger is bound to get injured at some point, we now know that our players are being pressed beyond their physical limits just because. Rüdiger will get little rest if any because of the sheer number of games this season and the fact that he's the only non-Castilla CB. Will Perez actually entertain the idea of Ramos? Doubt it.
Being Everton coach is not the same as being jobless. Aston Villa attracted Emery when they were fighting relegation. PL has that pull. Ramos has no offers from European club. You saw Raul Asencio perform vs Osasuna who will be a top 10 club in La Liga (currently 5th). And bench him for washed Ramos? No thanks. Reward performance not nostalgia.
Id only advocate to bring SR back as an emergency option only. I agree give the young guns a chance first. I think he’d help in the locker room with getting the young defenders confident and also he may be another voice to getting the dressing room right. He played with Mbappe, so there might be value there? If it happens cool, if not it’s not the right direction then. I can go either way.
Carlo will pick Rudiger/Tchouameni. Camavinga is the DM going forward. Asencio is basically the 3rd CB at this point. I think the bigger question is what happens at RB. I suspect Valverde does not want to play RB but its the obvious option at this point.
No shame in being jobless. I lost my job after COVID, was jobless for 2 years. Sh!t happens. Jobless or not, and given our "criteria", Ramos is still a very decent and viable temp until JAS's "strategic opportunity" comes along. Asencio? If he keeps it up for another 3-4 games, I wouldn't bench him for Ramos. But I know who will Still, Ramos can be a bench option. I suspect our injuries will only get worse, the demons could catch up to Rüdiger
Can't wait to see us replace a CB who suffered an ACL injury after coming back from an ACL injury with a CB who is coming back from an ACL injury. What could go wrong?
Maybe get some leadership out of Alaba though, he's been vocal in a bad way at times but let's hope he's able direct his feedback in a better way
VVD, Pepe etc were regular starters once they returned from ACL. But given our love affair with ACLs, save Alaba and have him as 4th option behind Rudiger, Tchouameni and Raul Asencio.
Alaba is on the freaking payroll, Ramos isn't. Just because we have one car wreck doesn't mean we'll sign another one, plus, honestly, Ramos is not a good influence any more.
I have nothing but love for Ramos, but there's a reason he is without a club. Either cooked and won't pass a physical, or has absurd demands for wages/playing time.
Ramos has never been a bench option at any point in his life. No way he will be happy being benched by Castilla kid like Asencio despite being washed.
He played at Sevilla for MINIMUM and they still felt he wasn't worth it. His whole social media campaign is unsettling. Honestly, just retire gracefully man.
Yeah I get the vibe Ramos is looking for automatic starter status, doesn't strike me as a guy who will accept a bench role.
We have two car wrecks atm Oh and a Segunda-tier injury-prone CB. And by your standards a "thumb sucker" Ramos isn't one imo. Either way, considering the other names, it's not like we're spoiled for options. That's what happens when "no one convinces the club" for years. Influence? I bet Carlo would love to have another "leader" in the locker room considering the current drama (JFD's latest piece). I certainly would love to see him play for us again, alas. In the end, I don't think the club will sign a CB, free or otherwise. Not Ramos and certainly not Lukeba, the dude's release clause is around €80-90m. We are a club that offered €25m for Yoro, the generational wonder kid that we incessantly followed for months, he who convinced the club, the chosen one.
Cristhian Mosquera's release clause is 25 million euros? Can't think of a reason why we wouldn't want to get him on January 1st already. Checks literally every box, including ability to play RB. Young, big, strong, fast, determined, great tackler and technically sound.
Just play Asencio. Seriously, we need more Spanish players in the team, he had a good performance so just give the dam kid a chance. Ancelotti has a lot of loyalty to more senior players. That's why you see Brahim getting ahead of Guler, even when he just came back from injury. Or even Ceballos getting minutes ahead of Guler and Endrick. That's why I see Ancelotti starting and sticking with Tchouameni as a CB instead of giving Asencio a chance.