Goodness me this thread doesn't change, does it?
We overpaid for Gylfi. Massively. £45m was an insane price. I think we all agree on that. I have been a fan for several years, and remember some regulars on here suggesting he'd be a good signing even when he was at Reading. He has always been a player with obvious technical ability and I was an advocate of buying him if the chance arose. HOWEVER there is a point with every player where the quoted fee is simply above what he is worth to the buying club. Sadly, due to inept work by Steve Walsh, we left ourselves with very few options late in the window last year and a relatively inexperienced owner mistakenly felt that it was important to appease a noisy section of the fanbase with a "big money" signing. At £25m it was a no-brainer, but we should have just walked away when prices above £30m started getting thrown around.
Does that mean Gylfi is a crap player? No.
Does it mean fan expectations of him have been elevated? Yes.
Does it mean that it will be incredibly difficult for him to ever perform regularly at a high enough level to meet those expectations? Yes.
If he does not meet these raised expectations, is it likely that many fans will feel that he has failed to justify his fee? Yes.
Was he responsible for his transfer fee being that high? No.
Is this particularly fair on him? No.
Does he nonetheless have an opportunity, every time he is selected, to deliver a performance that will impress the fans? Yes.
Over to you Gylfi. A big part of "justifying the fee" will be achieved simply by being seen to obviously be trying to justify the fee... so start working on corner deliveries and racking up assists. Because believe me, once Silva has all the other pieces in place for his preferred 4-3-3, there is no starting spot in the lineup for Gylfi. He just doesn't fit. He's a 10 in a 4-2-3-1 or the tip of a midfield diamond - that's it. The only way this changes is if the team and Gylfi in particular start turning in consistently good performances in the 4-2-3-1, making Silva possibly review his preferences.