It’ll especially be a kick in the teeth for Kulu if we did sign Chiesa, as it was Chiesa that more or less guaranteed Kulu’s exit from Juve if I remember rightly. He’s such a frustrating figure though, comfortably one of our most naturally talented players but so inconsistent and ineffective on too many occasions.
A player can be judged by tangible and "intangible" traits. The tangible traits (on-pitch, injuries) can be measured mainly using a "moneyball" approach. Add to that the number of moments of brilliance that you have observed from the player. The intangible traits are things like attitude to training, personal responsibility (weight control etc) / spirit on/off pitch. I suspect that Neto would be found wanting on the injury tangibles (I do not have the salient stats) , and given the GLC and Sessignon sagas I would probably act on the side of caution even more so.
The latter part of your post is obviously where genuine concern lies. Whilst I'd be willing to take the risk on Neto (or Chiesa), I equally wouldn't be mad if the club opted against it due to those concerns because we really don't want another situation like we've had with Sessegnon/ Lo Celso.
To also add in terms of Neto and Chiesa and being wary of their injury problems and therefore possibly looking at other options, the tough thing I find right now is football for the first time in a while is in a small decline in terms of player quality across the board. There's still obviously lots of good/ great players about but it doesn't feel like there's anywhere near as many as previous eras and I'd also say the current "very best" of this era aren't a patch on previous ones too. Case in point with the Balon d'Or situation this year, Bellingham and Vini Jr have been two of the strongest contenders (I'd personally go with Rodri) and whilst both are a great players, when you consider past winners of the award, it just feels like they're nowhere near that level, at least not yet anyway. Even before the Messi/ Ronaldo dominance we had winners like R9, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Kaka, Nedved etc. Equally players during the Messi/ Ronaldo dominance that didn't/ couldn't win the Balon d'Or, such as Neymar, Suarez, Robben, Ribery, Xavi, Iniesta etc are the types that in any different era would've surely won it, especially now.
The academic in me is kinda happy that Sessegnon is remaining in the PL (same too if the case for GLC) . Reason being is that it gives one the opportunity to do data analytics on them where the club is now a "dimension" .
Going back even further, his career stats for goals and assists are very poor. The more I look into him, the more I hope the club don’t pursue a deal.
Perhaps I’m guilty of not paying enough attention to him but I’ve never quite got Neto. He had a really good season last time out and does seem to fit the Ange mould but I just have doubts. Maybe it’s his stature, I don’t know. Chiesa on the other hand has immense pedigree and hopefully seems to have worked his way back from the ACL injury. He has a physicality and directness about him that will suit the PL and I like that he’s a predominantly right sided player who can also play on the left, as RW is where we have less natural depth. Obviously question marks around long-term fitness from that kind of injury, and adaptation to the PL and England, but the former is what the medicals are for. He would really excite me as a signing and he’d have plenty of people he knows in the team too, which helps the settling in process.
I can't help but think a large chunk of why fans want Chiesa is the talk that Juve would accept a £25m bid (albeit due to him having a year on his contract) But you can't help but wonder if getting his €180k wages of the books more than anything else
I don’t get him either. He’s got pace but that’s it imo. No end product and seems to be injured too often too. Reminds me of a RW Manor Solomon if I’m honest. Spurs already have too many mid level wingers, signing Neto would just be adding another to the collection
The real issue is there's no way real way to measure hockey assists Case in point, outside his first season Luka Modric never got more than 4 assists per season for us - but the number of passes that sent Aaron Lennon on his way which led to goals made him an integral cog in how our play was dictated Now am I comparing Neto to Modric? Not at all, but I do wonder how many of his passes led to assists given that is something we could use - or find a facsimile of in the Belgian or Scandi leagues that nobody noticed
If Neto was a deep lying playmaker then I wouldn’t fussed about his goals or assists but he’s a winger and he’s been booked more times than he has scored which is worrying. With so many options out there, I really don’t understand why the club are possibly looking at signing another winger who doesn’t improve the first 11.
On the other hand he got 9 assists last season, which considering Wolves scored 50 goals does stand out But as I said, we need to be looking for a player with similar data as the price being asked weighed up against his injury issues doesn't break even
His pace would be a big plus and if the club wasn’t already lumbered with average wingers (Solomon, Werner, Johnson) then I could see why they’d want him. fwiw I could see him going to Liverpool and being a useful sub/backup to Salah and Elliott, I just don’t think he’s consistent enough for what Spurs need right now.
Nice finish, though the keeper might've done better. Not sure about the tweet's claim about said keeper, either. He's 21 and just returned from a loan to their 2nd tier. The defender is Korea's 32-year-old left-back with 72 caps, though.
