Incoming? Ismael Kone

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The other midfielder will probably be Styles won't it

No idea why RWB. LWB would be wiser, if anything

No talk at all of a CF suggests a rather worrying amount of faith in McPub
 
Hamandcheese said:
The other midfielder will probably be Styles won't it

No idea why RWB. LWB would be wiser, if anything

No talk at all of a CF suggests a rather worrying amount of faith in McPub
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Styles has gone to Millwall and I’d guess the RWB won’t be a priority once Bogle is back.

In terms of strikers we’re playing Ndiaye and Khadra as strikers at the moment so that gives us 6 strikers although 5 with Billy our long time injured I’d guess Hecky is good with those numbers
 
If Brewster had got his big arse into gear then I'd be more relaxed about the CF situation

As it is we've just got McPub who's had a couple of decent games

The rest aren't CFs, although Ndiaye isn't far off. Our best line up now would have him playing as the striker but I don't know if we'll try that as long as an actual CF is available
 
I wonder if we tried a loan with an obligation to buy with this one. You'd think we're going to have premier league cash and/or Berge sale cash to burn at some point in the next year.
 
Hamandcheese said:
If Brewster had got his big arse into gear then I'd be more relaxed about the CF situation

As it is we've just got McPub who's had a couple of decent games

The rest aren't CFs, although Ndiaye isn't far off. Our best line up now would have him playing as the striker but I don't know if we'll try that as long as an actual CF is available
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I take it you're not watching the matches this season?!

I'd happily bet McBurnie and Brewster will score 15 each. That's if I had two pennies to rub together. Which I THINK is an expression.
 
brownblade said:
I take it you're not watching the matches this season?!

I'd happily bet McBurnie and Brewster will score 15 each. That's if I had two pennies to rub together. Which I THINK is an expression.
Click to expand...
They won't. No chance. For such a top match watcher, that's a horrendous prediction

One might. But not both
 
 
Bladesman said:
I think a deal can be agreed then as the MLS season will have finished but he can't officially be registered to play for us til January.
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Exactly that. Just because windows closed doesn’t mean a deal can’t be done… it just becomes active on the 1st day of the new window.
 
If we are seriously in the hunt I can see the Prince sanctioning something like this.

He does know his football. He's aware that you take these opportunities when they come up just as he was aware throwing good money after bad in season two wasn't the thing to do either.
 
Champagneblade said:
If we are seriously in the hunt I can see the Prince sanctioning something like this.

He does know his football. He's aware that you take these opportunities when they come up just as he was aware throwing good money after bad in season two wasn't the thing to do either.
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Pity we couldn't bring him in last week then but can't have it always I.suppose
 

It would signal some progress in how we do business I think. Increasingly clubs seem to be doing deals in good faith outside of the sanctioned windows and then ratifying them when allowed it would be encouraging if we could demonstrate we’re capable of doing that sort of thing.
 
Yogi said:
It would signal some progress in how we do business I think. Increasingly clubs seem to be doing deals in good faith outside of the sanctioned windows and then ratifying them when allowed it would be encouraging if we could demonstrate we’re capable of doing that sort of thing.
Click to expand...

It might by why we got our business done early this transfer window.
 
mattbianco1 said:
Anybody got any actual knowledge on this kid?

Football Manager and Fifa doesn't count
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As a Canadian supporter I’ve seen a lot of Ismaël Koné this year. He’s been one of the more interesting stories of the season. He was promising talent as an attacking winger and went on trial in Belgium with Gent and Mouscron, but the pandemic didn’t help his chances. He came back home to Montreal and trialled with the club. He did well, but they didn’t have a roster spot so he played with the reserves in 2021. I believe that was because he was still counted as a foreign player and hadn’t gotten his citizenship (he was born in Ivory Coast and has lived in Canada since he was 8).

Last winter, however, he went with teammates Rida Zouhir and Djordje Mihailovic (who was just sold to AZ Alkmaar for $6M) went to train with Bologna in Serie A. Montreal and Bologna are both owned by the same person, so this is a regular occurrence, but having an unknown like Koné get invited was a sign that the club expected a lot from him.

The club opened the season in CONCACAF Champions League play and drew a Mexican side (Santos Laguna) and when Koné got the start in the home leg it was a big surprise. Koné was an absolute revelation as Montreal turned around the tie to advance. Koné scored the third goal.

Here are all of his touches in his pro debut against a side that is currently fourth in the Mexican league. You can see him grow into the match and get more confident on the ball. It was the sequence at 1:40 that excited me about his potential that night.



He was almost immediately called up by Canada and made his full debut late against Costa Rica. Canada was down a man, down 1-0 and Costa Rica desperately needed the win at home to keep their World Cup hopes alive. Koné helped push Canada forward and looked very composed and confident.

Canada qualified a few days later at home to Jamaica and Koné didn’t feature and then he started the last qualifier in Panama against a desperate Panama side… and Koné had an absolute nightmare. He was shocking. It was one of the worst performances I’ve seen in a Canadian shirt in 30 years. I think his biggest weakness at the moment is also one of his biggest strengths. He is new to being a central midfielder and playing in front of his backline, he seems too careless with the ball. He still has an attacking mentality where he wants to beat defenders off the dribble, he wants to get his foot on the ball and try things. And when it comes off it’s great, when it doesn’t, he gives the ball away in terrible parts of the pitch. I also think his touch is generally good, but it’s inconsistent. He also turns the ball over by being put under pressure and then having a poor first touch. That was one of the things that really undid him in Panama was he was under a ton of pressure any time he had the ball and he didn’t cope well.

Earlier this year in MLS, Koné made a terrible pass to gift Atlanta a breakaway and give away a goal… and then he was part of three Montreal goals, twice winning 1v1 battles to win the ball and then spring the counter, the second time he also made a 30+ yard run and used his body well to get goal-side of the defender who tracked his run to score and finish a move he started in his own final third. It was the complete experience of Koné to date, some good, some bad, some amazing.

I was surprised that the interest in Koné came from the Championship when Norwich was interested. Selfishly I think it will be really good for his development, because he needs to learn the position more, he needs to be more physical in the tackle and defensively aware. I think he will struggle with the tempo of the Championship, but it will force him to speed everything up. I think he will learn a lot if he does come to you in January. But I don’t think he’s a good fit for the style of play. He does have some height and his ability to run and dribble through the heart of a midfield is unusual, so I do think his potential is pretty high, but I am not certain how much he will contribute straight away.

I found some of the comments about the level of MLS to be quite interesting. The trend seems to be that European clubs want to buy very young MLS players before they are established in the league and then sell them for a huge profit. That has worked for Davies and Brenden Aaronson who have been good business, but there are so many guys like Chris Richards (Bayern), Bryan Reynolds (Roma), Erik Palmer-Brown (Man City), Matt Miazga (Chelsea), Ricardo Pepi (Augsburg)… who went over before they were probably ready and to date haven’t lived up to their potential, but no one seems to be lining up to buy the actual quality players in the league.

Koné is not a particularly important player for Montreal and if he was, they wouldn’t have been willing to sell him this window. They only sold Mihailovic on the condition he stay with Montreal for the duration of the season because they are trying to win a title and he’s an important player, but I’m not sure Koné will be a regular starter heading into the playoffs.

Similarly, if I were to bet, I do think Koné will earn a squad place for Qatar, particularly with 26-man squads. However, he is far from assured of doing so and is pretty unlikely to get much time on the pitch, if he gets any at all.

Regarding Jebbison, I doubt they now each other. Koné wasn’t involved in the Canadian youth program and they didn’t grow up near each other. And that video about ‘the next Alphonso Davies’ is clickbait nonsense. No one is the next Alphonso Davies. No Canadian may ever be the next Alphonso Davies. So framing Koné’s story like that is crazy and irresponsible.

The bottom line for me is that he has a unique skillset for a box-to-box midfielder, he’s young and skillful, but he has a lot to learn and there will be some mistakes. He has only been a professional for six months.
 
juneof86 said:
As a Canadian supporter I’ve seen a lot of Ismaël Koné this year. He’s been one of the more interesting stories of the season. He was promising talent as an attacking winger and went on trial in Belgium with Gent and Mouscron, but the pandemic didn’t help his chances. He came back home to Montreal and trialled with the club. He did well, but they didn’t have a roster spot so he played with the reserves in 2021. I believe that was because he was still counted as a foreign player and hadn’t gotten his citizenship (he was born in Ivory Coast and has lived in Canada since he was 8).

Last winter, however, he went with teammates Rida Zouhir and Djordje Mihailovic (who was just sold to AZ Alkmaar for $6M) went to train with Bologna in Serie A. Montreal and Bologna are both owned by the same person, so this is a regular occurrence, but having an unknown like Koné get invited was a sign that the club expected a lot from him.

The club opened the season in CONCACAF Champions League play and drew a Mexican side (Santos Laguna) and when Koné got the start in the home leg it was a big surprise. Koné was an absolute revelation as Montreal turned around the tie to advance. Koné scored the third goal.

Here are all of his touches in his pro debut against a side that is currently fourth in the Mexican league. You can see him grow into the match and get more confident on the ball. It was the sequence at 1:40 that excited me about his potential that night.



He was almost immediately called up by Canada and made his full debut late against Costa Rica. Canada was down a man, down 1-0 and Costa Rica desperately needed the win at home to keep their World Cup hopes alive. Koné helped push Canada forward and looked very composed and confident.

Canada qualified a few days later at home to Jamaica and Koné didn’t feature and then he started the last qualifier in Panama against a desperate Panama side… and Koné had an absolute nightmare. He was shocking. It was one of the worst performances I’ve seen in a Canadian shirt in 30 years. I think his biggest weakness at the moment is also one of his biggest strengths. He is new to being a central midfielder and playing in front of his backline, he seems too careless with the ball. He still has an attacking mentality where he wants to beat defenders off the dribble, he wants to get his foot on the ball and try things. And when it comes off it’s great, when it doesn’t, he gives the ball away in terrible parts of the pitch. I also think his touch is generally good, but it’s inconsistent. He also turns the ball over by being put under pressure and then having a poor first touch. That was one of the things that really undid him in Panama was he was under a ton of pressure any time he had the ball and he didn’t cope well.

Earlier this year in MLS, Koné made a terrible pass to gift Atlanta a breakaway and give away a goal… and then he was part of three Montreal goals, twice winning 1v1 battles to win the ball and then spring the counter, the second time he also made a 30+ yard run and used his body well to get goal-side of the defender who tracked his run to score and finish a move he started in his own final third. It was the complete experience of Koné to date, some good, some bad, some amazing.

I was surprised that the interest in Koné came from the Championship when Norwich was interested. Selfishly I think it will be really good for his development, because he needs to learn the position more, he needs to be more physical in the tackle and defensively aware. I think he will struggle with the tempo of the Championship, but it will force him to speed everything up. I think he will learn a lot if he does come to you in January. But I don’t think he’s a good fit for the style of play. He does have some height and his ability to run and dribble through the heart of a midfield is unusual, so I do think his potential is pretty high, but I am not certain how much he will contribute straight away.

I found some of the comments about the level of MLS to be quite interesting. The trend seems to be that European clubs want to buy very young MLS players before they are established in the league and then sell them for a huge profit. That has worked for Davies and Brenden Aaronson who have been good business, but there are so many guys like Chris Richards (Bayern), Bryan Reynolds (Roma), Erik Palmer-Brown (Man City), Matt Miazga (Chelsea), Ricardo Pepi (Augsburg)… who went over before they were probably ready and to date haven’t lived up to their potential, but no one seems to be lining up to buy the actual quality players in the league.

Koné is not a particularly important player for Montreal and if he was, they wouldn’t have been willing to sell him this window. They only sold Mihailovic on the condition he stay with Montreal for the duration of the season because they are trying to win a title and he’s an important player, but I’m not sure Koné will be a regular starter heading into the playoffs.

Similarly, if I were to bet, I do think Koné will earn a squad place for Qatar, particularly with 26-man squads. However, he is far from assured of doing so and is pretty unlikely to get much time on the pitch, if he gets any at all.

Regarding Jebbison, I doubt they now each other. Koné wasn’t involved in the Canadian youth program and they didn’t grow up near each other. And that video about ‘the next Alphonso Davies’ is clickbait nonsense. No one is the next Alphonso Davies. No Canadian may ever be the next Alphonso Davies. So framing Koné’s story like that is crazy and irresponsible.

The bottom line for me is that he has a unique skillset for a box-to-box midfielder, he’s young and skillful, but he has a lot to learn and there will be some mistakes. He has only been a professional for six months.
Click to expand...

Take a bow
 
Since being linked to us, he hasn't played for Montreal since.

First time was serving a 1 match suspension, 2nd time for internal disciplinary reasons... make of that what you will.

Screenshot_20220912-102355.png
 
Koné did start for Montreal in their last match and his performance merited an honourable mention in the MLS team of the week. So it looks like he responded in the right away. The Canada squad for the break will be announced Friday, but Koné is said to be in it. Some players ahead of him in the pecking order in the midfield are either out or questionable, so he may get a real opportunity this window to stake a claim for Qatar.
 
From that clip, he looks more of a Norwood player, sat deep and pulling the strings
 
Carlton Blade said:
A good chance he'll be out of our price range now

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Interesting if we approach this the same we approached Anel, and keep tabs and contact with him in the next few months. If we get promoted, this would be the perfect move for him and his agent. Again comparing to Anel, definitely the types of player we should be after. Buy low, sell high.
 
Gin&Juice said:
Interesting if we approach this the same we approached Anel, and keep tabs and contact with him in the next few months. If we get promoted, this would be the perfect move for him and his agent. Again comparing to Anel, definitely the types of player we should be after. Buy low, sell high.
Click to expand...
Depends on the WC and if he impresses too
 
Carlton Blade said:
A good chance he'll be out of our price range now

Click to expand...


A big if, but if it looks like we're well on our way to getting promoted come January, then maybe we'd be willing to pay up for him. Gives him time to bed in, and will likely be cheaper than in the summer when we may be a Premiership team/there could be more competition?

Of course, we're not going to spend £5m+ if we're not sitting pretty at the top, and he may well enhance his price tag by performing well in the World Cup and go outside our range.
 

billyblademan said:
A big if, but if it looks like we're well on our way to getting promoted come January, then maybe we'd be willing to pay up for him. Gives him time to bed in, and will likely be cheaper than in the summer when we may be a Premiership team/there could be more competition?

Of course, we're not going to spend £5m+ if we're not sitting pretty at the top, and he may well enhance his price tag by performing well in the World Cup and go outside our range.
Click to expand...
Who knows? It'd need to be funded by borrowing I imagine and the cost of that has just skyrocketed
 
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