In Messa and Fulton we had similar defensive minded central midfielders with no attack at all. They linked defense to midfield.
Ahead of them there's Fer and Ki, both central midfielders, not link players. Ki has a little more attack than Fer but Fer does pop up to score occasionally but neither are creative.
Carroll plays predominantly LM but roams. He is not a creative AM but a link and support player. For him to be at his best he like the others, need a creative player to play off.
So we swap out a non creative defensive midfielder who's best position is on the bench and another who cant even get into the squad for a creative AM who has goals in him, and who will probably start from here on in and a creative midfielder who can play AM/CM/LM/RM and who also has a goal in him.
Why I personally think we are far more streamlined and balanced than before the window and why I say we are definitely stronger.