I’ve been in the camp of get rid, but if it’s true that he has effectively taken one for the team, then I think he deserves some loyalty. However, given his record it surely can’t be for anything more than 5th choice.
He was out for most of last season too, so that was meant to be a reset season, then he hobbled off post restart after doing his toe v Everton. I’m struggling to think of any player we’ve had that after having a history of picking up injuries, his injury record suddenly improves.
That is why letting Lovren go was the right thing, because he too had a history of unreliability, and had he been around this season, his history tells us that there’s a good chance he would have broken down when most needed.
Perhaps not bringing a CB in during the summer was a bit optimistic, but again, with COVID affecting finances, we had to be creative to fill other gaps in the squad.
Nobody could have foreseen the scale and nature of injuries that we’ve had this year, but post COVID especially we can’t afford to be tying up huge wages long term on players that history tells us can’t be relied on.
