It's a good question you have asked there.
Do we need a marquee signing? Firstly, what actually is a marquee signing? People have different interpretations to your 'marquee' or 'star' signing. There is a reason as to why someone is considered a star or marquee signing in the first place. You do not earn such a status by doing nothing. You do not just become a big name player by doing nothing. The way some people perceive it is that a marquee signing carries a lot of risk. It has always been unlike us, for whatever reason, to avoid signing big name players. Is that because we are worried about them failing at the club? Is the risk factor too high? Or are we just unable to temp them to the club?
Any club will improve if they sign the RIGHT star player. By being the right marquee signing, you've got to ensure that he is compatible with our style of play. You've got to ensure that he abides by the club ethos. You've got to ensure that he doesn't have that inflated ego. And then you've got to ensure that the club does not rely on him solely for success.
The way I see it is, someone like Marco Reus is labelled as that star player. Indeed he is, and his statistics adequately support that. So he is not just a big name player, but he is also a very capable player at the top level. That is how it works. If you are that good, then you earn that star status. If you are not that good, then you will not earn that star status. The best way to build a club is to buy players who have that potential to earn a star status (i.e Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Phillipe Coutinho). Neither of these players were anything special when they first came to the club. I hadn't even heard of Xabi Alonso or Raheem Sterling when they first signed, and there was always doubt as to whether Suarez would've turned out as good as he is now.
There is nothing wrong with buying a 'star' player if he fits into your system. He has to be the right star player nonetheless, and not just a 'star' player to appease the fans. I think a lot of posters here are getting on other posters back for wanting that star player, assuming they just want a big name so they can brag about it to their manc/chavvy friends. This isn't true. Some of us fans just want the best player possible for our system, and that player just tends to have a 'star' status (like Reus).
So, to answer your question - do we need a marquee signing? No, we do not. What we do need however are players who have the potential to be star players, like your Daniel Sturridge, your Luis Suarez, your Philippe Coutinho, your Raheem Sterling and so forth. I think this is the direction the club has taken, and it's one we've got to be patient with. I don't know if it'll turn out to be better in the long run than buying your Filipe Luis, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costas of this world. Only time will tell.
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