TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
Dortmund, RBL, Leicester, I'm sure there are a couple of French teams that make more sense like Lille. If he's good enough he will get chances and patience these places that he won't find here.
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OR he could look at Dom and think, hey up, this Club gives young players a chance if they show the hunger, maybe this is the place for me, I mean I'm sure he looks at Lookman and shudders.
TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
Even looking at Dom, ok he made it, but first he played out of position for a couple of years and had to overcome the club spending on Cenk Tosun because they didn't trust him. Plus what is the second best case in the last 5 years? Holgate? Are we even sure Holgate is good? Not to mention again someone played out of position and who has seen multiple players bought to block his path.
We are not going to be seen as the ideal place for talent to develop at this point in time.
Martin Alvito
Player Valuation: £50m
There isn't such a clear pathway to first team action at his position, because we're not shouldering Digne aside for him.
It's like when Barry Sanders got stuck behind Thurman Thomas at Oklahoma State. Unless you're as precocious as Rooney, you're not displacing an a solid player or future all-time great that's already performing at a high level (not that I'm saying that about Digne). You're hoping for an opportunity due to injury or a Ronaldinho-level collapse of form.
TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
The problem isn't Digne, of course he's not going to beat him out today, neither would Nkounkou. The problem is Digne gets injured and instead of giving Nkounkou time to grow into the role he's yanked off and never seen again after one not even that bad showing. The problem is when he's got the clear opening it still could get closed off.
Brands backed Dom tho.
He will have sat the boy down and shown him the pathway, its there if he wants to take it.
Carlo has shown he trusts the youth, you just have issues with other managers in the past that have discarded them.
He gave Niels a run-out and he possibly felt as tho he wasn't quite ready, the boys a year older now, whos to say he wont be turned to next season.
TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
Carlo trusts the youth if you view players we spent over 20m who happen to not be 27 yet as doing so. I do not see it that way.
Martin Alvito
Player Valuation: £50m
Fair enough - some of the CBs are also in the pecking order at the position.
If he's good enough, he can push them and Nkounkou aside. But I think the broader concern is that Digne doesn't seem to be going anywhere and very likely has 4+ years left in him.
That's not exactly a great shout. We literally didn't have any other options than DCL. We gave him all the time in the world with almost no pressure whatsoever. Before last season he was our striker who scored 11 in 84 matches. And, still, they persisted.
Small has one of the best LBs in the Premier League in front of him who is at a still very good age.
I mean Small is the youngest player in our entire history to play for us.
But OK.
TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
He played what 5 minutes against the worst team in the championship? I think his ambition is a tad higher.
Yeah nobody will ever be given as much time as Dom, IMO, I mean the lad showed flashes early on, but he was quite bad, GRANTED played on the left wing, but the player he was, nobody will allowed that much leeway again.
But maybe we have seen the rewards?
Brands backed him, loads, all our managers played him, so they all clearly saw something that maybe wasn't obvious to most of us.
I think at 16 he will be quite pleased.
I hope his ambitions are much higher, I hope his hunger takes him to the very top, with us!
Yeah, I'm sure we have seen rewards from it, or at least will if we sell him. But theres no much of a pathway to move a LB in to the LB position. I really do wish Carlo had Nkounkou and Small come in at LW late in matches. Nkounkou has shown really good crossing, he literally cannot be worse than an Iwobi.
TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
He's going to see what has happened with the likes of Bellingham, who if I'm not mistaken he's rated as high as or thereabouts, and ask why he's supposed to wait 3 more years. And we are going to have to answer that. I'm just unsure how good our answer is.
I don't want him to leave! But I also don't like the signs.
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