Regardless of that Pirlo is aging and this can't be reversed. I don't expect him to play as much as last year and certainly not with Nainggolan around.
So next year then...
Lies? No we have 4 good CMs and no other valid options around. Asamoah? We would need good LWB in that case.
Lies being that Marrone and Padoin are not good enough for the bench.
You don't know that. They seem to rate some of our youngsters so it's not far fetched theory. We've done similar deals before.
Not 100%, but I'm almost certain. You're saying that Cagliari are going to swap their best player for Marrone and a youth team striker. Sounds like fantasy stuff, we'd need to throw in money.
Appelt according to many will never be good enough to break into our 1st team. You're overrating the rest of them but suit yourself, only time will tell.
Not my opinion, I'm just mentioning their status. These kids are all good at their level, other teams wanted them. Obviously 95% don't make our team because we have a strong team, but the idea of our youth system is to bring through players for the first team. Given our strength in CM and this selection of players it's not unreasonable to think we at least have another Marrone in the bunch.
Having 5 good players is not stockpiling. Move on. You know how much we pay to our mids, attacker or defenders? We wouldn't break our bank with him.
Pirlo, Pogba, Marchisio, Vidal, Asamoah and Nainggolan = 6, into 3. You have to include Asamoah simply because he is a CM and the possibility of a 4-3-3 rules out his makeshift position. It's also why I'd prefer the money for a versatile wingback option.
It's for Conte to figure out. Injuries and suspensions can decimate any team. You never know what might happen and I repeat 5 players for 3 positions which have been crucial for our upraise is reasonable.
And there is a reason for that. Our mid has been vital for our success lately. Nainggolan would add a great depth and provide more competition. Who knows, he might just push someone out of starting 11.
And if he does someone will eventually leave. It's exactly what happens at teams who stockpile, you get 1, maybe 2 seasons from players in a back up role, then they leave. But that's not really the issue, it's paying for these players. You seem convinced of our finances, but I suspect that is no more true than those who convinced themselves we could pay €25m+ for players.
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Nainggolan might not even cost that much. Apparently we rate Marrone at 8-10m and Beltrame is maybe 2? Add 5m cash and we might have Nainggolan, hardly a 35m Modric transfer to sit on the bench.
Over who? I probably would take someone like Coentrao over Nainggolan but Nainggolan will still be really useful imo. If Matri can cover Nani transfer then I think we would have enough for one more 10-15m transfer.
In an ideal world we'd have Nainggolan as an option, but I suspect if we do somewhere down the line we'll be talking about having no money and having to shift players before buying.
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