Weststander
Well-known member
Unpopular opinion, but not devoid of truth.
Mac is still the same player who left for the World Cup. An intelligent midfielder who comfortably sits at this level. He played in an Argentinian team who didn't have a rough ride to the final and had it not been for Messi would have fallen earlier.
Back in September here and elsewhere I was posting about the quality and consistency of Caicedo and Mac Allister. Imho they’d perform in the centre midfields of any top 6 team, immediately improving some of them.How many of the teams they played were comparable to top four Premier League sides ? France, yes. Croatia and Netherlands are capable sides but not Manchester City.
He had a very good tournament and playing alongside Messi did help that.
But before the tournament it was Trossard who was seen as our stand out player. The best thing about Mac is that the tournament added another £20m to his contract price. But it didn't make him a different player. Tidy and reliable. Good at this level and certainly for us. But I wouldn't use the term 'world class'.
I'd be surprised if there was a £70m offer because I think there are probably a number of quality players who clubs could snap for a bit less. It's the reason why Declan Rice still plays for West Ham.
Both a little under the radar for those who follow forwards or flying fullbacks, performing the vital yet unsexy roles of pivots, shielding the defence, destroying opposition 2’s or 3’s, covering ground box to box, instinctively knowing when to pass to game-changers. Very hard for opposition coaches to counter that, they’re seemingly everywhere, adding to the tactics confusion that Howe and others have mentioned post Albion games.
Trossard on his day is immense, I can see him as a squad player at ManC or a starter at Chelsea, consistency is his downfall.
Rice has repaid the faith shown in him as a 15 year old with loyalty, despite overtures, Chelsea has been spoken about as his destination for years.
The income of the European giants is accelerating away, transfer fee inflation is gathering pace. The CL distribution pot was €2.7b, by 2024/25 it’ll be €5b.
It’ll be interesting to see what fees TB will eventually accept for the two.
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