I bet you’d struggle to name 3 better holding midfielders. He plays as a lone 6 too not in a pairing
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- Thread starter Kalman II
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Would you say he was better than Seri? I'm not sure I would. Obviously Seri didn't have age on his side but he was released by Fulham when they got promoted, which I think illustrates the gap between a quality Championship midfielder and the quality a PL club needs.
Alzate was released by Brighton and spent pre season with Ipswich.
Seri has passing on Alzate that’s it for me. Alzate is more physical, better dribbler, better defensively, more dynamic. Different types of holding midfielder but I think he’s better personally
So you're saying he trained with one of the weakest PL sides who are signing a high volume of players and they passed on him? But that in the summer PL clubs will be after him?
I think you need to add a bit of context there.
With the quality he has, I'd be more surprised if he doesn't get PL interest. I don't remember seeing a City Midfielder with the array of attributes he has at his disposal.
What context would you like to add?
Clubs had the opportunity to sign him in the summer and didn't. Brighton, a club renowned for their shrewd practices when it comes to player trading allowed him to leave on a free after loaning him out for multiple seasons. He is playing very well for us and I'm not denying that, I just don't think we'll be batting away PL clubs in the summer.
Clubs didn't sign him because he didn't feature for the last three games of the season for Liege?
Because that's funny, Ipswich signed Kalvin Phillips despite him not starting a game since February; Alzate last started a game in March for Liege.
Well he took a while to get into our team, so I doubt he was firing on all cylinders at Ipswich (who had the best look at him).
He took a while to get into our team because he suffered a bad injury in training which kept him out for several months. He played against both Cardiff and Norwich off the bench before his injury.
I'm not sure what you're getting at. Matazo came off the bench in his first appearance for us too, that didn't mean he was injured.
My point is Alzate was fit and fine at Liege, was released by Brighton, trained with Ipswich and was not offered a deal, then signed for us before badly injuring himself, and is now playing well. Ipswich had a good look at him as you said and decided not to sign him.
A quick Google shows he had a minor knee injury at Liege in December of 2023 but was otherwise fit for them. So fitness was not a necessary context for why Ipswich didn't give him a deal.
Maybe I've misremembered it then.
Ipswich should be kicking themselves over that one though.
They may well be, but Alzate strikes me as one who looks better at this level when he has a bit more time on the ball. I think he's definitely a top end Championship player and think he's exactly the sort capable of a play off push, just not convinced about him as a PL prospect that would have PL clubs come knocking in the summer.
Ipswich have a total lack of players who can keep easy possession , which is why they struggle to keep the ball under pressure , they could do with him .
Alzate now isn’t better than Seri when he was the same age. Seri in his prime at Nice was far above any midfielder City have ever had, including Huddlestone.
However, I think Alzate does the same things Seri did under Rosenior to a similar standard whilst also being more athletic and physical.