Malinovski feels like very uninspiring option for me.
- already 28; so not likely to improve from his level
- non HG, so puts the squad situation under pressure in that regard
- sorry, but Russian and Ukrainian players track record in EPL is shocking
- doubt he would be much of an upgrade on Moura
But then again - Conte and Paratici know their way around Italian league and their players as we've seen with Romero, Kulusevski and Bentancur. So if they decide it would be good idea to go for him, then so be it.
I would personally prefer someone who can play in midfield and provide some sharp passing from there.
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I do not usually do this, but 7 disagrees got me quite interested.
Please, lads, come out and explain what about him feels like inspiring factor to you.
Age is quite objective factor. He is 28.
He is non-HG - thats a fact.
Regarding nationality - come out and bring me just few examples of Ukrainian or Russian attacking players in EPL who have been good in the long term. Cause from top of my head, I can put together list of either flops or players who were at best decent for a while and then faded - Arshavin, Sevtšenko, Yarmolenko, Pavljutšenko, Biljaletinov, Rebrov, Voronin. That is not even cherry-picking. These are pretty much all of the attacking players I could recall. Arshavin had his moments but faded fast. Others were straight up flops in England. Now I think Zichenko will do well and has done for City as well. And Zirkov was decent as fullback for Chelsea.
Regarding Moura vs Malinovski - to keep it short- Lucas has scored 38 and assisted 27 during 11730 minutes played for Spurs. That is goal or assist for every 180 minutes. Malinovski has 29 goals and 27 assists for Atalanta in 6400 minutes so one for every 114 minutes. BUT and there is HUGE but with these stats -
Atalanta is well-known for their free-attacking football that mean high number of goals scored (but also many conceded). Last season they scored 65 goals (5th most); season before 90 goals (1st in the league!); season before that 98 (by far 1st in the league). Season before that they were also on top in that aspect (though then Malinovski was not in Atalanta yet) - so 3 years top scoring team in the league. And despite two seasons where they scored 98 and 90 goals respectively - Malinovski part was 8 goals in both seasons. Roughly 9% of the overall massive goal tally that should inflate attacking players numbers compared to ... you know... normal sides and normal stats. Same season we scored 68 and 61 goals in league for comparison.
But what worries me most - Malinovski has played 3 seasons in top league in his career and he is already 28. And in none of these seasons he has been starter. His best has been 2300 minutes which is equal to 25 full games. While in Serie A alone there are 38 games + cups + in case of Atalanta of late also Europe games. Most likely ~50 games across season. And he has taken part in half of those. If we look at our other recent purchases from Serie A then Bentancur had played 3000+ minutes seasons for powerhouse that is Juventus. Romero had been nailed on starter for Atalanta. Kulu managed to rack up 2700 minutes for Juve and 3000+ minutes season with Parma.
So my summary is - Malinovski is a player that is in prime age, yet he has 0 seasons in top league where he has been certain starter. He comes from the region where previous attacking players have been a flop in EPL. He has been playing for team that plays extremely attacking football but his stats are not impressive despite that.
How does that feel inspiring?
Don't get me wrong - I am NOT saying that he would be shit. Or that we should absolutely not go for him.
I even mentioned specifically- Conte and Paratici have good knowledge about Italian league and football. If they think it is a good move and he could in fact be useful addition for us- I will cheer him on and hope that he would do brilliantly for Spurs.
Just based on the current information I am not optimistic about him. Would be happy to been proven wrong
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