We could pay £14 million for Borini and see him seriously injured in his first game. This is 14 times cheaper tbh
Thats the way I look at things too. I'm chuffed to bits we have the option to buy. Far to often we loan players who have no intention of settling here.
Calcu;ated risk, if he does well, an Argentine international CM could easily be worth £20million plus. Same price as Ross McCormack man.
I rate Boyd mind, or I did when he was at Peterborough. The money is daft man, Snodgrass is the most ridiculous of them all.
http://forzainterforums.com/showthread.php?9438-Ricardo-Alvarez/page243 Check out what the inter fans think of him!
Read one the other day, seems an incredibly mixed bag, some saying ****e, some saying potential, some seem to like the lad. Seems he's been in & out of the team and people haven't been able to form full opinions on the lad. All seem to agree he lacks pace, but then, to be a CM that isn't a vital tool.
[video]https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p403x403/10629794_804726919579153_4605650662023850221_n.jpg ?oh=56b4b4ba5ea4970f4f12cd7cc47b6b56&oe=54637B98&__gda__=1416729470_eb7f8f8155cecd1d05a7aa7a60a42b9 c[/video]
Ricky Alvarez looks set to be Sunderland's first confirmed signing tomorrow with a season-long loan and permanent option agreed. He arrives from Inter Milan with high expectations, though admittedly is a player most of us will have little knowledge of. So, we spoke to Mike (@Don_Nerazzurri) from the excellent Inter site Nerazzurri World to give us a better insight... WAW: Alvarez is one of those footballers many will have heard of but few will know exactly what to expect - can you fill us in on the type of player we are set to sign? Mike: Ricky is a good attacking midfielder who is comfortable right across the pitch. Left wing, right wing or in the centre as a trequartista. He is the kind of player that loves to dribble and take the ball past his man. In his time at Inter, I'd say his preferred position is on the right wing where he can cut in field onto his stronger left foot. Another trait of his is his willingness to drop back and help out defensively when required, even though he isn't the most physical of players. WAW: What would you say are his strengths? Mike: His obvious strength is his technique, especially with his left foot. He is very skilful with the ball at his feet and he has a good pass too. WAW: And weaknesses? Mike: For me he has three weaknesses. Firstly the fact he is solely a left footed player means he can end up taking a touch or two too many trying to setup his favoured foot which often leads to him losing the ball or taking wild shots with his right foot if rushed. Then there is his physicality, he isn't the strongest player you'll ever see, so he can easily be forced of the ball by bulkier players. This is something he has improved over the last season so I wouldn't say it's a major flaw. The last weakness is the one that I think will affect him the most in the Premier League - his pace. Often he has been criticised during his time at Inter for being too slow, personally I think this is a touch harsh as he's not the slowest player you'll see, but he isn't fast by any stretch of the imagination either, and in the fast paced game of English football I think this will become massively obvious. WAW: Gus Poyet usually deploys a 4-3-3 system with a holding midfielder, playmaker and box-to-box midfielder in the middle, a striker up top supported by two widemen, one of which is usually an orthodox winger and the other is often a wide-forward or more direct player. Where would you expect Alvarez to fit into this system? Mike: Ideally, I'd say he'd be best played as the right sided wide forward, this would suit his strengths the most, but as I've mentioned he isn't the fastest player in the world so a deeper playmaking role may suit him better in England. He has played deeper a few times at Inter so he has experience, though in Serie A he tended to vanish from games there. However, in the English game he may thrive there with the right players around him. WAW: He wasn't far off 100 competitive appearances for Inter in the last three seasons, earning a call up to the Argentina World Cup squad, is it a surprise the club are willing to let him go? Mike: I've always had high hopes for Ricky ever since he signed for Inter, but in general, apart from a few exceptions, he has never quite lived up to the expectations set. There has been talk amongst Inter fans for a couple of seasons about offloading him so the sale doesn't really come as a surprise. I am more surprised that it was Sunderland that made the move for him, as I imagined him playing in France or Portugal more than the EPL. WAW: Do you think this would be a good signing for Sunderland and will he be suited to Premier League football? Mike: I don't mean any disrespect to Sunderland when I say this, but I'm surprised he is set to move there. He would be a fantastic signing for the club and if they can find the right role for him I hope he becomes a star player for the team. However, I'm not convinced he is the right kind of player for the Premier league, but I have my fingers crossed that he proves me wrong and I will miss him playing in our black and blue stripes.
Good read but looks like we are just going to have to see how it goes. I for one am excited with this signing and i'm pleased we have a deal already in place at the end of the season if we want to sign him up longterm. Nowt worse than a loan player being our best player then invariably never see them again!..
