He’s a luxury player. Excellent at one thing and rubbish at everything else. I don’t mind him staying, but if we get a good offer, take it and run. We massively overpaid for him, 100m. We paid the same for Caicedo and that’s the level we should be getting every season, never going to get that with Enzo.

I won’t be sad to see him go.

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

He’s a luxury player. Excellent at one thing and rubbish at everything else. I don’t mind him staying, but if we get a good offer, take it and run. We massively overpaid for him, 100m. We paid the same for Caicedo and that’s the level we should be getting every season, never going to get that with Enzo.

I won’t be sad to see him go.

Agree on everything else but Caicedo isn’t & will never be a £100m player. It’s ridiculous to actually pay that amount for a “DM”, £50m-£60m is the sweet spot for DMs. We spent close to £200m on 4 DMs, any well run club will be binning 2 this summer.

1 hour ago, markpitts said:

Agree on everything else but Caicedo isn’t & will never be a £100m player. It’s ridiculous to actually pay that amount for a “DM”, £50m-£60m is the sweet spot for DMs. We spent close to £200m on 4 DMs, any well run club will be binning 2 this summer.

I think he’s fully justified the fee we paid for him. We didn’t have a choice, Liverpool were really pushing for him and offered 100m too. He’s easily one of the best players in the league.

Just now, dansubrosa said:

I think he’s fully justified the fee we paid for him. We didn’t have a choice, Liverpool were really pushing for him and offered 100m too. He’s easily one of the best players in the league.

I rate Caicedo, but he's not a top player, not yet. He's too reckless as a footballer, gets frustrated when things get tough and panics too often.

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

I think he’s fully justified the fee we paid for him. We didn’t have a choice, Liverpool were really pushing for him and offered 100m too. He’s easily one of the best players in the league.

Still just a DM. If you were getting a two way player that was a brilliant CM, could carry the ball, control games and smash one in; Yes.

30 minutes ago, markpitts said:

Still just a DM. If you were getting a two way player that was a brilliant CM, could carry the ball, control games and smash one in; Yes.

This is what he does...

Ship him out while we have the chance

If he goes, he goes. He is definitely not irreplaceable but who he is replaced with is the big question. A decent-good player but also somewhat of a luxury player with flaws.

I’d similar feeling about Madueke and Jackson who were far less accomplished players and we ended up with replacements who were 2/3 levels below them.

I predict he will do well at City, and definitely step up from where he is at with us.

Not sure why that Bournemouth lad would ditch them for us. They’ve finished well above us and have European football next season. As for who replaces Enzo: who plays that position for Strasbourg?

Selling him to City for anywhere near 100m would go down as bigger swindle than Hazard to Real. Putting him alongside Cherki and behind Haaland would be a dream come true for the opposition.

3 minutes ago, Snedger said:

I predict he will do well at City, and definitely step up from where he is at with us.

Not sure why that Bournemouth lad would ditch them for us. They’ve finished well above us and have European football next season. As for who replaces Enzo: who plays that position for Strasbourg?

Valentin Barco, but don't you worry

1 minute ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Selling him to City for anywhere near 100m would go down as bigger swindle than Hazard to Real. Putting him alongside Cherki and behind Haaland would be a dream come true for the opposition.

Valentin Barco, but don't you worry

That’s David Hopkin!!

Thought he was meant to be a fullback. But that makes more sense. Sign a fullback from Brighton via Strasbourg to replace a midfielder.

I hope we get a physical player .. you can’t win the epl without that 6’2” - 6’-3” kind of physical presence in the middle of the park..

lack of height is one of the biggest reasons why we concede goals like the one against sunderland.

In any other team the CM drops deep to compete but all our midfield options are midgets .. look at all teams that have won- matic fernandinho Rodri gravenbach rice .. we need that profile .. of we can replace enzo with that profile and let caicedo roam I think it will be a better suited midfield for the EPL.

20 minutes ago, Jangz said:

I hope we get a physical player .. you can’t win the epl without that 6’2” - 6’-3” kind of physical presence in the middle of the park..

lack of height is one of the biggest reasons why we concede goals like the one against sunderland.

In any other team the CM drops deep to compete but all our midfield options are midgets .. look at all teams that have won- matic fernandinho Rodri gravenbach rice .. we need that profile .. of we can replace enzo with that profile and let caicedo roam I think it will be a better suited midfield for the EPL.

if we get another physical player to replace Enzo then all our center mids would be physical players; not a single one will be on the skillful side of the game. I don't think it's possible to win anything at this level without technical players in the center of the pitch. Yes, I still hope Santos will develop into something more than just a ball winner at this level, but we can't sit and wait until (and if) that happens...
BTW, Caicedo roams a lot for Ecuador and that does not do a whole lot of good for them.

Edited May 26May 26 by acaeus

33 minutes ago, acaeus said:

if we get another physical player to replace Enzo then all our center mids would be physical players; not a single one will be on the skillful side of the game. I don't think it's possible to win anything at this level without technical players in the center of the pitch. Yes, I still hope Santos will develop into something more than just a ball winner at this level, but we can't sit and wait until (and if) that happens...
BTW, Caicedo roams a lot for Ecuador and that does not do a whole lot of good for them.

I'd say the issue is that no one is actually one or the other:

• Enzo is supposed to be a "technical" player but he can't run with the ball, passing is erratic and lacks creativity (rarely passes through players or in 'blind' spots)

• Santos is supposed to be "physical" but is still underdeveloped and not particularly energetic, on or off the ball.

• Lavia is supposed to be both but can't run and seemingly can't pass over 5 yards anymore

• Caicedo is fast but not particularly strong, and a great carrier of the ball but not so good at passing

The closest to a 'complete' midfielder is Reece James and we don't want him in midfield.

Complete midfielders are absolute unicorns, but it's much easier to find a physical player with sufficent technical skill than the inverse.

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

I'd say the issue is that no one is actually one or the other:

• Enzo is supposed to be a "technical" player but he can't run with the ball, passing is erratic and lacks creativity (rarely passes through players or in 'blind' spots)

• Santos is supposed to be "physical" but is still underdeveloped and not particularly energetic, on or off the ball.

• Lavia is supposed to be both but can't run and seemingly can't pass over 5 yards anymore

• Caicedo is fast but not particularly strong, and a great carrier of the ball but not so good at passing

The closest to a 'complete' midfielder is Reece James and we don't want him in midfield.

Complete midfielders are absolute unicorns, but it's much easier to find a physical player with sufficent technical skill than the inverse.

Tchouameni?

6 hours ago, acaeus said:

I don't think it's possible to win anything at this level without technical players in the center of the pitch.

Arsenal have just won the league...

Something to keep an eye on.

Enrique Riquelme: "I confirm, that if I'm Real Madrid president, there is an AGREEMENT IN PLACE with 2 MAJOR INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTARS who will join the club.

These are 2 players that the club really NEEDS." @abc_es

1 minute ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Something to keep an eye on.

It will become a bidding war between Perez and Riquelme. Much as with Barca's elections.

6 hours ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Arsenal have just won the league...

Arsenal’s midfield is significantly more skillful and creative than ours overall. Declan Rice is more technically complete than Caicedo, for example — though who’s better overall is subjective, and I personally prefer Rice. And Odegaard is far more creative and technically influential in advanced midfield areas than any midfielder we’ve got, Enzo included.

1 hour ago, acaeus said:

Arsenal’s midfield is significantly more skillful and creative than ours overall. Declan Rice is more technically complete than Caicedo, for example — though who’s better overall is subjective, and I personally prefer Rice. And Odegaard is far more creative and technically influential in advanced midfield areas than any midfielder we’ve got, Enzo included.

I'm not sure that is true.

If we are comparing the midfield pair based on roles, there's not much between them. And this is with our midfield being incredibly disjointed for going on 2 seasons now.

If anything, it just highlights how much of a luxury player Enzo Fernandez is.

On 24/05/2026 at 11:25, Scott Harris said:

I rate Caicedo, but he's not a top player, not yet. He's too reckless as a footballer, gets frustrated when things get tough and panics too often.

Look at the sh*t storm he plays in the middle of each week.

Dont blame him giving up given the hosrsh*t the directors have brought in alongside him.

Hopefully under Alonso he'll become the monster we've seen glimpses of.

6 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

Look at the sh*t storm he plays in the middle of each week.

Dont blame him giving up given the hosrsh*t the directors have brought in alongside him.

Hopefully under Alonso he'll become the monster we've seen glimpses of.

Having top footballers next to him doesn't stop him being reckless. Even when we are comfortable, I have seen him needlessly make stupid tackles.

I'm still willing to wager that Alonso will be asking for an established central midfielder. Makes sense why there's mummers of us inquiring about Tonali and Bruno.

16 hours ago, Jangz said:

I hope we get a physical player .. you can’t win the epl without that 6’2” - 6’-3” kind of physical presence in the middle of the park..

Which one of Makelele, Lampard & Essien was the giant midfielder?

2 hours ago, acaeus said:

Arsenal’s midfield is significantly more skillful and creative than ours overall. Declan Rice is more technically complete than Caicedo, for example — though who’s better overall is subjective, and I personally prefer Rice. And Odegaard is far more creative and technically influential in advanced midfield areas than any midfielder we’ve got, Enzo included.

Caicedo, Enzo, Lavia, Santos, Essugo v Rice, Odegaard, Zubimendi, Merino, Norgaard. Agree with Acaeus, and even think Arteta’s style is holding them back.