Be interesting to see how this plays.
Virtually all the midfielders mentioned so far would be suited to playing as a second midfielder next to Rodri (assuming he stays!).
But if, as is being touted, Maresca is likely to go (back) towards having a defender move up to become the second player at the base of the midfield, then perhaps this changes what we need: first, a defender that can do that well, and then second, a more creative player who can control the game higher up the pitch (David Silva, Gundogan)?
Which isn’t to say that Maresca will necessarily want to do this. There’s a video somewhere of him talking about using his full backs in the same way we’ve used O’Reilly this season (i.e. to get ahead of the midfielders in central areas), and being able to do that because of having two more orthodox midfielders in place. If that’s the model, then Anderson, for example, would make perfect sense.
Hopefully Maresca has a crystal clear vision of what he wants to do, so we have the best possible chance of getting the recruitment right.
Whatever else, feels like it could be a big summer!
