New centreback looming...

Walesonline reporting the final details are being polished off for 26 year old L'Orient captain Bruno Manga, with Arsenal and Southampton also interested. He's a right sided central defender, with Connolly looking like the one to be losing his place. That is unless Solskjaer is a bit of a purist and fancies a 5-3-2...

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/cardiff-city-beat-arsenal-southampton-7696807

Oh and, early signs is that this is the end for Hudson, who is now well down the pecking order.

This signing is attracting praise left right and centre, most baffled that a championship side has managed to sign a player despite champions league interest.

Good article tweeted by view from the Ninian. Highlights that his stats including tackle success and pass interception were better than best defende in the world Thiago Silvas last season, and far outclassed anything Arsenal could offer. Occasional very poor decision making has been the only thing stopping a truly big team taking a chance.

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/2174503-is-bruno-ecuele-manga-arsenals-kostas-manolas-transfer-alternative

BBC reporting this now as well. Seems Manga was the subject of Dalman's trip to France a week or so back.

Well well well. Looks like we bagged ourselves a quality Player.

Just what we needed really!

Brilliant signing, (I think)

Red614 wrote:Oh and, early signs is that this is the end for Hudson, who is now well down the pecking order.

This signing is attracting praise left right and centre, most baffled that a championship side has managed to sign a player despite champions league interest.

I'm sure that money talks and City have been able to offer a decent wage and regular first team football.

Wow. This could be the final piece of the puzzle.

Here is the rough translation of an article (27/8) from francefootball.fr, which is linked to L'équipe.  Looks like he was hoping that Roma were going to go for him.

Bruno Ecuele Manga (26) confirmed on Wednesday his desire to leave. The captain of Lorient, still under contract for one year, would be particularly coveted by Marseille and AS Roma. "There is a lot of speculation, rumors but there is still nothing concrete, said the Gabonese defender on RMC. For now, I'm still Lorient. It's been four years since I am in Lorient. I want to see something else and to have other challenges. If you ask me to choose between these two clubs, I would say AS Roma, has he said. But there is still nothing concrete. We wait to see. At the same time, I do not close the door on anyone.

TDA wrote:Here is the rough translation of an article (27/8) from francefootball.fr, which is linked to L'équipe.  Looks like he was hoping that Roma were going to go for him.

Bruno Ecuele Manga (26) confirmed on Wednesday his desire to leave. The captain of Lorient, still under contract for one year, would be particularly coveted by Marseille and AS Roma. "There is a lot of speculation, rumors but there is still nothing concrete, said the Gabonese defender on RMC. For now, I'm still Lorient. It's been four years since I am in Lorient. I want to see something else and to have other challenges. If you ask me to choose between these two clubs, I would say AS Roma, has he said. But there is still nothing concrete. We wait to see. At the same time, I do not close the door on anyone.

He was deciding between Marseille and Roma there, with Roma being a sensible choice based on the fact Marseille face a much trickier path to European football with the likes of PSG and Monaco in the way. The premier league has a lot in it's favour, not least that we pay far higher wages than the Spanish and Italian leagues if you exclude the very top teams. A team like ourself could be viewed as a good chance of future premier league football and the opportunity to showcase himself to the elites. Any decent agent should be telling players nowadays that the Italian league is a complete and utter dead end for footballing careers right now.

Regardless he's undoubtedly in a similar boat to Kim and Medel - he's better than us, and will almost undoubtedly see us simply as a stepping stone. But who cares if he puts in awesome performances in the meantime?

SteWells wrote:Wow. This could be the final piece of the puzzle.

I still don't see another center back as being necessary but if Ole is going to bring one more in then at least it looks like he might be a good one.

I think there might still be missing pieces of the puzzle in midfield which will then need addressing in January but Ole has between now and then to prove that the players he already has are good enough.

Am I wrong in thinking that Cala can also play in midfield?

I think most centrebacks can play defensive midfield if they have to, the only difference realistically is less ultimate responsibility and a higher reliance on linking up play. Thing is i think Dikgacoi and Adeyemi have that spot nailed down because both also pose a threat going forward.

And I have to agree with Toast to an extent, if I have any concerns at all it's whether we have enough talent in the centre of the pitch to break teams open. Noone will solve the wing issue as we've all agreed he's staggeringly unplayable on his day, but we are really left relying on Daehli (who's very young) and Whittingham (who's fading fast) to provide our attacking supply.

An audacious bid for Will Hughes would definetely get me excited...

And yes, I am aware I just criticised Daehli for being too young but then recommended replacing him with Will Hughes, who is only a month older.

Arkay Dubya wrote:Am I wrong in thinking that Cala can also play in midfield?

I have always thought that he looks like a natural defensive midfielder. He certainly is one of the best footballers at City. I am surprised that Ole hasn't tried him there.