Every Premier League club with top-four ambitions wants a central midfielder this summer.
Liverpool are aiming for a complete rebuild over the course of a single off-season. Arsenal just achieved their highest points total in 19 years and they want two, potentially at a cost of £180m. Chelsea broke their club-record transfer fee for one in January and aren’t finished yet. Champions Manchester City quite fancy Mateo Kovacic. Newcastle United are targeting Nicolo Barella.
Signing a new central midfielder is often a transfer window auto-response. Last summer, each of the “Big Six” signed at least one: Fabio Vieira, Carney Chukwuemeka, Kalvin Phillips, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Yves Bissouma and Arthur Melo. Operating in that area of the pitch is enough to convince supporters that a central midfield arrival can be the game-changer and problem-solver and you can never have too many.
Struggled to service the attackers? Need a new midfielder. Unable to guard against counter attacks? Need a new midfielder. Not enough aggression? Buy a bastard in midfield.
For all the midfield arrivals in 2022, that was the summer of the make-do or make-plans-for-the-future.
Phillips was the backup who never needed to play, Rodri striding around the Etihad like an autocratic leader taking a tour of the heartlands in a golden carriage. Chukwuemeka and Vieira were intended to learn on the job, but were bestowed with precious few minutes. Bissouma has never quite fitted in at Spurs and the less said about Melo the better.
Only at United did it really work out (and even then Eriksen may be moved out of the team if they can replace him this summer).
So this is partly a question of remorse. Liverpool decided to buy attackers over midfielders and Jurgen Klopp eventually admitted his regret. Arsenal signed Jorginho in January, but if they had signed, say, Moises Caicedo last summer, his energy may have won them the league – Thomas Partey’s form dropped off. Tottenham’s midfield, with Bissouma starting only 10 league games, either lacked intensity or creativity or both. Now to make amends for missed opportunity or declining standards.
This can also become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The rise of Newcastle under Saudi ownership means that there are at least seven clubs whose supporters see finishing in the top five (the Champions League is favourite to have five places for English clubs next season) as a realistic ambition. It’s keeping up with the Mansours: if other clubs have strengthened their midfield, you may be persuaded to do the same.
There is an unusually large crop of midfielders available this summer; that is an accelerant. One of England’s two best young players has already joined Real Madrid for £115m; the other will leave West Ham for a similar price. Chelsea signed one of Argentina’s World Cup-winning central midfield in January; the other has just joined Liverpool.
The improvement in global scouting and recruitment at mid-level Premier League clubs, added to their financial strength in comparison to similarly sized clubs from other nations has created a stockpile of talent outside of the typically elite clubs: Caicedo, Mac Allister, Douglas Luiz, Danilo, Joao Palhinha, Amadou Onana and Ruben Neves. Add to that a selection of high-class relegated players concentrated in that area of the pitch: Tyler Adams, Youri Tielemans, Romeo Lavia, James Ward-Prowse and Wilfried Ndidi.
But there’s something else at play here. At St George’s Park this week, Marcus Rashford spoke eloquently (as if he ever speaks any other way) about the rising physical strain on elite footballers thanks to the constant expansion of competitions at both club and international level.
The altered Champions League (beginning in 2024-25) will involve two extra group games. The UEFA Nations League is adding a quarter-final stage. We have just had a midseason World Cup and now head into a full season with a European Championship at its close.
Either players are flogged to the edge of exhaustion or breaking point (see Raphael Varane’s retirement from international football at the age of 29), or clubs competing in European competition are going to increase their squad size to aid rotation and the protection of players from injury. And where are players asked to expend the most energy – where is dynamism the most important for setting the tone? In midfield.
There will be interminable sagas – Rice may well be one, with City and Arsenal going head to head. There will be countless rumours, some fanciful agent speak and some indicative of your own club’s intended ambition. But there will definitely be ludicrous sums of money changing hands for central midfielders this summer.
In 2021, Premier League clubs spent around £170m on that position. In 2022, that jumped to £480m. We have already surpassed £250m in 2023; we’re just getting started.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/lB0Vqu1
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