I wouldnt be surprised if we might end up needing to replace Alves soon. Evra had a great first season as well (not quite Alves impact, but if Asamoah had played in 14/15 instead of Evra, i dont think we would have made that final), same age range (Alves turns 35 next May). Then the Bayern game happened and obv cost us. Alves isnt getting younger. We arent going to play CL final every year anyway. One year could be a huge difference, next season he might have injury problems related to his own longevity (played in average 49 games a season at Barcelona and rarely injured).
Obv Alves has had a bigger impact, which might mean we arent looking desperately for younger backups (i mean is De sciglio really going to bench him?).
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There is some nice talent in the league.
Bernadeschi and Keita would cost us around the same money as Mbappe combined
There is some good talent within the league we can use
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If we want to win the CL during next 2 years with the veterans we have, we dont really have time to nurture the talent. Keita and Shick together signed seems overkill if we still end up playing veterans like Mandzu, Higuain + Dybala who isnt veteran but is expected to start.
I mean i think yesterday we needed subs in midfield, the connection between the ball going from midfield to attack. We didnt have that. Pjanic did something first half, but faded away second, Khedira honestly was useless full game really. Of course someone like Morata could have been useful.
But say we had both Keita and Shick yesterday on bench, what kind of sub u make?