[Albion] Carlos Baleba SINGS a 5-year deal

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Not sure what you're on about !!

Baleba has played 20 games in France

Caicedo 35 in epl. Although I've just checked this and it's 45!

I was wondering what you were comparing and why. If someone had said that Balaba and Caicedo are exactly the same then it does make sense to point out this is not the case. If not, I'm unsure what point you were trying to make and, to add to different player, different league, different number of games we also have "and not very many games" to factor into the assessment. If someone has suggested Baleba as a replacement for Caicedo, there is insufficient scope for precision on an estimate of their potential to make an accurate comparison, one way or the other.

 

[chaileyjem]

Carlos Baleba is 20 days older than Julio Enciso.

Carlos has made 21 league appearances for Lille, 6 of them starts, Julio has made 22 league appearances for Brighton, 8 of them starts.

Incredibly, both Julio and Carlos have each only played one 90 minute game in a top European league in their career. Nearly all their appearances have been off the bench or subbed at 60/70 mins.

I'm not sure these are stats to base a players valuation on.

Agreed. i was just surprised - given he's a defensive midfielder - he's not played more than one full game. His minutes are pretty limited too but of course he like Enciso, Ferguson, Gilmour at Brighton are still young / being managed carefully.

 

[227 BHA]

He played 45 times in the PL. But don’t let actual facts get in the way when you post on here.

Thank you, and continuing the pedantary, as seemingly required on NSC, yes you’re right if you include his substitute appearances

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Agreed. i was just surprised - given he's a defensive midfielder - he's not played more than one full game. His minutes are pretty limited too but of course he like Enciso, Ferguson, Gilmour at Brighton are still young / being managed carefully.

Right, and in the cases of Ferguson, Enciso and Caicedo (after he had played 20 games) - it is clear that there is immense talent there - the number of games played is not disqualifying.

 

[The Fits]

Re people claiming we don't need a DM...
19 successful dribbles despite losing 1-4. Imagine that against a better team.

 

[Machiavelli]

26 LEAGUE games. 39 in total. Comapred to 28 and 50 last season. Nine more cup games last season. Which is perhaps because Citeh won two cup competitions last season. I call that nothing like easing someone in. I would venture your recollections are being shaped by your chosen narrative

Not my chosen narrative. It's one shared by Grealish himself, alongside critics. I've just cut-and-pasted a section from his wikipedia page which reinforces it.

Although he finished the campaign with a Premier League title, Grealish admitted difficulties in his debut season at Manchester City, stating that adapting to the club's style of play had been "much more difficult" than he imagined,[80] despite the fact that City manager Pep Guardiola believed he was successfully fulfilling his role.[81] Grealish was later defended from his critics by his teammate Kevin De Bruyne, who voiced his belief that Grealish was an easy target for criticism because of the media spotlight on English players.[82] Moreover, İlkay Gündoğan claimed that Grealish was "so misunderstood by some of the media".[83]

2022–23: Breakthrough and continental treble​

"I think all this season he has been really well. This is the Jack Grealish that Aston Villa fans know really well. He believes completely and the way he behaved in the beginning when he wasn't playing was perfect."

Pep Guardiola on Grealish's performance in the 2022–23 season.[84]
On 17 September 2022, Grealish scored his first goal of the new season in an away victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers, coming after just 55 seconds.[85] On 28 December, he assisted two goals for Erling Haaland as Manchester City beat Leeds United 3–1 away from home.[86] Grealish netted the opener of City's eventual 2–1 derby defeat against Manchester United on 14 January 2023.[87] On 15 February, he scored in a 3–1 away victory against league leaders Arsenal to help City overtake them in the Premier League title race.[88]

Grealish assisted Riyad Mahrez for City's goal against RB Leipzig in the Champions League round of 16 first leg on 22 February 2023, and was later lauded as "unplayable" by both Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves.[89] Grealish was highly commended for his performance against Liverpool on 1 April, in which Manchester City won 4–1 after going a goal behind;[90][91] in the match, he scored and also provided an assist for Julián Álvarez.[92] In the subsequent match, Grealish again both scored and assisted in a 4–1 away victory against Southampton.[93] Following a 1–1 draw away to Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals on 9 May,[94] Grealish recorded a message for an ailing Manchester City supporter, Rob Harmston, to send his "love and support".[95] It was calculated at this point that Grealish had created 35 chances in that season's Champions League alone; this was the most on record by an English player in a single season.[95] In the return leg, Grealish was a standout performer as City beat Madrid 4–0 at the Etihad Stadium, being described by Jamie Jackson of The Guardian as "scintillating".[96]

On 20 May 2023, Grealish officially won his second consecutive Premier League title after Arsenal lost 1–0 to Nottingham Forest.[97] Manchester City lifted the trophy the following day.[98] On 3 June, Grealish started in City's victory against Manchester United in the final of the FA Cup.[99] One week later, he played the entirety of his side's Champions League final against Inter Milan, with City sealing a first-ever continental treble after winning 1–0.[100][101] In a post-match interview, Grealish said the achievement was "what you work your whole life for" and called his manager Guardiola a "genius".[100] Grealish would go on to be seen, after a day and night of partying, stumbling off of a plane, apparently drunk and lacking sleep.[E] He was later seen celebrating, still in full kit, just hours before Manchester City's treble parade.[105] During this parade, Grealish was also positively identified by the media as enjoying himself greatly.[F]

Following Manchester City's highly successful 2022–23 season, it was suggested that Grealish could become a potential candidate for the Ballon d'Or.[110] Grealish was praised by critics for his large contribution to Manchester City's success.[111][112] It was suggested by analysts and commentators as a result of Grealish's rich vein of form that he had successfully settled into the club and was living up to his large price tag.[G] Neil Johnston of BBC Sport commented that Grealish had become "almost undroppable for the big games".[116] Grealish himself commented that he now felt "like one of the main players [of Manchester City]" and that he was at a stage whereby he was "the fittest… [he had ever] been".[117]

 

[b.w.2.]

Fcuk Sockboy. Let’s get Baleba done

 

[dwayne]

Re people claiming we don't need a DM...
19 successful dribbles despite losing 1-4. Imagine that against a better team.
View attachment 165394

For some reason wolves do seem to have some ridiculous dribblers in their midfield. They did the same to man u.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Back on topic - so no further progress on this one.

 

[Horses Arse]

Does he have any Spanish speaking grandparents?

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

Does Welbeck speak any Spanish?

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

I got a C at GCSE Spanish if that helps. This was 27 years ago though.

 

[Silverhatch]

Plus 12 league games in Belgium and 25 league games in Ecuador making a total of 82 league games in his career.

+32 for Ecuador. But Lille can ask what they want for their player. It’s what we do.

 

[dazzer6666]

Carlos Baleba is 20 days older than Julio Enciso.

Carlos has made 21 league appearances for Lille, 6 of them starts, Julio has made 22 league appearances for Brighton, 8 of them starts.

Incredibly, both Julio and Carlos have each only played one 90 minute game in a top European league in their career. Nearly all their appearances have been off the bench or subbed at 60/70 mins.

I'm not sure these are stats to base a players valuation on.

It’s not incredible at all, it’s sports science - simply young players having their physical load managed as they develop. Doesn’t really correlate to their actual or potential value.

 

[Hiheidi]

Naylor saying that Alzate will stay at the club if we don't manage to sign a Caicedo replacement. So, sounds like Baleba has properly stalled.

 

[macbeth]

Naylor saying that Alzate will stay at the club if we don't manage to sign a Caicedo replacement. So, sounds like Baleba has properly stalled.

naylor getting briefed by the club on this. which means us not signing a replacement must be genuinely on the cards now. as decent as alzate is, de zerbi surely can’t be very happy if this is the case

 

[Mancgull]

I think it would be very disappointing not to acquire any replacement for Caicedo this window. It’s not as if we haven’t had time to plan it.
Alzate is a decent player but doesn’t offer anything more than the players we already have, IMHO.
I appreciate other clubs are probably pushing the envelope on price ( eg Lille re Baleba) but surely we should be able to find a solution. Maybe the proposed loan for Lokonga?

 

[brighton_tom]

Another smokescreen to show clubs we won’t be over charged for their players? Surely given the money we have, how long we’ve known a replacement will be needed, and RDZs comments about wanting a top player, something will be sorted…. Our first European season, it would be a massive balls up if we went in half baked.

 

[Reddleman]

In the club we trust etc but RDZ was very vocal about the need for another midfielder and Barber was on television last week saying they need to give RDZ the squad he wants. If we don’t get another one in then we have failed to meet our targets.

We say publicly and often that we pride ourselves on being ready to move when we lose a player/manager. Caicedo leaving has been a known certainty since January so I find it very difficult to understand how we didn’t have a bunch of targets ready to go.

We need a defensive midfielder, we don’t have one in the squad at all.

 

[Clive Walker]

succession planning is one thing but execucting the plan needs some work. We have known that Moises leaving was on the cards for a while, having that target or targets sown up would have been ideal. Not an ideal world though.

This leaves a massive gap in my view and Alzate is simply not up to standard.