If he’d have played at this level since signing I don’t think he was overpriced tbh
He was rubbish until Frank but since then he’s been our best player and worth the fee
So the question is - was he mismanaged by Carlo and Benitez? He came out in the media saying he was a central midfielder under Carlo I remember and it was laughed off… guess he knew what he was capable of all along!
He always said he was better central. At Arsenal he was played on the left, we signed him and played him on the right for ages.
We then put him on the left for a bit before sticking him central but when you watch clips of him playing the 5 a side, he is great in close space when he can turn either way. He is limited out wide by the sides of the pitch, but in the middle, he can go either way and into the space (as he has quick feet and a burst of pace)
But yeah, he has essentially been misplayed at arsenal and then with us (more so by us by playing him on the right so much after we signed him as a left sided player).