Defensive Midfield Summer Options

Another thread on here, talking about weather Medel would have signed if we had gotten Ince made me think.

Medel was clearly our 3rd choice this summer, behind Wanyama and Capoue. Now that could have been down to percieved ability, could have been a reluctance to sign a player who didnt speak the language, but what ever the reason, did we get lucky?

Capoue briefly looked good to me before the injury, and i think he is a very good player who might well find his playing time limited at spurs, while wanyama has been a vital part of a greatr start for southampton.


Perhaps im viewing this through blue/red tinted specs, but Wanyama doesnt seem to be getting the plaudits that Medel is.

So were we lucky not to get our first two targets and "end up" with medel? how different a side would we be with Wanyama in the middle? Personally i sill would have loved to see Wanyama here, i think both him and Medel are destined to play at a higher level, so in that sense, i dont think the shape and style of the team, and more importantly the results, would have been much different

Didn't Malky think Medel was out of our reach, with the likes of AC Milan etc sniffing about him? Sure he said that.

I think this question is more difficult to answer than the ince one.

I don't think we would have signed both wanyama or capoue and medel, so yes I do think we were fotunate in a way.


I definitely think medel is a better option than wanyama as he retains possession better than wanyama which is what we needed to add.

From what I have seen of capoue, he looks a bit more classy and elegant than medel but I think medel is a better signing for cardiff city.

Medel and Cardiff City fit like a hand in glove. He not only keeps the ball but he has natural leadership qualities (which we needed) and he also has the ability to fire up the crowd which is a big factor for us this season.

My personal opinion is MM just wanted value for money.
As soon as Celtic said they wanted 12m for Wnayama he simply thought, I can get better value for money elsewhere so did. TBH I also like Wanyama and if we had the funds I wouldn’t have objected to having both in the team.

I think this question is more difficult to answer than the ince one.

I don't think we would have signed both wanyama or capoue and medel, so yes I do think we were fotunate in a way.


I definitely think medel is a better option than wanyama as he retains possession better than wanyama which is what we needed to add.

From what I have seen of capoue, he looks a bit more classy and elegant than medel but I think medel is a better signing for cardiff city.

Medel and Cardiff City fit like a hand in glove. He not only keeps the ball but he has natural leadership qualities (which we needed) and he also has the ability to fire up the crowd which is a big factor for us this season.

i think the "fans favorite" factor is under-esmtimated in this instance actually. i imagine the main reason for this is his rep as a nutter but i dont think capoue or wanyama would have had the same effect on the crowd.

Good point about possession retention, medel is a heck of a lot better than i would have imagined and its clear he could have been playing at a "better" club than us.

The little ive seen of Capoue he looks a very class act but as Gringo says Medel is a good fit for us.

We didnt have too many leaders in the squad but he has come in, taken charge and from the first whistle at West Ham looked totally comfortable in his new surroundings.

Cant see ive seen too much of Wanyama at Southampton to know how hes gettimg on but they are 4th and not conceding many goals so he must be doing ok.

I don't think we would swap Medel for anyone but would be tough if he got injured...

I think theres a story in there somewhere.When his name was first mentioned and after viewing the youtube vids I thought not a Malky type player surely.

3rd option ?

Malky always had him on the radar the whole time but thought he was out of reach.

I guess it was just worth the punt as he needed a CDM and Seville had money trouble.

3rd option ?

Malky always had him on the radar the whole time but thought he was out of reach.

I guess it was just worth the punt as he needed a CDM and Seville had money trouble.

fair point, but rather than be "3rd choice" there were circumstances, as i suggested, as to the reason we didnt go in for him straight away. We looked like we were chasing wanyama very hard at one point, and at the time, people were suggesting it was too the detriment of the rest of the team.


Then Capoue came along, and that one looked simple, seemed clear he was holding out for a different club before coming to us. So it wasnt untill well into august that we went after Medel.

3rd option ?

Malky always had him on the radar the whole time but thought he was out of reach.

I guess it was just worth the punt as he needed a CDM and Seville had money trouble.

fair point, but rather than be "3rd choice" there were circumstances, as i suggested, as to the reason we didnt go in for him straight away. We looked like we were chasing wanyama very hard at one point, and at the time, people were suggesting it was too the detriment of the rest of the team.


Then Capoue came along, and that one looked simple, seemed clear he was holding out for a different club before coming to us. So it wasnt untill well into august that we went after Medel.

We had the three on the radar at the same time. All very similar players in the same bracket and Malky was probably confident of capturing one of them. I was gutted we didn't land Wanyama but although I had heard the name Gary Medel mentioned, I didn't know how close we were

So far it looks an inspired signing and as someone mentioned earlier,he could be the best player we've ever seen here and if this form continues we'll be looking at our first world class player, potentially making almost treble on what we paid

All good, the other two are seven or eights, but we got el Pitbull and a TEN

It could be that Medel hadn't been researched as heavily as the other two. Perhaps his reputation for his disciplinary record put him further back in the priority list in this regard.

We got an absolute bargain in the end. A Champions League player. Smart to look at top players in debt ridden sides. La Liga is rife with debt at the moment. We could be scouting there again.