Except that he's a 28 year old Italian with very little top level experience. And in that little top level experience, he was a gigantic flop for Italy.
I'm really not sure he's going to get any better than his current level and I'm sure given the way we play, he's not going to produce the same numbers like he does for Sassuolo.
That said, I don't really mind him if he's cheap because we need wingers but I don't think he's going to be cheap or reasonable. Pretty much the main point of contention for most people here.
He's 27, and I really don't think that matters much considering people speak about him like he's 42. Even if he doesn't improve in the slightest, he's still vastly superior to the majority of our players at the moment, this is undenyable. The man almost single-handedly carries Sassuolo for years now with double digit goals and assists. We went out and bought a very expensive young striker, now think about who we have that can create for him. I can think of two players, one is coming back from a very serious injury and the other is currently 34 years old. Bringing in a player that assists about ever other game is exactly what we need. As much as I desperately care about what happens with the national team, it has almost no relevance to here.
About his production, if Allegri likes him and thinks that he would fit in his system, I'm inclined to believe him, especially considering we're supposed to be giving him more trust now.
But I think a player that can dribble and control the ball like he can will be useful pretty much anywhere he goes and would probably be a breath of fresh air to our stale team.
That's fair. Price can't be known for sure until a deal is done. As I said, he a player in his prime that basically carries Sassuolo and has excellent numbers, €40M sounds about right when you consider what he provides for them, but I'm sure it will either be reduced a bit or broken into separate payments per usual.
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