Eggsyblueskin
Player Valuation: £40m
I do understand your point , but as longtime Evertonians ( and any supporters of perpetual mid table clubs ) we have seen this scenario play out so many times before . Big name but declining player is brought in to fix a problem , has a few decent games but increasingly looks a shadow of his former self , fades out of the picture as the season progresses and leaves unremarked when the season ends .When you say "last payday", surely we'd only be paying a portion of his wages as a loan?
Assuming it's real, he's going to want to be at the world cup (yes, that's fanciful as things stand), he would know that he'd have to play very well here to get ahead of Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, etc
I'll say it again to make sure all my devil's advocate stuff doesn't muddy the waters - I don't want him - but I do think everyone is going over the top about how he's suddenly become terrible after a poor 12 months and in particular a poor last half of the season where he missed half of Milan's games through injury.
I want us to sort the RB position out properly as it's an area where we aren't great, but if we have to go for a temporary solution because finances won't stretch to all the players we need, then ok, he wouldn't be top of my list for that either, but he'd 1 million per cent be ahead of Ashley Young.
Occasionally it works , but rarely.
A general rule of thumb should be to avoid players whose trajectory is downward.
It would be extremely disappointing to realise this is an example of our current scouting system.
Unimaginative and lacking vision .
Hoping that the reports are baloney .