I think the more I waatch us, beyond a striker, a quality number 8 is the biggest priority. All our options for different reasons as a number 8 are crap...including Eriksen, defensively lacking and legs are gone as much as Matic.
So, I know a good player, but Rabiot and some of these other free signings in other areas...dont care if they are cheap, they dont solve the problem. Weve missed out on a few good midfielders Caicedo and ENzo obviously spring to mind....but there are a whole host of real quality young midfielders around at the moments Rice, Bellingham, Lavia, Caqueret, Le Fee, etc etc etc, several South AMericans look quality....we are talking price ranges from £10/20m up to nearer £100m....are they as experienced, of course not, but our side has experience, but the abilities and versatility of some of these players with very differing skill sets adds so much more to our side.
I really like Jae, he looks quality...but why is everyone so happy to sped over £40m on what could or could not be a back up centre back....yet are looking for free or cheap options in central midfield when beyond some promising youngsters we are stacked with at best medicority?
Everyone is happy to spend £40m on Jae because…
Varane can’t play every week and misses a good 1/3 of games every season. So we need a top tier CB to cover those games as well as any Martinez misses. Lindelof is good and has performed well since we lost both Varane and Martinez, but as we’ve seen in the past he isn’t top tier. If we want to get to City’s level we need to build a squad with comparable depth, otherwise going for titles and trebles will never be possible, as a weak depth will cost us points and cup ties.
Kim is right footed but has played mainly at LCB for Napoli this season, so is clearly competent at playing on either side which is what we also need. Sure Shaw can fill in but then we‘re taking possibly the best LB in the league out of position.
He’s perfectly suited to the Prem. He’s quick, aggressive and tall (if that’s still an argument) so we can play a high line with him. He’s good on the ball, not Martinez level, but certainly better than Varane (and Varane’s alright). He’s great at making runs, like Maguire used to do at Leicester, but he’s much quicker and more aggressive.
He’s also been one of the best CBs in the world this year and just hitting his peak years. Without his release clause he’s easily worth £80m (given he’s at Napoli, maybe even more). So £43m is simply incredible value in this crazy market of inflated fees.
To answer you question as to why people are happy to cheap out in CM, I guess that’s just because this summer there are some pretty interesting options due to contract situations. And other options like Fe Jong and Bellingham aren’t happening.
Rabiot is a good level or two above McTominay so for free it just makes sense to get him and move on Scott for 20-30m. As for going for someone like Le Fee for 20m, we still have Eriksen who is quality in 80% games but in the 20% against the top 6 and harder CL games he tends to struggle due to the intensity. Someone like Le Fee may be less technical today than Eriksen, but could offer more in those tough games (as would Rabiot), and would long term replace Eriksen naturally in the squad over the next year or two as his technical level improves.
Long answer but that’s my perspective. That being said I want us to get Caicedo in over Le Fee as I just think he’s too good to miss out on to a domestic rival.
