There’s no way United should pay 85M for Gakpo to sit the bench. Gakpo offers something different from Foden (or Semenyo). Not sure what he adds to United. That’s a lot of money for a similar profile to Cunha.
With Barcola to Liverpool signing, I was venting United’s rivals are stacking up their sides. In no way I meant United should’ve gone for Gakpo.
All that said, every top side in Europe is about two-deep everywhere, so everyone gets ample playing time with about 60 games to play. More so, United does need (and still may be looking for) a winger, Rashford’s reintegration be damned.
It simply didn’t occur to me that you might be envious of Liverpool stacking.
They lost one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. And Ekitike tore his Achilles and will be a shadow of himself for months even if he comes back in January. They have Barcola and a 22 y/o with a career 6 goals and 2 assists in two seasons in La Liga.
Now they’re losing Gakpo looking for a replacement. That replacement will be a lateral at best. But likely a drop in skill in favor of someone more direct and willing to play on the left.
In two years Liverpool will have lost: Diaz, Jota, Salah, Gakpo and Nunez.
They have Barcola, Isak, Ekitike, Munoz and ??? Rio is one for the future but the jury is still out.
Yes over the two year window Wirtz is an upgrade from Curtis Jones as a 4th midfielder. But he doesn’t upgrade Szobo so it doesn’t really improve the 11. Especially since Kerkez and Frimpong are downgrades from Robbo and Trent.
Liverpool are in complete rebuild mode.
Chelsea are refining.
City are reloading.
Arsenal are stacking.
As between United and Liverpool, I’d take United’s business.
PSG will have sold over €350 million worth of players this summer. No one in Europe has done better—and other clubs had to sell starters.
145 M€ for Barcola (Liverpool), 74 M€ for Ramos (AC Milan), 55 M€ for Mbaye (Aston Villa), 41.2 M€ for Randal Kolo Muani (Juventus), 35 M€ for Kang-In Lee (Atlético de Madrid), and 4.1 M€ for Noham Kamara (OL)
A £106m upfront fee / £123m with bonuses represents an astronomical price tag for a player who, despite his immense raw talent and medals with PSG, is at best a 12 man behind Doué and Kvara. By the way Deschamps dis not played him either in the WC
This the largest ligue 1 transfer ever... and an indication PSG is also good at selling
... scored three goals.
He us an exciting player to watch, but an expensive asset to carry on the books as a part time player.
Barcola played against lesser teams . When France played tactical matchups eg the 8eme final against Paraguay and the semi-final defeat against Spain he was inefficient
He was tightly marked, had low pass-completion volume, and was substituted off before decisive late-game periods.
Moreover, Luis Enrique had not started Barcola in either of the two Champions League final which according to my intel is the reason why he decided not to enter in negotiations for his renewal
Now on PSG it’s true Barcola possessed a valuable profile for penetrating tight spaces and unsettling low defensive blocks. While Paris did bring in several attacking reinforcements this summer (Akliouche, Torres, Godts), all of these players prefer the ball at their feet but are not specialists at exploiting open space.
This is needed in Ligue 1, where pag is playing low block and that type of profile is invaluable for opening up space and breaking down low defensive blocks.
... with respect to the World Cup. Doue and Barcola took turns starting. Doue started games 1, 3, and 5. Barcola started games 2, 4, and 6. You can't say that Doue got the tougher ones when Barcola go the nod against Spain. I agree that Barcola was ineffective in the Spain game, but the same is true of Doue. In fact, Doue's failure to stay with his man on a give and go directly allowed a Spain goal.
I watched all of the France games, and Doue and Barcola both had excellent moments and poor moments. Their games are different. Doue is good drifting into a crowed middle and trying to combine with others or make things happen for himself. Barcola, as you noted, uses his incredible speed and agility to get behind the defense. Another difference between the two in the WC was that Barcola was more diligent in his defensive duties. Doue was lost in the first half of the Senegal game trying to contain the Senegal right back and I've already mentioned his mistake against Spain.
I recognize that Enrique values Doue more than Barcola, and he sees both in every practice and game. I have no access to the league games and see few of the UCL games until the later rounds, so I have no reason to dispute Enrique or you in the overall assessment. But in the WC, Barcola was at least the equal of Doue in my assessment.
Add that to what is looking like a very bad window last summer as well.