If you were picking the best starting XI ... in the world. then "world class" IMHO means if you were in that starting XI then you can count on one hand the number of other players who could usurp you.
How many better number tens are there than Eriksen? De Bruyne? Hazard when not played LW? That’s about it for me. If you’re one of the top 3/ top 5 players in your position in world football then I can’t see how you can’t be considered world class.
There wasn’t stampede’s for the signatures of Bale and Modric when they left us, suppose they weren’t that good either.
I doubt many clubs had 80m odd in 2013 to try and buy Bale (actually clubs other than Madrid may have got him cheaper) .
Ceballos Watch Can't help but notice his name's not included in the Los Ladrones squad, which of course is not related to him playing in the Euro U21 final less than two weeks ago... However, there is a catch: the Nomads are sniffing around and seem happy to have a season-long loan without any option to make the loan permanent...although the sudden need to sign a new centre back might take priority
And that’s part of the point. There’s not usually stampedes for the world’s best players because they’re generally hard to afford. Even with just a year left Eriksen is rumoured to cost £70m. Prior to this summer Levy would’ve likely demanded probably double that.
Bale had other suitors, as did Modric. So that’s not true. They were, however, both wanted by the biggest club in the world, so It’s no surprise they both decided to go there. I don’t see Real tripping over themselves for Eriksen’s signature!
Well Real Madrid are likely to bid... Just as they did for Bale and Modric. It took them a while to pay up for Bale if you remember because Levy wasn’t exactly willing to let his star asset go on the cheap.
Bale allegedly had PSG enquiring (club ITKs claimed Levy was trying to use them to get a proper bidding war going with Madrid) . Modric also had Man Utd, but Fergie obviously did not pursue (re his legendary "hip replacement surgery" remark) .
As far as I’m aware, Eriksen has said he wants to go, the club and Poch seem happy to let him go as they have Lo Celso and/or Ceballos lined up as his replacement. There’s been no talk of he’s not for sale. Real seem set on Pogba and Zidane sees Eriksen as nothing more than a squad edition - at the right price.
Nobody really plays a proper no.10 at the top level now though. None of the PL top 6 regularly play with a player actually sits in the 10 position, as I would argue that the likes of KDB or Bernardo Silva are asked to offer more around the pitch than Eriksen does. None of the big 3 in Spain do, Dortmund sort of do but they’re quite fluid (like us), Indont think Bayern do, Juve don’t which is why Dybala might move on. Do PSG? Footballing ‘meta’ at the elite level has shifted from the 4-2-3-1 popular for the last decade or so to a 4-3-3 with a fluid front 3 and a versatile midfield whose most valuable attributes are breaking a press. This is what we are moving towards and probably why we’re struggling to shift Eriksen a bit too. I’m sure there are plenty of teams who would have him on a free but it might be tricky to find a buyer when we’re also trying to rinse prospects for a big fee for a player coming into their final year, when the player isn’t 100% what elite teams want for a midfield position in 2019.
So similar amounts then. Point is there won’t be a mass of clubs in the running for some of the best players in the world because only a select few can afford and attract them. Barca have had little competition for Griezmann seeing as he supposedly rejected Utd’s advances. Pogba only has two teams after him in Juve and Madrid.
He has one year left on his contract, the club don’t have a choice but to sell him unless they let him go for free next summer. Lo Celso and Ceballos aren’t number tens either, nor are they as good as Eriksen, I’ll happily had them here and hope they can do well in the expected new formation but if given the choice I’d keep Eriksen all day long.
Actually, football at the elite level should be a squad that is comfortable playing any number of formations, whether it be 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, classic sit back counter-attacking or whatever.
I’d say de Bruyne is definitely a number ten but he can also play the number eight role. Similar with David Silva (Eriksen can also play deeper though, we just choose not too). Bernardo seems to operate primarily from the right which is why Mahrez struggled for minutes. Ozil is probably the other number ten in the Prem top six. Bayern had James for the last two seasons from Madrid. Madrid themselves also have Isco but he struggles for game time. 433 or 4231 are generally the main formations these days and those who play 433 have the likes of Pogba, Modric, Pjanic etc who are essentially the number eight versions of Eriksen. Even if you eradicate the idea of the number ten/ number eight positional roles though and instead just say you want one of the most creative players in the world then Eriksen fits that bill.
Nice acid test for the boy IMHO. Happy to play Baku-ball etc as long as you get 40 "games" minimum (how will the Goons deal with that) and can return back to Madrid next summer ??
I agree with all you say, I don’t decide what teams do! It was just an observation which is ultimately my opinion, nothing more. I heard that James played more of a CM role at Bayern recently rather than a 10 but that’s based on others watching these games rather than me. But like you say Isco has been playing wide or in CM for Real Madrid and the City players are quite flexible. Coming back to Eriksen I agree he’s a wonderful player but I can see why teams might overlook him, he’s not a dominant personality and sometimes not a dominant player, which has been said enough already on here re. him going to Real and why they may be looking at other options.
