Xavi Simons was in an identical situation to Michut. He has gone to PSV this summer and In his first 3 games he’s scored 4 goals and assisted 2 more from midfield. They managed to get in a €4m buy back clause with PSV so the fact we’ve negotiated just a future sell on fee is good. Michut wasn’t selected for PSG’s squad this season so he didn’t turn up for a meeting called a few days later and that’s why he’s leaving and that’s why they’d rather do a sell on % rather than buy back. IMO this is a ridiculous piece of business and the club have pulled it out of the bag.
I really want to be excited by Michut but I'm not quite there yet. Looking at him, purely from his build, he looks like a 10, not an 8 or a 6, which is what I felt we needed. I can see Pritchard being sold you know. His stock is high and he's probably reached his peak in terms of transfer fee we will get for him versus his age. If a bigger spending championship club fancied him for £7m or so I reckon we'd be tempted to sell. Just a gut instinct. I know a lot of people will hate that. but the whole point of buying players when their stock is low and with re-sale value, requires you to sell them when their value and stock is high. otherwise why bother signing players with re-sale value
He is a leader in the dressing room so selling now would be a massive mistake. I think his value will be sustained for a while yet. Have to bring this Michut kid in and see what he can do…. If he can last a full 90 then could well see Pritch being sold in January if the team can evolve successfully. Michut style of play looks deeper, but who knows til we see him in action
I read that the hope was that he’d become more of an 8 at PSG once he matured physically. It doesn’t make much sense for us to sign another 10 when we have Pritchard and Embleton unless someone is leaving.
yeh absolutely - in an ideal world I'd want to keep him this season for sure. I guess it also depends how he's taken the Neil news. If its true he's really pissed off by it, whilst part of me thinks "tough luck mate you're a sunderland player", then there is more logic to cashing in on him now and getting that bad vibe out of the dressing room. But ideally I'd like to keep him, obviously, as he's probably still our most effective player (for up to 60 mins at least)
Been doing a bit of digging and PSG seen him as the next Veratti. Think he did play as a 10 in a few of the latter UEFA youth finals stages but Simons was playing as the striker and he’s normally the 10 so might’ve just been down to injuries. Youth teams tend to be quite experimental with positions too. On the daft YouTube videos of him playing, he’s always getting stuck in and tracking back but he’s also good at the ball and driving forward. I think we’re used to having one of the other, not someone who can do both
Pritchard was really complimentary towards LJ at the play off final when everyone was saying what a great job Neil had done.
Someone’s just posted this https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/edouard-michut-at-paris-saint-germain-202223-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics
Here’s all his touches from a Ligue 1 game against Lyon from earlier in the year: Only playing in the same team with the likes of Mbappe, Veratti, Icardi etc. Generally playing as an 8 here I’d say.
Pretty positive analysis. I’d love to see us bring in a similar midfield prospect where the defensive ability/talent is lauded as much as Michut’s in possession.
Much prefer to take a chance on Manning and seeing what he can do coaching younger players like Clarke and Michut. I’m sure he’d love the chance to work with the model of young players with high potential that we’re trying to implement
Bollocks. Neil left for more wages and to be close to his family. He never planned to be here long term hence rolling contract. We are one of top spenders in the league. Hardly holding purse strings
Looks decent that Michut lad, hopefully he signs. IMO, Pritchard is our best player, but the fact he needs to come off on 65 mins will allow Michut plenty of minutes to settle in. As much as I like Embleton and his goals, I'm not convinced he offers enough all round to replace Pritchard. Perhaps this new lad will. My concern is that Pritchard has worked for AN in the past and it wouldn't surprise me if Stoke come in for him in the January window.
Not sure why we'd agree to loan him to them. They can't buy him as they are at their FFP limit and can't start spending again until next season. Plus Nick Powell is probably their best player and plays in his position, albeit he is injury prone.
