I've just been internet-scouting Assaidi and have to say I'm in a little bit of a conundrum when it comes to him.
He's obviously got a bag of tricks (which is why we bought him in the first place) and has had some really good performances this season for Stoke, such as against
Chelsea (fast forward to 10:00 for the best bit!) and
Fulham where he scored and was MOTM, showing that there's clearly a good player in there somewhere.
He might have been a budget signing as a player that Brendan had been watching during his time at Swansea, but I think that if we retained him next season he could improve while playing with better players in training on a daily basis. Btw, I think Assaidi's got a very similar Cruyff-turn as Lallana does, hopefully he can improve his offensive efficiency and decision making though.
I think Brendan may have loaned him out primarily to get game-time just like with Borini instead of for the intention of selling him afterwards. I think Borini and Assaidi might be competing for the same place in the squad though next season, and I think Borini wins that race. However, it might yet be a good idea to keep Assaidi in the squad as a backup instead of holding on to Ibe for instance, since Ibe arguably has the higher upside and could use a loan more than Assaidi given that Assaidi is already 25.
Many have been calling for him to be sold for £3-5m, but I think there just might be more value in him if we wait a year - either if we keep him with us for cup games or if we loan him out again.
Whatever happens it'll certainly be intriguing to follow what will happen with a few of our "fringe" players, along with those returning from loans.
