So I did speak to them and was quite interesting. They were surprised to hear Downs was struggling as they thought he was a real prospect, albeit playing in the Bundesliga 2. They thought it was odd he left when he did as he would’ve played a fair bit for Koln in the Bundesliga this year, rather than join a Champ side. They think he has the talent so maybe just not clicked yet for whatever reason. I also asked about Scienza and none of them thought he was that good. Said he stood out in a poor team, but thought lower Bundesliga was about his level. When I said how well he was doing they did say, for both Downs and Scienza, they are talking about their time in Germany where Scienza was playing a higher level than he is now and Downs was more settled possibly at the club he had been at his whole career. If they are right it doesn’t bode well for Scienza making the step up to the PL but we can worry about that if it happens. I did think the summary was they basically said Downs is good and Scienza isn’t, which is obviously the complete opposite of what we’ve seen so far, so maybe they don’t know what they are on about
Very much the opposite of what my German mate said about Scienza. Said he single handedly kept Heidenheim up, who are now going down without him. Said he’s a monster. Which is what we are seeing. He has all the qualities to make the step up.
I have yet to see a Championship RB have any sort of success against him. And now Adarma, Azaz and Fellows are firing teams can't really double up on him.
Well they did say he was their best player and stood out in a poor side, they just didn’t think he is much better than lower end Bundesliga standard, which isn’t PL level in my view Hopefully we’ll find out who’s German acquaintances know more about football next year. FWIW I don’t think he will step up to the PL, think his game relies a lot on his speed and I don’t think he has PL quickness. Can see him being like Armstrong in the PL. But yeah hopefully we will get to find out next year
Nah, he’s as quick dribbling with the ball as anyone, which is the key part. His decision making is largely excellent too.
I think someone will come in for him sooner or later . He is Premiership quality. The best player I have seen in a Saints shirt for ages. I am reminded a bit of Ronnie Ekelund when I watch him. Definitely a player you would pay money to watch. My fear is that someone will come in for him. Same with Echert and Jander. We gave discovered some genuine talent.
The saving grace for us is Scienzas age. He’ll be 28 come the end of the season with 3 years still on his contract. If we go up he’ll definitely stay, if we don’t I’m not sure what sort of bids we’d be getting for him. Can’t see any of the PL sides willing to spend the sort of money we would want on someone of his age/profile. Big question mark if we don’t go up is how desperate we become to sell in general for financial reasons. Obviously if we are happy to take 10/15m rather than something like £30m then teams might be more willing to take a chance
