by aCe' » Tue Jun 28, 2016 6:06 pm
Let's put this in perspective.
Is he worth the 38mill, being our most expensive buy ever ?
On paper he isn't (not many players at the high end are worth what you pay for them really; Wanyama at 11mill is the exception), but if he goes out and has a Suarez/Torres impact however unlikely that is, he will be worth it and more.
Is he better than what we have ?
Overall, I think he's slightly better than Lallana, significantly better than Firmino, and a step behind Coutinho.
Will he transform our style of play, or suddenly make us competitors ?
No & no. Cant think of a single player we can realistically go for (Yaya Toure and Ibrahimovic come close) who would make us competitors overnight or would warrant a drastic change in style for.
Does he come in to fill a blatant gap in our tarting 11?
Many will argue that he doesn't, but I think he does. We needed someone who is direct, can score goals, and has a bit of pace. Mane has all these qualities. We had/have the names on the team sheet but how effective they are is questionable.
Is he the best option in his position we could have gotten for what we paid ?
Another question that is perhaps up for debate. I think one of the big boys would have paid that money if we hadn't sooner or later. The best AMs and forwards go for big money and would probably want CL football and big wages. If we agree that we arent competing with the likes of City and Chelsea, then Mane is up there with the other 30-40mill gambles (Sane, Mahrez, Gotze, etc.) you'd take in the hope of them stepping up to the plate when playing regularly at the highest level. Personally, I would have gone for all the names I've mentioned or Draxler (probably the best of the bunch but in a different price bracket) but I'd also say that they are all bigger risk/bigger reward signings than Mane.
Given our current squad, does his signing represent the best way of spending 30-40mill ?
I think most Liverpool fans recognize the main weaknesses in the current starting 11 and squad. It would be silly to suggest the management aren't equally worried about them. GK, LB, at least 1 CM are all almost must-buys for this window. We've signed a young GK. Whether he is better than Mignolet, he starts, he does well, or not is yet to be seen. Given the player's reputation and the low fee paid, many would be forgiven for thinking he was signed as cover for Mignolet, in which case we'd desperately need to sign a GK. Now that we've signed an attacking player for big money, lets hope we don't compromise on quality for the other positions we need to address.
so hopefully we get a better return this time.
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