Caicedo or Rice for over £100m?

Both of them are not worth more than 70M pounds, even in this market. So very well done to West Ham and Brighton.


There is no doubt the market is crazy but like property prices the thirst of buyers will always drive prices up.

In the day no club would even offer players over 30 more than a one year deal now you have clubs willing handing out multiple year deals and paying sizeable fees when clearly there is unlikey to any resale value or indeed the likelihood that you will ever get more than the initial contract period

Of course older players bring with them experience as opposed to youngsters who have greater chance to develop but the fact is that all transfers come with a risk and how you determine value isn’t just based on the here and now

Lets look at Casemiro for instance price wise and of course experience difficult to argue with but he is now 31 and it’s inevitable that in terms of performances he isn’t going to improve nor will he be getting another deal in 3-4 years time . Will he prove to have delivered value for money?

Many clubs, Chelsea are one and Arsenal are another have decided to bring in younger players and that is a big gamble of course and whilst I am far from sold on the awarding extra long contracts it does protect the value even if the value was crazy in the first place but it’s only a matter of time a £75-£100 million is being paid as a matter of course
 
People were crapping on £50m for Mount, so neither of these are worth £100m.
 
Generally prefer Caicedo.

Also wouldn't be overly precious about how much they paid for a DM. With Casemiro 31 years old, we might need to be shopping in that same market again before too long. :nervous:
I think we have DM covered beyond Casemiro in both Mainoo if he develops and I have always thought Martinez would be fantastic there once we get another CB who is better than him.
 
I don't see how, with Casemiro already occupying that sole deep midfield slot. Unless this is a hypothetical "what if we bought one of them and played two deep midfielders?"

Rice is well capable of playing box to box and there’s plenty of games in a season where playing him and Casemiro together would be a great option to have.

All it’s buts and maybes though. We were never going to sign him. So spilt milk an’ all that…
 
Personally think Caicedo worth 100m. Rice is not so much.
 
Both are overrated.

Neither of them worth 100 million, Pogba costed the same and he was a much better player than both before he moved to United.

They could both be a big failure.
 
This is not even a question. Caicedo all the way, just by virtue of being several years younger and a multifunctional.
 
How did Rice play today?
He was good. Defensively was very solid as usual though Forrest didn't make much of a go at it until 2-0 down. He got forward a few times, could have had a goal but scuffed it into the ground. If Arteta is able to develop the offensive side of his game like he plans to, think he'd be well worth his insane price tag.
 
Of course neither are worth that, but it's a specialized position. We spent years trying to get that role, and at the highest level, its in short supply, similar to a striker in the current market. In an ultra fluid hyper attacking system which most of the top teams are playing or transitioning to, this is the one player in the front 6 who is relatively fixed. No one else is able to do their job. I can understand the price, but I also feel you could still find better for much cheaper.
 
Of course neither are worth that, but it's a specialized position. We spent years trying to get that role, and at the highest level, its in short supply, similar to a striker in the current market. In an ultra fluid hyper attacking system which most of the top teams are playing or transitioning to, this is the one player in the front 6 who is relatively fixed. No one else is able to do their job. I can understand the price, but I also feel you could still find better for much cheaper.
See this a lot. Who could we get for cheaper that would be better than Caceido/Rice?
 
Wouldn't pay that much for a player with their qualities. But if having to choose I'd be Caicedo 100%.
 
See this a lot. Who could we get for cheaper that would be better than Caceido/Rice?
It's about getting them earlier. Camavinga is a superior player than both and he only cost Madrid about 30M.

Right now there aren't many CDM with the same level/potential than Rice and specially Caicedo. Since Enzo Fernandez it seems 100M it's the benchmark for any CDM with potential so we'll hardly see any others move for much less unless scouted earlier.
 
It's about getting them earlier. Camavinga is a superior player than both and he only cost Madrid about 30M.

Right now there aren't many CDM with the same level/potential than Rice and specially Caicedo. Since Enzo Fernandez it seems 100M it's the benchmark for any CDM with potential so we'll hardly see any others move for much less unless scouted earlier.
It is very difficult to get a deal like Camavinga, and buying a youngster is never guaranteed.
And yes in the last 12 months the market has gone haywire. I don't think you'd get a deal like Camavinga today. Bellingham, who was a little older than Camavinga was when he joined Real, has gone for crazy money also.
I also think regarding the Rice deal, we didn't pay for "potential" in the same way as Camavinga (from France) and even Bellingham (from Bundesliga) or Caceido. Rice is a bit older (24) with over 200 appearances in the league. So considerably more experienced at this level than the others.
 
People were crapping on £50m for Mount, so neither of these are worth £100m.
Definitely that. Even though he is in last year of his contract, but when we see other midfielders like Rice, Bellingham, Caicedo and Paqueta all costing 100m this summer, you have to wonder is 55m really that bad of the value.
 
Definitely that. Even though he is in last year of his contract, but when we see other midfielders like Rice, Bellingham, Caicedo and Paqueta all costing 100m this summer, you have to wonder is 55m really that bad of the value.
Those players you mentioned are all better than Mount though, younger except Rice?, and have multiple years left in their respective contracts.
 
It's about getting them earlier. Camavinga is a superior player than both and he only cost Madrid about 30M.

Right now there aren't many CDM with the same level/potential than Rice and specially Caicedo. Since Enzo Fernandez it seems 100M it's the benchmark for any CDM with potential so we'll hardly see any others move for much less unless scouted earlier.

While you say this but currently we are in the same situation re Lavia/Caicedo. Lavia costing less than half but most think thats expensive. And its not a sure bet.
Camavinga was in the last year of his contact and wanted only Madrid so can't compare.