ANY player who has not played in the Prem is a gamble obviously the more talented the less of a gamble. There are many talented players who have been mint abroad BUT failed in England-Shevchenko & Veron to name just 2 amonst many.
Until a player plays for your team you never know for sure if they will succeed or not regardless of playing in England- i do not envy scouts.
For every Aguero there is a Kezman for every Defoe there is a Bony. This is why i was not overly bothered about us not getting Alves i think the leagues physicality would have been too much for him in my opinion.
You pay more for proven prem players because they have proven they can consistently perform over a few seasons, in my eyes you have to judge players over a minimum of 2 seasons- any player can have a great or crap season despite their talent- Bony being an example of a good season & Bravo of a crap one. Also if they are English it doubles the price due to the idiotic quota rule- there are very few top level English players so it hikes the price up, eeven with average ones it hikes the price up.
We have been missing pace & strength down the flanks for a couple of seasons now, it has cost us & i cannot wait to see us with that pace/strength again, i think Walker will be quality for us, but time will tell...
If you have pace & strength it is half the battle in England, Maureen knows our league well & this is why he buy strong & fast players, he buys too many though & seems to forget about ability :)
Before anyone calls me a rag i named Some Utd flops becaues it makes us all smile :)