If anything, if he is having a bad season(he’s not, he’s just been a bit off since the restart which can easily change someone’s perception), the fact his numbers are still so good says a lot.
This reminds me a lot of the Madders chat in 2021.
Leicester fans turning on him because of a poor run of games, completely discounting the numbers he put out that season. Some were desperate for him to go and he ended up being by far their best player the following season, putting out his best goal and assist numbers to date.
It is not 40m though. It’s 10m loan fee and then 40m buy. That’s 50m euros for 28 year old.
That’s a lot of money for someone who most likely only has 2-3 seasons at peak productivity.
I don’t see why calling 50m euros excessive is so surprising.
Kalidou Koulibaly was the best center back in Serie A but is quite shit for Chelsea.
Koulibaly wasn’t the best CB in Serie A when Chelsea signed him. Hasn’t been for some time.
SMS is just now entering the peak of his career. We signed Partey for 50m euros as well. He’s arguably our most important player now at 29 years old.
The club was apparently interested in SMS for next summer but if we brought this forward by paying just a little bit more considering our shitty depth and being in a good position to win both PL and EL, I think it would be good business.
It was be a sign of intent from the club not to repeat the same mistake as last January.
We got Partey for 2 seasons prior to him turning 29 so there is a difference in paying 45m pounds for Partey compared to SMS who is turning 28 in Feb.
I didn’t argue if it is good business or not. I simply called it excessive, which it is no matter how you try to justify it.
For the record, 45m for Partey is also excessive in hindsight because it took him awful long to get going.
It’s a weird situation all round, he’s playing well Lazio are in the European places. He’s not signing another contract which runs out summer 2024,but he doesn’t want to leave without Lazio getting a transfer fee.
So it’s understandable that Lazio want to maximise their fee in their current situation even though the buying club are gonna think why they should pay that amount with little time left on his contract.
I think the mistake was by SMS and Lazio making his desire public
So you don’t watch him but think the price is too high based on the fact he’s 28 in a month or so? And you likened his signing to Koulibaly who had looked past it way before Chelsea signed him?
If we signed him, yes, he would be the most suitable to fill in for Partey.
He also should be starting ahead of Xhaka too. He’s someone who would improve our first team further.
He’s essentially like Partey. Extremely well rounded. Tall guy, very physical, can use both feet, great under pressure, can pull off a deadly pass from anywhere, bit like KdB, and he can certainly shoot.
On a political level I stand with Xhaka. But on the other hand, those two hugging on the pitch and advocating for peace… Maybe that can prevent another war. Arsenal running the peacekeeping
