I think if he was a bargain, say 20-25m, that might be worth a punt, but the sort of money being quoted, 50-60m, I'm not so sure.
I've watched as much as I can of Soumare, quite a few whole games, I'm really not sure he's a busy enough fucker and I don't think his football is routinely as good as it looks in some YouTubes. Like Ndidi for example, who's not brilliant with the ball but is fucking evreywhere when Leicester don't have the ball. As a DM he'd be an upgrade on Sissoko and Dier maybe, but I don't think that's saying loads.
I don't dislike Soumare, but and if we were playing CM3, he'd be fine as the 6. But in CM2's, which we are playing, I'd like a bit more for 50-60m.
If we are going to spend some money, and still be taking a punt on a young player, I would much rather go balls deep on Camavinga, this kid's got it all and is going to be the real deal IMO, tenacious, dynamic, gets his foot in and can play football.
A player who'd cost about a third of Soumare is Sangare at Toulouse, I've always cautioned against him on the basis that his game - passing wise - is still error prone, but they (errors) are reducing and this kid has a big heart, in a struggling side he never hides, is a tall rangy type, gets through more ball than Soumare, and uses it quite well, can move with the ball, can see a pass, averages more tackles and interceptions than Soumare too. I'm still not sure he's ready for Top6 PL level though. But for 20m, instead of 50m ? One of the reasons he makes errors is because he will try things, a take on in a deeper area, a risky pass, and he needs to polish that out of his game, if he can I think his ceiling could well be higher than Soumare's.
If we are looking for real DM bargains, and I mean real bargains, like 5m tops, there are a couple of players at Metz - Habib Maiga (23) and Mamadou Fofana that might be worth scouting, I've not seen enough of them but Maiga seems to be a right busy fucker who can play some football.
Another player - as a more pure 6/DM - who's stayed on my radar since we were first linked a few years back is Pape Cheikh, still only 22, has now gone back to Celta Vigo, another one of those tall rangy DM's but I think he showed promise on loan at Lyon last year, but the new Brazilian DOF Juninho wanted to bring in his own players instead of making Cheikh's loan permanent, so he's gone back and I think has started to get more starts in the last couple of months. Would cost no more than 10m.
Marseille have three interesting CM's. The 20yo Boubacar Kamara emerging as a CB who can also play 6, 22yo Maxi Lopez 6/8 tenacious, works hard, but good little footballer, 25yo Valentine Rongier, more 8 type who's is tenacious though, works and can play a bit of football. I need to see more of Rongier to figure him out, but Kamara (who I mentioned last year when he emerged playing CB as an 18/19yo) is now playing the as a 6/DM too, this kid looks to have a bright future.
Been a long term admirer of Aouar at Lyon, but he's more pure 8. Tousart (22yo) is a decent young DM, busy little fucker, ok footballing wise, nothing special.
