Is Kalas what we need for next season ?

[Riversider]

If Chelsea offered us Kalas in the summer for £8 million, would you take them up on it ?
I'm not sure I would,
Three months in to the season I would have ripped their arm off, but in my humble opinion since the turn of the year he has been all over the place and at times looks a liability, going from looking calm and measured to panicky and indecisive ,
So for me it's two brand new centre backs for next season (along with other positions)
And it's vital that we get it right this season as we've gone through a heck of a lot of centre backs these last 3 or 4 seasons ,
Oh for a 25 year old Tony Gale and Chris Coleman .

[Bassey the warrior]

Yes I would. He's exactly what we need and still with room to develop. He's made mistakes but all players do. I also think Madl should start, big fan of him.

[MJG]

Yes

[FPT]

Stats, results, and the eye says we're a better team when Tomas Kalas plays. What we need to consider is that he's still only 23 years of age and playing in an open expansive team where more often than not, he's been the glue at the back when our central defenders are frequently exposed. It's like when Pep said about John Stones, "it's not easy being a centre back with this manager (meaning himself)." If we were playing 442, two banks of four and defending on our own penalty box and counter attacking, he'd look like one of the supreme defenders in the division. Tomas Kalas is a huge part of our success this season both in shoring the defence and continuing our style of play.

£8m is pricy, but with that you're getting already a good central defender that can play for you today whilst still having Premier League potential. We let him go back to Chelsea, we'll need two quality ones again and chances are, that'll cost you more than £8m anyway. Brighton spent £5m on Shane Duffy and were fortunate to have Lewis Dunk come from the academy to partner him because as we saw... he'd cost you more than £5m. Newcastle spent £10.5m on Ciaran Clark and Grant Hanley in the summer, as well as £4m on Jamaal Lascelles two years previously. Aston Villa spent £11m partnering Tommy Elphick and James Chester.

Even then £8m is a completely speculative figure, Chelsea may not want to sell, they may want more, they may accept less, they may think £8m is enough for both Kalas and Piazon. Until multiple reports come out, we can't really debate the value because this figure has been made up.

It also depends on the finances of the club. If we only have, say, £15m to spend without sales included on players, Kalas fills a need, but on that "£8m" it's more than half of the summers budget when we still have to find a partner for him, as well as get the midfield some depth and sign a striker or two.

Anyway, I would be very keen on keeping Tomas Kalas at the football club, and would be even happier if we were to partner him with someone like Dani Ayala (who we allegedly made an offer for in January but rejected by Middlesbrough). Relegation for Boro would probably put Ayala back into their starting eleven but someone of that ilk (a legitimate defender and a strong leader) would benefit the entire team, but the defence in particular.

Very, very, very, very interesting 5/6 months ahead of us with the play off race and a summer window no matter what division we're in.

[AlexW132]

My biggest worry is how injury prone he is

[FFCFOREVER]

I would definitely take him for 8M but as has been said would pair him with Madl.When they play together there seems to be a bit more calmness about the lad.Maybe he is carrying a niggling injury which is hampering his performances somewhat.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Most Definitely⚽️

[Riversider]

As has been pointed out the figure of £8 million is purely speculative , who knows it may well be £12 million or more,
Where it would get interesting is if they were to come in for Sessegnon , Kalas and Tammy Abraham , plus a bit of cash on the proviso that Sessegnon joins us on loan for 2 seasons (at least) then it all takes on a new dimension .

[Mince n Tatties]

Actually think he has been poor since he came back from injury.

[toshes mate]

Just as you shouldn't judge a book by the cover or the first few pages, so you shouldn't judge a player's ability on selected game sequences.  Kalas looks a really good defender in the making and I'd take him from Chelsea at a realistic price for where he is in his career.

[justinfromga]

Stats, results, and the eye says we're a better team when Tomas Kalas plays. What we need to consider is that he's still only 23 years of age and playing in an open expansive team where more often than not, he's been the glue at the back when our central defenders are frequently exposed. It's like when Pep said about John Stones, "it's not easy being a centre back with this manager (meaning himself)." If we were playing 442, two banks of four and defending on our own penalty box and counter attacking, he'd look like one of the supreme defenders in the division. Tomas Kalas is a huge part of our success this season both in shoring the defence and continuing our style of play.

£8m is pricy, but with that you're getting already a good central defender that can play for you today whilst still having Premier League potential. We let him go back to Chelsea, we'll need two quality ones again and chances are, that'll cost you more than £8m anyway. Brighton spent £5m on Shane Duffy and were fortunate to have Lewis Dunk come from the academy to partner him because as we saw... he'd cost you more than £5m. Newcastle spent £10.5m on Ciaran Clark and Grant Hanley in the summer, as well as £4m on Jamaal Lascelles two years previously. Aston Villa spent £11m partnering Tommy Elphick and James Chester.

Even then £8m is a completely speculative figure, Chelsea may not want to sell, they may want more, they may accept less, they may think £8m is enough for both Kalas and Piazon. Until multiple reports come out, we can't really debate the value because this figure has been made up.

It also depends on the finances of the club. If we only have, say, £15m to spend without sales included on players, Kalas fills a need, but on that "£8m" it's more than half of the summers budget when we still have to find a partner for him, as well as get the midfield some depth and sign a striker or two.

Anyway, I would be very keen on keeping Tomas Kalas at the football club, and would be even happier if we were to partner him with someone like Dani Ayala (who we allegedly made an offer for in January but rejected by Middlesbrough). Relegation for Boro would probably put Ayala back into their starting eleven but someone of that ilk (a legitimate defender and a strong leader) would benefit the entire team, but the defence in particular.

Very, very, very, very interesting 5/6 months ahead of us with the play off race and a summer window no matter what division we're in.

I think it really does depend on the clubs transfer budget for the summer.  We have needs all over the pitch and we can't afford to blow it all on one player.  So in a world of unlimited funds and pre-set prices I would absolutely take Kalas for 8m.  But we aren't in that world.

[cmg]

Just as you shouldn't judge a book by the cover or the first few pages, so you shouldn't judge a player's ability on selected game sequences.  Kalas looks a really good defender in the making and I'd take him from Chelsea at a realistic price for where he is in his career.

Yes. Agree. We know he's a pretty good player, minor fluctuations of form can be expected of any defender who isn't Paolo Maldini.

£8m (which is purely conjecture) might be a bit steep, but we need a player like him and £8m is not beyond our means.

The question surely is: would Chelsea be willing to let him go?
They currently play 3 at the back. Pick from Luiz, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Zouma and Terry.
They will need to replace one, possibly two, of those for next season.
They may, of course make a big name signing.
If they look to their own ressources they have, at u23, Davey, who probably won't make it and three teenagers including Chalobah who is excellent but at 17 probably too young for the PL.
This leaves 5 on loan (!). Christensen (20), regular in Bundesliga, will probably be promoted next year.
Hector (24) also plenty of B'liga time.
Omeruo (23) regular in Turkey top league and for Nigeria.
Miazga (21) regular in Eredivisie but seems to be rated inferior to Ream by USA.

Kalas would probably rate as no.2 on this list so we might have a fair chance of persuading them to part with him. Depends, maybe, on how much more mileage they think they can get out of Cahill.

[toshes mate]

Just as you shouldn't judge a book by the cover or the first few pages, so you shouldn't judge a player's ability on selected game sequences.  Kalas looks a really good defender in the making and I'd take him from Chelsea at a realistic price for where he is in his career.

Yes. Agree. We know he's a pretty good player, minor fluctuations of form can be expected of any defender who isn't Paolo Maldini.

£8m (which is purely conjecture) might be a bit steep, but we need a player like him and £8m is not beyond our means.

The question surely is: would Chelsea be willing to let him go?

We could always offer them Stearman as a swap...... :-)

[FPT]

I think it really does depend on the clubs transfer budget for the summer.  We have needs all over the pitch and we can't afford to blow it all on one player.  So in a world of unlimited funds and pre-set prices I would absolutely take Kalas for 8m.  But we aren't in that world.

And on that justinfromga, we go into a whole separate discussion on players for next season... We don't know the status of Jozabed's Fulham career, we don't know whether Scott Parker will retire or not, could the club decide Ragnar Sigurdsson is a bust a try to cash in whilst he's still old enough to produce? Do Wolves want Richard Stearman back, or could we interest teams elsewhere in him? Can Lasse Vigen Christensen be the squad player he really should be? We still have an option to sign Chris Martin, can we trigger that to try to sell him for profit? Will Tom Cairney and/or Ryan Sessegnon be tempted by the lights of the Premier League? Is it possible to keep the current loanees (even if we tried)?

So many questions go into this window if remain a Championship side, and then getting promotion is a different ball game.

[Wearethewhites]

Honestly, no. Think he's overrated personally. He's ok, but believe we can do better if we look, and for less money. Good ball player, but lightweight, and as mentioned above, injury prone.

If I was a betting man, I reckon the Club will pass on him in the summer.

[filham]

£8m for a Champions League defender, surely not, but everyone knows be have defensive problems so we will be subjected to rip off asking prices.

Since Hangeland and Hughes left we have failed completely to fill the two centre back positions and Kalas seems the best so far. Surely there must be a defender operating in the lower divisions who can do a good job and would come to us at a reasonable price.

[Carborundum]

We need two starting defenders of Kalas' quality or higher.  One of them needs to be bigger than Kalas, or we will continue to struggle against a certain style of play and will be targeted.

Given that he's not our player and will be a target for any number of clubs this summer, I'm not investing too much hope in us signing him, but would welcome it if it happens. 

[toshes mate]

£8m for a Champions League defender, surely not, but everyone knows be have defensive problems so we will be subjected to rip off asking prices.

Since Hangeland and Hughes left we have failed completely to fill the two centre back positions and Kalas seems the best so far. Surely there must be a defender operating in the lower divisions who can do a good job and would come to us at a reasonable price.

Agree.  I also believe SJ feels that Ream is the best partner for Kalas as their play is complementary together and with the full backs and defensive midfielders.  I don't think Chelsea's asking price for Kalas will be quite as high as this thread guesses; I also don't feel he will be on Chelsea's radar as a future squad performer and surely that will affect decisions made in the summer.

[toshes mate]

We need two starting defenders of Kalas' quality or higher.  One of them needs to be bigger than Kalas, or we will continue to struggle against a certain style of play and will be targeted.

I certainly feel height is an issue we have struggled with all season in set pieces etc.  But we have also struggled with positional cover because of our style of play which suggests we need speed too.

[Tonywa]

Rather depends in which division we are playing. I would try to keep him if we remain in the Championship, but not if we managed to get promoted.