An honest question? How often have you watched this guy play? How has he managed to be capped 49 times by France by age 27 and been a regular at Bayern for the last 4 years? He's a World Cup champion and a Champions League winner. I'm sorry but one doesn't reach those levels of success by being a poor player. I'm not saying this guy is Maldini and you may not fancy him for God knows why but you can't call him a fairly large downgrade to just about any FB on the planet and expect to be taken seriously. If Pep wants him here and believes he brings value then case closed...just sayin'...