Alonso

[Skillz]

I think some injuries mean players are never quite the same again. I don't think any of us is close enough to the situation or expert enough to tell whether that is the case with Xabi. We have to hope that Rafa and his team are and make the correct decision.

If Xabi can get back to what he was before this season then I think we have to keep him and he will be an important cog in our team and the perfect role model for Lucas and the likes of Plessis coming through.

Agree with all of that. More importantly I hope you are right about the bit in bold.

I will say though we should not sell Xabi unless we know he is ****ed. We need classy players like him and just because he is slow getting back from injury doesn't mean we should offload. Said it before but I bet his play to win% would be as good as anyones this season.