Wishlist Daniele de Rossi

[Christo191 173]

How many good years do you think DDR has left at the highest level?

0 (Zero) Yes I do believe that!

[BlueLion. 21,491]

^ most people said something similar when Yaya Toure came to City, yet he is probably the league's most dominant central midfielder.

DdR isn't as good as he once was, but for £10 million he'll give you three seasons at a level far higher than Mikel or Essien can contribute.

[DanishBlue 426]

6-7 is maybe a bit unrealistic I think. I think he would be at the highest level until he is 33-34 years old, and that would be 4-5 years playing for us which is pretty good.

15m is still a bit too much imo, 10-12m sounds more fair to me.

[DanishBlue 426]

I also just found out that he will turn 30 later this month - that's why 10-12m should be maximum.

[Azpinator 2,325]

Enough with the age thing, after what happened with Pirlo I'll never judge a quality player by his age.

[Leif 6,006]

I think De Rossi is a player who's just getting better with age. At around 26/27 years old when most players in his position would be considered to be in their 'prime' his tactical understanding of the game wasn't very good, but his pace was far better than what it is now. (Pace was always a big part of his game. He'd get dribbled past half the time then quickly try and turn round and hit a slide-tackle on whoever got past him. This is how his red card tally began racking up.)

Those have switched now though, with his understanding of the game being incredible and his pace being around half what it was. This loss of pace though isn't an overall loss to his game, as his tactical understanding now typically prevents players from getting past him - full stop.

I think we should go all out for him. Reason being, you also have a somewhat playmaker in De Rossi as well as a hard tackler when he's in your team. With Italy we often see him as a ball-playing defender with almost as much playmaking responsibility as Pirlo, and with Roma when he was used correctly he and Totti typically dictated play; Totti providing the through-balls and De Rossi with the short and quick passes with the occasional incredible long-ball which more often than not split the opposition's defence right open.

The most admirable trait of his, at least in my eyes, is the fact that he does every single job you can possibly do in the team. He'll do some playmaking, and then the moment his pass goes astray or his teammate loses it, he will chase down whoever of the opposition just got the ball assuming they're within his 'zone' which he typically roams and hunts them down like a rabid dog. He'll then calmly hit the ball accurately up-field to launch a counter-attack.

At other times when his team is under-pressure, he's given the freedom to play like a less pacey but more all-round version of Ramires; You'll find him at left-back, as the striker, as a winger, as a centre back etc. He's even played as goalkeeper a few times for Roma when he needed to.

He genuinely plays like a hybrid of Xabi Alonso, Mascherano (during his Liverpool days) and Ramires. Honestly. If he'd been playing for a top club in either England or Spain for the past few seasons he'd be everyone's favourite player outside of their own team.

He still has plenty to give. Nothing suggests he's slowing down. Like Pirlo, like Di Natale, like Totti, like Del Piero, he will keep going until a very late age.

I won't even touch on what he brings to a team personality-wise. My fingers will start to bleed.

I feel £15m, even £20m if it came down to it would be acceptable (at a stretch) for him. You know why? You end up paying £7m-£10m for the defensive midfielder De Rossi and then £7m-£10m for the playmaker De Rossi. 2 players in one.

Sign him or i'll cry.

[DanishBlue 426]

Very good post, I enjoyed it!

[Jusek 2,031]

0 (Zero) Yes I do believe that!

[Melanicus 5,208]

Italians are like wine, only getting better with age.

[The Mak 4,459]

He could give 2-3yrs max (as a starter).

It'd be perfect timing all around because we can only hope Chalobah/Aké/RLC are ready to take over by that time.

[LayZ 201]

I thought DDR was an acronym for The Drog...I clearly haven't been to this thread much...

I'm not too concerned about de Rossi's age to be honest,we bought the Mak at about the same stage in his career and he didn't do to badly for us did he?

[nyikolajevics 2,435]

How many good years do you think DDR has left at the highest level?

Makelele and Ballack was also 30 when we signed them. They were fantastic here for long years.

[Yasser 63]

Daniele who we're really missing in our squad, please Jose & Roman sign him up!

[Yasser 63]

sign him up, sign him up, sign him up!

[iceboy 992]

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer19h

The only official offer for Daniele De Rossi is from Chelsea but AS Roma are expecting a bid from #PSG in the coming days (Tuttosport) #CFC

[November33rd 84]

Pirlo is in his mid 30s and is still one of the best midfielders around. DDR is a lot similar. This age talk is rubbish.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

All the talk about PSG is making me very nervous.

[Waterfall 893]

Pirlo is in his mid 30s and is still one of the best midfielders around. DDR is a lot similar. This age talk is rubbish.

No. Not only are they different types of players, Pirlo is more of an exception than the norm. There are significantly more examples of players who started regressing in their early 30's than who haven't. Age IS a major concern, and that's why he's quoted at 10M rather than 30M.