Idrissa Gana Gueye’s move to PSG from Everton has dominated the news over the last week, with the long-running move close to an end.
We covered a report earlier today that Gueye is due to have a medical at the French club on Sunday or Monday, with Everton and PSG having agreed to a deal worth €30m plus for the Senegal midfielder.
That’s a price tag that’s taken some time to get to, with Everton having held out for a top price for one of their key players.
Indeed, some people have even considered it a reasonable price to pay, there’s not been many if any, people questioning whether the Ligue 1 champions should be spending that fee.
L’Equipe journalist Guillaume Dufy seems to have decided that it isn’t a reasonable price and explained why in a recent interview.
“At Everton, he was often in a low position to defend, there at PSG he will end up in a team with a different profile that has 95% of possession of the ball,” he said.
“So, he’ll have to acclimatise, and again even if I’m not a money man, I find that €32m for a player who comes from Everton, who is 30 years old, and signs 5 years, I think it’s a lot.
“After, when you arrive to negotiate with the PSG label in the back, it makes the price go up 10 or €15m, but still this price makes a lot of money.”
While Dufy’s argument about Gueye’s age may stand up, the rest is a little insulting, particularly to Everton.
A player’s value is not determined by the club he plays for but by his actual talents, and on that front, Gueye is more than worth the money PSG are playing.
The Senegal midfielder is one of the best players outside of the top six, in fact, there is only really N’Golo Kante in the rest of Europe who is better at that particular job of winning the ball back.
There certainly isn’t a player better than him at that job at PSG, that’s the reason why Thomas Tuchel wants him so desperately.
Gueye is a top player with a particular set of skills and his stats in recent years are among the best in Europe, while he’s been playing for a side outside of the top six.
