Been offered 3 Yr deal but not happy with it or playing time . Was fit for 57 out of 63 games last season
Its a weird one for me (his dissatisfaction). Last season, he was in the squad for 29 of the 38 league games. Out of those 29 games, he started 14 and was substituted in 9 times and remained an unused sub for a further 6 games.
If we consider that some of those games where he's on the bench are directly following time he spent out of the squad because of injuries (easing him in), then I'm not sure what it is that he's not happy about. For the record, I count about 3 or 4 games where he's starting from the bench after recovering from an injury. If we add all those numbers up, he realistically was a used or unused sub for 11 games, the rest is out of the manager's hands.
11 games on the bench may sound a lot but with how busy our seasons are the boss has to rotate and when your track record in terms of injuries is the one he has then where is the surprise when you are at the heart of those rotational changes?
I like him as a player. I think he brings something all our other midfielders don't and I think he looks like a fantastic person as well. However, if he wants to leave and we are ready to replace him then, as far as I'm concerned, he can go. The constant-stop start related to his injuries exhausted me despite being one of the more vocal people on this forum in terms of defending him and what he adds to the team when fit. If you ain't happy son then go find yourself a mid table La Liga or Bundesliga club who is willing to take the risk on you and pay us the fee we want. Who knows, maybe he'll even thrive once again in a much less physical league.
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