De Ceglie was weak as hell. Couldn’t handle pressure, folded the moment the game got physical. Palestra is the complete opposite. Fearless, quick, strong, actually built for modern football. Everything you want in a fullback, he’s got it. You don’t get scouted by Barça for no reason. But he’s PL bound all day. Serie A has basically turned into a bargain bin for English clubs.
We dodged Calafiori, then went and dropped 60m on Koop. That money could’ve gone into a profile like Palestra instead. Now we’re paying for those decisions, and with the Openda deal, the cycle probably just keeps going.