What if Poulsen is an indirect replacement for say, Marchionni or Iaquinta? Ranieri might just be scared that what happened to us in midfield the past season happens again. In case Marchisio doesn't cut it, Xabi doesn't settle or if he wants to play another formation and wants alternatives.
The other option could be that instead of getting a creative central midfielder, we're getting someone in the vdV mould that would require extra protection in midfield.
I might be optimistic, but I just can't see our board considering Poulsen and alternative to Xabi. They've made some bad signings in the past, but they were all player types that we needed.
We wanted creative midfielders and we got Almirón and Tiago, who didn't have the quality but were the player types we needed.
We needed another destructive midfielder as a Zanetti alternative and we got Nocerino. Showed a lot of promise, didn't work out.
We needed a loyal 3rd choice striker, we bought Iaquinta.
We needed an experienced centre back and got Andrade.
We needed left back cover and got Molinaro, but he became first choice thanks to Andrade's injury.
As you can see, we got the right type of player, but not always the right player.
If our management is consistent, we won't be getting Poulsen instead of Alonso. We might get an inferior deep lying playmaker such as Cigarini if the Alonso deal fails, though.