Ozan Kabak

[Exiled_red]

I'm all for keeping Kabak too £18m seems decent business even if it is just to have him as 4th choice. If we bring in Konate someone is leaving.

[Exiled_red]

I'm all for signing Kabak and Konate, but worry that we will be losing our "homegrown" quota if we overload on overseas players. Is it 8 of the 25 players we name in our squad (21 or over, can name as many youngsters as we like) have to be classed as homegrown?

TAA
Phillips
Henderson
Milner
Ox
Kelleher
Gomez

It's late and I've probably missed a few names off, but it's a short list and needs to be improved.

The number to be concerned about is the number of non homegrown players which can't exceed 17, (if we only have 6 of our 8 HG players it isn't the end of the world). At present we have 17 non HG so are in a one in one out situation, if Minamino comes back he has to replace someone, as would Konate if he comes in, Wijnaldum is seemingly going so that' one, presumably Adrian, Origi, Shaqiri and Matip have to be the most likely to be making way for the other plus any other new signings.

[Roboklopp]

I'm all for signing Kabak and Konate, but worry that we will be losing our "homegrown" quota if we overload on overseas players. Is it 8 of the 25 players we name in our squad (21 or over, can name as many youngsters as we like) have to be classed as homegrown?

TAA
Phillips
Henderson
Milner
Ox
Kelleher
Gomez

It's late and I've probably missed a few names off, but it's a short list and needs to be improved.

You’ve missed Jones and both Williams but your point still stands.

[Exiled_red]

You’ve missed Jones and both Williams but your point still stands.

I believe that Jones and both Williams' are young enough that they could still be included on the youth list next season if we so desire, as would Harvey Elliott if we bring him back into the squad for next season.

[Roboklopp]

Fair enough.


Anyways, I’d defo be buying Kabak for £18m.

[SB]

Fair enough.


Anyways, I’d defo be buying Kabak for £18m.

Agree he's slotted straight in & will only get better

[memzey]

Totally agree that Kabak is really far along in his development. He plays like a player a few years older with that few years more worth of games.

If he was an attacker and that far along in his development at his age then his name would be getting raved about as being the next big thing.

Only thing I disagree with is him being currently at a level where he could compete with a fully fit Gomez. Gomez has a lot more to his game than Kabak does at present however I think Kabak will be a better allround CB when he reaches the age Gomez is now than Gomez at the same age.

Gomez, for me, is often very much underrated as a CB.

Fair enough. For me there would be games where I’d prefer Kabak because of his physicality rather than the pace of Gomez. It’s all hypothetical though as we don’t have a fully fit Gomez and even if/when he does come back we don’t know how his injury will have impacted him. Gomez relies on his pace often and if he were to lose a yard or two his game would have to adapt significantly. If I look to next year, I’d feel confident with any two from VVD, Konate and Ozan with it being a bonus if Gomez or Matip were available and in the mix. It may seem harsh but history would suggest we just can’t rely on the last two for any meaningful period of time.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Fair enough. For me there would be games where I’d prefer Kabak because of his physicality rather than the pace of Gomez. It’s all hypothetical though as we don’t have a fully fit Gomez and even if/when he does come back we don’t know how his injury will have impacted him. Gomez relies on his pace often and if he were to lose a yard or two his game would have to adapt significantly. If I look to next year, I’d feel confident with any two from VVD, Konate and Ozan with it being a bonus if Gomez or Matip were available and in the mix. It may seem harsh but history would suggest we just can’t rely on the last two for any meaningful period of time.

Nope not harsh in the slightest, just realistic imo.

[kev776]

Will he be fit for Madrid, he was subbed off against Arsenal.

[Mark79]

Will he be fit for Madrid, he was subbed off against Arsenal.

He’s training with the rest of the team in today’s video.

[npinn001]

Will he be fit for Madrid, he was subbed off against Arsenal.

Think it was to make sure he is fit. He played both internationals also.

Sent from my Mi 10 using Tapatalk

[memzey]

Dropped off the front page but I think this lad is really coming along well. Currently first pick for me from the available bunch at centre half and seems to be growing into the team. If he carries on this trajectory 18m will be a steal.

[Irishnev]

Dropped off the front page but I think this lad is really coming along well. Currently first pick for me from the available bunch at centre half and seems to be growing into the team. If he carries on this trajectory 18m will be a steal.

A few wayward passes v Madrid but he played well

[ame="https://twitter.com/lfctransferroom/status/1382953776928083968"]https://twitter.com/lfctransferroom/status/1382953776928083968[/ame]

[Mr Pink]

Agreed, I think he looks class. He joined under very difficult circumstances- no pre season, covid, all senior center backs are injured, the teams under pressure due to a run of bad results, the pressure of filling in for the best cb in the world, new country, etc etc etc. he’s done extremely well to cope with all that.

Playing alongside VVD next season, you would imagine he’s only going to get better and better. He looks a lot older than what he is too- I need to remind myself he’s only 21.. hopefully vvd can mold him into a top top defender, that we have for many years to come!

[SB]

Not sure why he got hooked vs Real for Thiago’s introduction when Nat just picked up a booking . He’s really playing well now & we should definitely be making the deal permanent