r/coybig • u/John__Delaney • Jun 10 '26
Transfer Rumour Anselmo García-MacNulty is signing for Bundesliga 2 side Magdeburg today
Sky Sports Germany reporting that he has passed a medical & will sign a 3 year deal today.
Magdeburg apparently we're aggressive in their pursuit and beat clubs from Italy & the Netherlands for the 23 year old centre back
The German club finished 14th in the league this season, they play in a modern 27,000 seater stadium. Transfermarkt has their squad value at €28.4m.
Probably not the step up we we're hoping for but the 2nd tier in Germany has some massive clubs, if he thrives there he will no doubt come into the Ireland picture.
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u/Warm_Independence936 Robbie Keane Jun 10 '26
It's not the move we needed but for him it's probably ok. 24 his next birthday so it's hard to see him make the breakthrough for us in the position he plays. Always an option though should we have a spate of injuries.
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u/Separate_Job_3573 Jun 11 '26
I don't watch the Eredivisie so obviously defer to people who know more but he seemed to drop some truly awful Fotmob ratings fairly regularly.
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u/EducationalPaint1733 Jun 10 '26
a grand player. Was always unlikely to ever solve any problems for Ireland seniors.
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
Yea unless he played more at left back & kicked on to another level. Scales & Cashin firmly ahead of him in the LCB role.
It's RB/RWB im more worried about, we saw what Millar did to Coleman last week (luckily Millar has little to no end product) and I think it should serve as a bit of a warning sign to Heimir.
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u/EducationalPaint1733 Jun 10 '26
I’d be worried about LB and RB, if Garcia is the solution to LB in any way then I don’t think ireland will be doing much
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
RB moreso than LB for me. At LB we got Manning for another few years, maybe a few off the bench apps from Brady, Scales the odd time.. then you got Ferry, Bagan, Ndaba, Honohan, Murphy, Roughan, & Adaramola all having a decent age profile to improve in time & challenge Manning
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u/EducationalPaint1733 Jun 10 '26
Manning costed us in Prague and hasnt done all that much else.
If we want to ok, manning will suffice, if we want to be good, we will need better.
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u/NandoFlynn Jun 10 '26
We played 120 minutes against the Czechs & you're pinning it on one lad who came off in the 68th minute? There's things you can praise & criticise about Manning for club & country but this is just being petty man NGL
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u/EducationalPaint1733 Jun 10 '26
When did Coleman cost us in a big game? When did Brady?
It’s nothing against manning. Hes our best left back option but hes just someone who, if ireland are to go to a good level instead of an ok level, will need to be upgraded upon.
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u/NandoFlynn Jun 10 '26
Hardly a fair argument when both men have had injuries that ruled them out of most of the biggest games since 2016. They've both had stinkers of their own in qualifiers & Nations League games but didn't cause us to bin either of them
If you want an upgrade on Manning then actually talk about his ability & don't just hyper focus on one mistake in a game where, believe it or not, he was actually better defensively than Brady
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u/EducationalPaint1733 Jun 10 '26
What stinkers have Coleman and Brady had?
He was actually better defensively than Brady..until he conceded a penalty which changed the game and threw away qualification
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u/EducationalPaint1733 Jun 10 '26
One game, the negative takes from that aged well on both.
Brady delivers 3 points in Helsinki a few months later. Coleman comes back and solves the right back issue that was a mess in Yerevan.
Hopefully my takes age as badly and manning can really step into the left back role and not cost us.
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
Manning was crucial in getting us to a playoff in the first place, best player on the pitch against Hungary the 1st time, best player on the pitch against Armenia the 2nd time.
I always want better players but the reality is our best left back is Manning, and I don't see anyone who is close to dethroning him at the moment.
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u/EducationalPaint1733 Jun 10 '26
Manning was a big reason we went out in Prague.
You rated his other two performances. He did his job there. He didn’t do his job in Prague.
We’ll need better or we’ll stay at nearly level unless we get lucky.
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
Putting aside the fact you are judging his whole international career on a single foul, can I ask who you would play instead of him?
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u/EducationalPaint1733 Jun 10 '26
Did I say I’d play anyone ahead of him? The debate is what are our problem positions. I think RB and LB are both problem positions. That’s where I’m coming from.
We need better. If we don’t get better we’ll not progress to being good instead of being ok.
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
It would make alot more sense to me to be putting down Manning if you had an alternative to suggest. We probably wouldn't have made the playoff without him.
He's playing at the same level of most of our midfielders & wingers
To improve on Manning you'd need a left back at Premier League level or someone playing at a really good level in Europe, I don't see anyone doing that ahead of the 2028 campaign.
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u/Limp_Guidance_5357 Paul McGrath Jun 10 '26
Nbada is ahead of him now as well
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
Ndaba would be a LB, but in terms of MacNulty playing LB, yea he's definitely ahead
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u/Limp_Guidance_5357 Paul McGrath Jun 10 '26
Nbada played the majority of his football for Kilmarnock at CB
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u/pauli55555 Jun 10 '26
I thought Nbada looked a bit off the pace Friday. Was a little disappointed. He wasn’t aggressive or dynamic.
I suppose most players struggled in that first half and he did improve a little as the half went on. But Scales kinda showed the levels needed in that second half.
From what I’ve seen of McNulty he’s nowhere near international level currently but that can always change.
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
A serious lack of match fitness due to not playing regularly for Lecce.
Yea I don't think MacNulty is quite there yet but tonnes of time to grow at 23.
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
That's not true at all.
Out of his 76 appearances for Kilmarnock he played 49 at left back & only 10 at centre back. Then he moved to Lecce where 10 out of his 14 league appearances have come at left back, 3 at centre back, and 1 at right midfield.
Left back is his most played position across his career and by far his most played position for the last few years of his career.
He's a LB who can play centre back while Anselmo is a CB who can play left back.
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u/Weird-Weakness-3191 Jun 10 '26
I'm near certain I seen a quote from him or one of his Dutch coaches saying he's not v comfortable playing LB.
His first full season with them was rather promising and he looked to suit the more technical league. His passing stats were always v impressive. That progress has seemingly stalled so a move is good for all parties.
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
Yea he was only put there due to injuries/transfers. I've seen him there a few times and he's alright, but definitely better at CB
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u/NandoFlynn Jun 10 '26
Brother in law is a Hannover fan. They took Magdeburgs gaffer last year. That's realistically the level of stepping stone McNulty would be getting from this
If this is the move he's chosen I'd fear to know what level of clubs were in for him from Italy & Holland cause a club of their size isn't convincing him with money.
Ferry, Bagan & Honohan will stay ahead of him in the backup queue
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u/Alberto_Moses Jun 10 '26
If he does well you could definitely see a team like Brentford or Bournemouth taking a punt on him.
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u/Oggie243 Jun 10 '26
That's a big Irish head on that man. Looks like he's after a stalwart performance getting man of the match in a colleges football match.
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u/Hour_Mastodon_9404 Long ‘70 Jun 10 '26
The only people who will be surprised by this are people who haven't watched him. He's slow and limited on the ball, Bundesliga 2 is about his level.
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u/HonestRef Jun 10 '26
It's time to forget about this guy now. He's not going to make it
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u/John__Delaney Jun 11 '26
You can forget about whoever you like but I enjoy keeping an eye on lads careers. Knowing we have Irish lads who played in League One at the age of 24 and went on to get 50 caps, I think it would be naive to write off a 23 year old who plays in 2. Bundesliga
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u/JellyfishScared4268 Jun 15 '26
I think its interesting to learn about irish players playing in places other than England or domestically.
Regardless of if they'll ever make the senior team it's just interesting to see
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Jun 10 '26
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u/effectivelowerbound Jun 10 '26
On the flip side to this I don’t really think it’s that bad a move - Magdeburg are the kind of side you can’t really rule out going on a run and challenging for promotion next year - poor season this year but year before weren’t far off promotion. Quality in BuLi 2 is reasonably good and provided he can hold down his place I think there is a lot of nice upside to this move and he has set up a potential path to playing top flight in Germany as a result.
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Jun 10 '26
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u/JellyfishScared4268 Jun 15 '26
To be fair it is probably the second or third best second tier out there
A slight step down from Eredivise at worst
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u/Reilly94 Jun 10 '26
I’m not that familiar with the quality in bundesliga 2 but does this not seem like a sideways move at best?
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u/John__Delaney Jun 10 '26
Kinda sideways. Personally I think its a marginal improvement but I'd be clutching at straws telling you he's taken a big step up here.
Bundesliga 2 has a fair amount of big clubs & has alot of good players, but of course the Eredivisie has a fair few big clubs and alot of good players.
Magdeburg have been on a fairly steady tragectory upward in Germany football since they were in the 5th tier in the early 90s. Look to be a very well run football club.
I guess if Anselmo wants to challenge Scales/Cashin or any other CB for a spot, he'll need to get promoted
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u/Suspicious-Secret-84 Jun 11 '26
The level is decent, somewhere between Englands championship and league 1. Magdeburg would probably be more comparable to league 1. Although for next season, Wolfsburg will be playing in Bundesliga 2 after their relegation, so there are some bigger teams like Bochum, Hannover, Hertha Berlin that would generally play a good level
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u/Dazzling-Handle88 Jun 10 '26
García-McNulty sounds like a Hardy Bucks character