Nicolas Otamendi joins Benfica from Manchester City

By
Roy Nemer
-
66

Nicolas Otamendi has joined Benfica from Manchester City, signing for three seasons.

After five years at the club, the 32 year old defender is back in Portugal. Winning every major trophy in English football, Otamendi leaves for €15 million. He won two Premier Leaguee trophies, an FA Cup, four Football League Cups and two Community Shields.

Otamendi has been selected by Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni for next month’s World Cup qualifiers.

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66 Comments

  1. Otamendi having been declining since 2018 already. Didn’t do well in the world cup and did TERRIBLE in Copa America. Still remember with Gabriel Jesus who is 30 pounds lighter than him, bodied him away like nothing and scores for 2-0. The problem with him is he can play well for 90% of the match and then he loss concentration and does some stupid stuff.

  2. Hi everyone… I joined this valuable group as an Argentina fan since 1978 ….
    Hope Scaloni would select Senesi and C Romero instead of Kanneman and The injured Pezella …as these two marches can somehow allow us to inject new blood in order to test our defense …. Martinez Quarta and N Perez can fulfill our CBs along with Montiel and Taghliafico … with EM Martinez in the cage … in Midfield we can go with Paredes as DM along with De Paul and Locelso … in attack Messi ,Lautaro and Ocampos …. as shown the formation is 433 that can be turned to 4141 or 41311 or 4132…. it depends on the scoresheet ….have a great moment !!!

  4. Hello! everyone I am a big fan of Argentina since 1998 and it’s my dream to see Argentina win World cup one day ,I am from India and I have been regularly seeing all your comments and it makes me happy to visit Mundoalbiceleste everyday

    • Unfortunate… Hope for a speedy recovery. RB was already a tricky position for us. Montiel has barely played in the past 6 months nor has Foyth, who is a CB in club. I hope Nahuel Molina shines for Udinese.

  8. Rumour…. Parma calcio close to signing juan
    brunetta from godoy cruz….. parmas earlier bid was rejected… but now its clear that brunetta is set to sign for parma.. he was close to a move to monza of serie b but at the last moment parma entered the market and hijacked the move… reliability4.5/5

  9. Rumour..

    Villareal looking to sign juan foyth on a season long loan with an obligation to buy….. Valencia also interested… leeds bid of 25 million rejected earlier… Villareal in pole position to sign him…. reliability 4/5

  10. Villarreal looking to seal Foyth deal

    Villarreal are looking to seal a deal for Tottenham defender Juan Foyth – according to El Periodico Mediterraneo.

    The Spanish giants want to sign the 22-year-old on loan until the end of the season, and are open to including a buy-option in any final agreement.

    Spurs are eager to send Foyth out on loan so he can take in regular minutes, with Valencia also interested in his services.

  11. Hi guys.im new here.im die hard fan of arg. I have posted few comments here, I have been following arg NT since 2002.im from Maldives. Could any one please tell me when is arg playing first WCQ game and please tell me the match time (in GMT time) as I can follow the match from Livescore.com.my country is five hours ahead of GMT.pls inform me the date and time of arg next game.

    • Barcelona Assistant coach Alfred Schreuder has taken special note of Barça B centre-back Ramos Mingo, who entered the squad list for the game against Villarreal on Sunday. Schreuder is very convinced by the youngster. as per MD article.

  13. It seems we have really good team.specially in the up front eventhough defense is bit shaky.here is my line up.

    Ocampos. Dybala/Lautaro Messi

    De Paul. Gomez/parades. Le Ceslo

    Tagli Pazella. Perez Foyth/Montiel

    Martinez /Musso

    My view is that all the departments are strong enough to play against any national team.we still have lots of talents on the bench.just need to use them properly and efficiently. We have very talented, let’s say exceptional talents at the up front.messi,dybala,Ocampos and very skillfull midfield,de Paul,Gomez,le ceslo,parades.i think no other country has these kind of relents in forward and midfield position. All these players are really on good form and plays exceptionally well for their respective clubs.

      • I’m pretty sure that Scolani will fix the defense problem sooner than later.we have talents in terms of defenders just need more playing time I. Thier respective club and show Thier efficiency. Here in this blog I heard enough that we only have Medicure defensders and they are very very weak like third class NT.But I cannot agree with that, coz our defenders are not attracted by big clubs.as most of our defenders play in mid-table clubs or in weaker leagues does not mean our defenders are that bad.may be not best as German or Brazil defenders , but still we have abundant talents in defense as well.like tagli,sarvia,Foyth,Pazella,Montiel. I don’t know the reason why our defense players are not attracted by big clubs.however previous NT matches had given us clue that our defenders can compete or match with so called talented forwards in football power houses.
        And furthermore we have atleast two decent goalies. In comparison with 2018 WC squad and last year Copa squd , the current squad has more depth and strength.Scolani just need to call in-form players and with right tactics we can surpasse any NT.

  14. Positive:
    He’s going to play regularly.
    His confidence level will be increased.
    He will be still at the top level at least until the next WC.

    In Manchester City, Pep wants attacking football, which is not good for any defenders. Anytime you may lose your opponent, it may end up in a goal. And every blame will be turned to you.
    A good tactic with a proper defensive structure will be ideal for him. He has some years left.
    Demichelis is a great example.

  15. Sometimes we miss out on the obvious!!
    Taking this opportunity to sincerely thank Otamendi who along with Aguero , Zabaleta , Tevez & Demichelis made me support Man City at some point . A true General & our best defender post 2014 . Wish him atleast another 2-3 years of high octane football thanks to this Benfica move & hope he & vertogen make a great CB pair. He has another crucial responsibility of helping some of the youngsters land well at NT.

  16. Emiliano. Martinez should start between the post,he is a complete package and knows one or two thing about goalkerping and positioning.If we want to win tournaments we need complete package in goalkeeping,Emi Martinez is good in shot stopping,commanding,positioning,long and short range pass.Armani lacks many things not good with feets,positioning is average,avg commanding.
    Argentina should not make silly decisions or they are going to cost title again.Emi Martinez is no brainer.Rght back and Left wing some issues,other position are quite secured

    • i am pretty confident that Tycsports report on starting 11 is BS. If Scaloni actually ignores Emiliano or Musso & goes with Armani , it will be sad & most fan’s confidence on manager will take a massive fall. IMO Emi & Musso should be given 1 each game to start with. As season unfolds , Scaloni can lock Emiliano provided he is consistently displaying current form.
      Also wish to see Papu getting a starting chance in Ecuador game. Playing him & Messi together means others should cover up more ground. Let Dybala handle the La Paz heights

      • Agreed about Tycsports’s line up prediction, it’s nonsensical since with that line up Ocampos has to play midfield and while he is able to do that (did so 2 seasons ago with Marsailles) it’s not his position.
        If Scaloni were to play a 4-3-3 with a Messi-Lautaro-Dybala triade upfront then he’ll have to add either Acuna or Celso to the midfield at the expense of Ocampos.

        • Mamoun i think it will be 4-2-3-1 scaloni goes with Double pivote
          Armani
          Montiyel-pezzela-Otamendi-Taglia
          ——— paredes— De paul——–
          —-Messi— Dybala— Ocampos—–
          —————-Lautaro——-

          • You could be right Reyan, your formation works on paper but I doubt it would work on the pitch even against a weaker team.
            Messi’s days as a RW are well behind him, Dybala isn’t at his best as a 10 (even though he could pull it off with his creativity) and De Paul -versatile as he may be- is no holding midfielder.
            Then again Scaloni does have the habit of making such brain farts so it wouldn’t surprise me if he does go with such a formation.

          • It will be the Nightmare of Ecuador football team. Scaloni’s intension is clear… Go,run, attack and attack…ruin the Defence of Ecuador and collect 3 points. Thats it

    • hmm. segunda 2nd division. I think he deserved more . Bad timing .he should have jumped out last year & he could easily fit into a mid table La Liga side.

      • Because Argentina is bankrupt and so are the primera clubs and thus they have to sell to the MLS, Russia, mideast and now even the 2nd division sides to make ends meat, it’s very sad but it is what it is.
        Robertone is a legit talent and hearing that he’s going to the 2nd division does make me sad but Emi Buendia played in the 2nd division and it didn’t seem to affect his abilities when he came to the EPL and sometimes certain sides and players come out stronger when playing in lower leagues, atleast that’s what I tell myself.

  18. ………………Mertinez…………
    Foyth-perez-otamendi-taglia
    Di paul—…………..—ocampos
    ……………gomez………..
    Messi—………….—lautaro
    …………..dybala………..
    Sub:lo celso,paredes,dominguez ,acuna,mac alister,alario,balardi,facundo,montel,pezzela,gonzalez
    I don’t select pezzela in my team..because he is injury maybe, otherwise i will select him

  19. Otamendi and Nehuen Perez should start if Pezella is injured.Emiliano Martinez should be first choice keeper.Pezella and Otamendi are tactical defenders they thrives under good tactical system and that give them extra edge in defending.

    • Mourinho doesn’t even use foyth for the bench.
      Mourinho even played tanganga (who just came back from injury) over foyth against chelsea . For what reason did they reject such a huge offer. 25 million would have been great money for him.

      • A lot of people here have spoken about how the Argentina team at Leeds is just media talk and while that is mostly true, they genuinely tried to get Foyth and Tottenham wouldn’t allow it, same with Udinese pricing de Paul out (if I were Leeds I would’ve bought anyway). What do Tottenham need him for? Training? He doesn’t even show up on the bench. Hopefully a loan move to La Liga works out.

    • As I keep saying don’t believe anything you hear from those transfer sites since 99% of their stuff is bull***t.
      Spurs would sell Foyth in a heartbeat if they got 25 mill for him, they (apparently) weren’t keen on sending him out on loan.

      • yes most times agents implant stories in media to inflate price points. Fulham, Valencia , Villareal still looking for a CB & Foyth is an active candidate. So in all probability – his agent would have got this story issued now to maximize sell price. Having said Mourinho has handled Foyth so badly & killing a talent. Foyth needs to leave Tottenham

        • Look at the timing. This news comes out now in last week when agent is desperate to do a deal for foyth & there are 3 suitors who genuinely need a CB. agent just wants to get a good sell price now. Btw Leeds live is not an official handle of Leeds United. If u see details , they say they are just aggregating football transfer ‘gossip ‘ & in this news also says ‘ as per mundo deportivo’. It’s one of the news that can be safely ignored.

          • If anyone wants to hear genuine transfer news , I will recommend to follow Fabrizio Romano in Twitter. The guy has amazing credibility in reporting transfer news & he does it like 24×7 during this time. I have been following him for like 2months & not once I saw a gossip. He clearly validates before posting.

          • Well done amit, Romano is a credible source and should be followed and if any of you want to know about Foyth you can ask him over twitter, he may respond. I can tell you for a fact that no way, NO.WAY. would Spurs reject a 25 mill pounds offer for Foyth, heck Levi would be doing backflips if that were to happen.

  21. I hope this is just a bad hit and he recovered quickly because too many Argentineans players like Mammana, Lanzini, gago, Milito have seen their careers ruined by nasty injuries.

    • +rojo. He totally went down after the ACL injury in 2017. 2014-17 – the guy was a beast . Had pace, strength, ball play . Was rash & positiining at times was suspect. .but his strengths definitely eclipsed the weakness.

      • Marcos Rojo ??? Come one he is a total joke ! The dumbest defender i saw this 10 last years… Thanks again for your Red card against Chile in 2016 Copa America finals Marcos …

    • Yes ..most logical. Pezzella seems to have a minor fitness issue. Otamendi has proven earlier that lack of club match time doesn’t necessarily impact his NT form. So he shld be good for first match. It’s great he is moving to benfica. Will get solid minutes.l

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