There’s no guarantee that either of Lavia or Bajcetic will reach their full potential.
For all we know , either might stagnate with injuries(god forbid) , wrong coaching, wrong managerial changes etc.
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I can understand the rationale behind backing Bajcetic and not going for Lavia. It’s not just about managing game time for both.
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Moving forward Bajcetic has the better platform to reach his potential. Lavia has chosen the wrong club to move to (possibly the worst club to move to generally).
Lavia has more talent but how he shows it at that fucking madhouse I have no idea.
Not a doubt in my mind that Klopp would turn Lavia into one of the very best in the world but at Chelsea I strongly doubt he can get there. Klopp may turn Bajcetic into a regular starter for us, which would be a great result for an investment of around £600k.
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This is how I see it.
Lavia has got more experience and is the slightly better player but he is super overrated.
And Lavia hasn’t even made the Chelsea squad today. I really hope he enjoys his Chelsea career.
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And their rich ‘history’ too
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Lavia probably won’t stay at Chelsea too long. Could be wrong but Chelsea always knew that even if they flog him after 3 years. Even if his stock isn’t high then , they’ll still be looking at 40m.
The buyers will be limited with thr money hes on.
Look at the inflation then. 50m for a good defender might not be a and deal 2-3 years down the line.
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Bajectic vs Lavia?
It’s not all about talent. A lot depends on determination, desire and mentality. As well as a player knowing what he can and can’t do. A manager who can blend players into more than the individual parts.
Bajectic looked very good during his run of games. He played with confidence. No reason to think he won’t get better.
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There must be a reason we were prepared to pay 45m for Lavia.
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He’s a talent plus market conditions plus we are very short handed at midfield?
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There was also a reason why we weren’t prepared to go any higher even with a surplus of cash in the bank and in dire need of a DM.
Ultimately no one is sure if we ever did go higher, lots of hot air but nothing concrete.
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Southampton say they agreed a fee with us, it’s likely it was above the £45m bid and possibly we hit the £50m .
John saw our forum and felt pressured when he saw the number of quality posts asking them to get out.
The growth curve of young players can be really unpredictable. You can have young potentials banging goals left, right and centre, at youth levels only to disappear in their 20s. The key is the player having the right mentality and being in a safe pair of hands (manager, coaches, club, agent etc)
At this point of time I think Lavia has a higher ceiling. He however is probably in the worst place to realise his true potential.
Baj, on the other hand, can turn out to be a solid first team player if he applies himself rightly allowing Klopp and his team to nurture his talent. For a player unknown a couple of years ago, we may see a bunch of LaLiga clubs lining up to sign him in a couple of years if continues what he is doing now, assuming no more injuries to the young lad.
There’s also the physical aspect to it.
Lots of youngsters stand out because physically they are more advanced than their contemporaries; once the other lads’ growth catches up, those who were bigger and stronger lose that advantage.
And a lot of the bigger lads rely on their size/strength/speed and don’t work on their skills. This laziness means that they don’t keep up in the long run.
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Szoboszlai…Endo…MacAllister
(Elliott)…(Bajcetic)…(Jones)
…(Gross?)…(Thiago)…
We have done a lot of work this summer and look to have brought in 3 players who will be an improvement on those who started for us over the past 1-2 yrs.
There seems to be talk that we see Endo as our starting 6 with Bajcetic as his cover so maybe no point bringing in someone like Doucoure.We also have Thiago but due to his injuries reducing his playing time with us he can’t be relied upon to be available as much as is necessary so we really could do with another in the middle.
If we were to buy his replacement now would that just stifle those players we are looking to bring through to the first team.Had we held onto Henderson that would have been perfect as it would have given us the cover we’ll need while allowing the 3 young lads develop and gain experience in order to challenge the 3 main starters.
While not a popular choice maybe we should be looking at another player who we don’t see as 1st or even 2nd string,but that player who we turn to when the 2nd string doesn’t/can’t play.In goal we have Allison and Kelleher to back him up,but we also have Adrian who backs Kelleher up.
Can you have a back up to the back up in midfield.A senior player who gives his all when called upon but doesn’t expect to be playing ahead of the the main starter or his younger replacement,potentially what we had hoped from Milner. A player who’ll know he’ll get some game time,albeit maybe less than he’s used to but would like to be in with a chance of finishing his career with some /some more silverware.
Spurs bringing in Perisic last year at the age of 33 worked out well so maybe someone like Gross from Brighton,Norwood from Sheffield Utd,maybe someone from further afield.
Whats the criteria for Perisic being a success? He was part of a team that fell from 4th to 8th and is no longer a starter.