I don’t like these arguments. They seem almost like they are being made in bad faith. Xhaka has had man of the match performances - he had one against Tottenham and Chelsea some seasons ago. Lacazette was player of the season last year. David Luiz was man of the match against Man U. I still think they are poor players in general, even if they have had spells of great form. Or have been decent in one or two games. Plus I did say he can be decent on his day.
We know we shouldn’t compare him pace wise to Fabregas or Cazorla, because both were miles ahead of him in terms of quickness of thought and spatial awareness. Cazorla technique additionally was elite, while Cesc could pass. We can even look at our squad as is - Torreira isn’t the fastest, but his instincts and positioning help ensure he is, for the most part, where he needs to be when he needs to be there to snuff out dangerous attacks. But if these guys had been faster, are we doubting that they’d have been better players?
Ceballos has no outstanding quality to make up for his lack of speed and lack of physical strength. For his role, he loses the ball much too often, isn’t a calming influence, and doesn’t transition us quickly enough during attacks either. He is here for just this season. Unfortunately for him it has been a season of flux for both him and us, but based on his form and what little we have seen of him so far, would you be eager to have our negotiators try for a permanent deal?
Regarding when he would have played, if not now during the busiest time of the year, then when? I think We’ve played in the past two weeks : Leeds, Crystal Palace, Sheffield Utd, and Chelsea. Burnley is coming up shortly though and he plays well against them so I suppose he’ll be ready by then.
