I'm not saying we should compromise on quality but rather I would like to see us adopt a strategy in the market where we show restraint and discipline when choosing who to buy, when to buy and for how much. A year ago not many had even heard of Enzo Fernandez, and today he's a 'must buy' player for some people. I think we should be careful and pivot away from certain hyped up players and look to sign said players, before the hype takes hold and their market value explodes.
Liverpool and City are two good examples under their current managers where they've shown restraint and discipline in the transfer market, where they've signed players for reasonable sums after refusing to be drawn into auctions whilst attempting to sign their primary targets (City). And Liverpool first created the foundations by signing the likes of Wijnaldum and Robertson etc for reasonable sums before getting to a stage where they could add the final touches and then pushed the boat out for the likes of Van Dijk and Allison. Wijnaldum for example turned out to be a much better player in the EPL compared to Pogba who we broke the world transfer record for. And Liverpool didn't compromise on quality when they signed Wijnaldum, but rather they bought a player who was a tactical fit for the high pressure/high intensity game style they wanted to implement under Jurgen Klopp. And they did that by paying a reasonable fee to a relegated Newcastle United.
I haven't considered the likes of Hannibal and Mainoo over the more established players, hence I mentioned Caicedo and Bennacer as potential signings. But it's not about what us the fans think but rather what the first team head coach and the football director decide together on how they plan ahead with the talented youth at the club. Garnacho for example wasn't considered the biggest talent at youth level by many but he's a first team player right now. So it's important for the footballing hierachy to be decisive in their decision making like they've shown with Garner's sale and Garnacho's inclusion in the first team. But I don't believe it's easy for them to operate under the current owners.
Caicedo is a different profile of player to Enzo Fernandez. They would be compatible playing together, with Caicedo having strong defensive skills, where his speed, athleticism and anticipation would enable him to manage and contain large spaces in a high defensive line, which would allow the midfield conduit to play with a bit more freedom and knit it all together in a connector/conductor role. The most important thing is to get the midfield composition correct, which would then allow the positional play principles to potentially thrive.
Everyone attacks and everyone defends. But the composition of the midfield should ideally be one where you have one midfielder who is the holding midfielder, the second one who is the #6/#8 and the AM who has the ability to play both as the #8 and #10. And all three central players should provide a technical security in possession if the plan is to exert, zonal and positional control which would allow ten Hag's vision to take shape on the pitch. And Enzo Fernandez is just one of a number of players who fits into the connector role, but I think it won't be the end of the world if we end up signing someone who is a little less proven but has similar potential for considerably less than what Benfica will likely demand for Fernandez.
you've changed your tune about his performance yesterday.