by Pig Catcher » Thu Jun 13, 2019 2:13 pm
Something that makes Fekir quite a good fit is that he has already shown in his career that he can play 3 different roles that we employ. First and foremast he would play as the 10 whether we play a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. And even though he is a different type of player to Mane and Salah, he can play as a wide forward. He has also played as a false 9 and has excellent pressing stats so would be a good alternative to Firmino.
You could look at the midfield options as per the below but I don't think it quite tells the whole picture. Firstly, we all know that Lallana's time at the club is coming to an end. He's on the best contract he will ever have so I wouldn't blame him if he decided to stay here until it expires next summer. But regardless of what he has said in the media, if a decent club came along offering him first team football and it made sense financially for both him and the club, he'd be off. Secondly, I don't think we will look to have three or four specialist attackers to cover Firmino, Mane and Salah the way we have in midfield. We will probably buy one who would be first change, but beyond that, I think if Fekir was at the club he would replace Firmino, Mane or Salah if they weren't playing, ahead of Shaq and Brewster. Finally, Milner is almost like a spare man who in addition to being able to play in midfield, can also cover both fullback roles. I don't see us buying both specialist LB and RB cover.
No one has any idea if we're still interested in Fekir but if the people at the club are comfortable with the financials and his knee, then he'd be an excellent fit and there is space for him here whether Lallana leaves this summer or next.
.....................6
Fabinho
Gini
......8 10
Keita Fekir
Hendo Ox
Milner Lallana