He is no doubt, but he is incredibly comfortable in the inside left channel, it’s his bread and butter. As I say, it’s the majority of games that call for more of a 10 in that position in the end. But I guess you could argue having someone like Trossard what’s the point in Baena.

I think you could just argue we’re okay with our L8 options atm, if we decide to move Thomas on, then yeah, that opens up a spot in the squad. Unless a talent of the level of like Wirtz becomes available to us somehow.

I’d also be fast tracking Nwaneri, honestly.

Yeah, definitely. I’m not going to pretend that I watched a ton of Leverkusen but let’s remember that this is a guy who most in football saw as an 8 when he came to Chelsea (I know this has its issues, because I know also from people who did play Leverkusen that they liked him best in more advanced positions there). But there is a reason for that.

The underlying technical qualities to contribute in the second phase are definitely there but I don’t think we can ignore the reality that it’s going to take a transition. Perhaps longer than I had hoped. And yeah, there can be an argument made that if stone still looks like a stone at 24 perhaps it’s just a stone. Which is why I’m interested as well in Billy’s opinion. But I tend to be on the more hopeful side of this argument…in short, I rate Havertz qualities and tend to believe in players whose qualities I rate, but totally understand and am open to (reasonable) doubts.

I’m a firm believer that in the L8 role we need someone more attacking minded. Havertz, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Paqueta, Nwaneri is the right profile for that position, IMO. What we need to find is someone who can do Xhaka things in construction phases, while raising our attacking potential in attacking phases, and while having the needed physicality…not easy to find someone like that.

Hence, the idea of Fofana doesn’t really thrill me. As a potential Thomas replacement should Thomas get hurt, yeah. But as our top option to pair with Rice I don’t think he moves the needle and really changes us for the better as a club.

Douglas Luiz as you describe him sounds right-ish but I do wonder if he has profile to get ahead in to that inside left channel in advanced positions, often making runs off the last defender. No idea, I guess if Xhaka was able to do it then Luiz can, though Xhaka had his left-footedness to help him in that case.

Baena, Brandt, and Doué (would seriously block Nwaneri though…) are probably the names that excite me the most on that list, of the gettable ones (de Jong obviously would be a dream…I can see the argument for Camavinga too). Angel Gomes and Aleix García are also interesting shouts. Agree that Xavi Simons would probably be another dream for this position…as would probably Wirtz who’s not mentioned. And I think Tielemans is a shout worth making, too, Rice, Tielemans, and Odegaard does strike me as a very balanced midfield.

The ideal thing is for it to work out with Havertz, of course. I still think it’s way too early to give up on him as a solution at L8. What are your thoughts on Havertz at this current moment? I started to have my first doubts about him against Burnley but I think 11-12 Ramsey-esque lack of confidence is biasing our opinion a bit of him at the moment, though I do start to worry if his stiffness and lack of turning and agility in short spaces could ultimately be a problem without a solution (though this I think is also partly a confidence problem, I’ve seen him looking much more dynamic and less stiff when more confident).

Vermeeren interests me as a hybrid 6/8 to fill Thomas’ role in the squad, as do a few other names on that list, though I really prefer solutions that keep Rice as a 6 except against top opponents, which are the minority of games, after all.