I'm not as angsty about this as others on here. In fact I'm a bit excited to see what he can do. From the reports coming out this morning they have had a good look at his coaching videos and talked to people in the know over there, so there is a bit of homework about it. And he fills one of our biggest holes that we've traditionally struggled to sign (box to box midfielder).
In terms of it taking the last import slot, I think that says a lot more about the punt we've taken on Krishna. If I was going to pick Krishna or Gorrin for my last import slot, I'd definitely be taking Gorrin.
All foreign signings are a punt - but we're punting that this guy is actually going to make it as a professional footballer, he's never played a professional match against men. I don't understand how that doesn't worry people!!
Just the difference between being an optimist and a pessimist I guess (not being judgemental about that either - there's plenty of good reason to feel a bit pessimistic about the Nix from time to time!).
There will never be a Phoenix signing that doesn't have pros and cons or an element of risk, that's just the way it is for us.
But there is definitely some upside here:
- The kid is young and the reason he's never played at senior level is because he's been through the academy of a premier league club, which is better than coming up through the ASBP (or similar) imo, although of course it does leave a few questions unanswered.
- He also comes to us via coaching contacts rather than an agent which is as close to proper scouting as we are ever going to get.
- If he's any good we might even get to sell him on later.
- Most importantly, this has been done super early in the off-season. One less distraction and one more player who Ernie gets to do a full off-season with.