Arturo Vidal is a man-beast. Unfortunately, Liverpool have no interest nor room for the 27-year-old Chilean International. With Can, Henderson, Gerrard, & Lucas, minutes would be sparse, and his lack of 'specialization' would only hurt his chances of pitch time.
Vidal is an all-round good midfielder, but does nothing great. Here are his stats from last season:
npgp90 | gcp90 | ccp90 | ap90 | ccv |
0.33 | 0.59 | 1.73 | 0.18 | 10.6 |
pass% | bp% | sacc% | shot% | TTI90 |
83.7 | 40.9 | 33.3 | 19.3 | 13.2 |
gsp90 | gap90 | gop90 | tgop | gopd90 |
2.21 | 0.74 | 1.47 | 1.5 | -0.03 |
intp90 | drbp90 | tp90 | tack% | adw% |
1.44 | 1.99 | 4.8 | 43.2 | 53.8 |
If he hadn't scored 11 goals and had 5 assists, he'd be a poor man's Lucas. If he didn't post such defensive numbers, he'd be a slightly passing inferior Jordan Henderson. Either way, he pales in comparison to a 33-year-old Gerrard.
Pogba falls under the same problem, he's also a box-to-box whom would probably be great at being either an attacking or defensive midfielder if he just concentrated his efforts towards being one or the other. He does seem to be better on the ball than Vidal though.
npgp90 | gcp90 | ccp90 | ap90 | ccv |
0.21 | 0.41 | 1.41 | 0.21 | 14.6 |
pass% | bp% | sacc% | shot% | TTI90 |
83.8 | 39.7 | 39.7 | 9.6 | 11.3 |
gsp90 | gap90 | gop90 | tgop | gopd90 |
2.14 | 0.59 | 1.55 | 1.5 | 0.05 |
intp90 | clrp90 | tp90 | tack% | adw% |
1.06 | 1.14 | 2.46 | 40.6 | 58.4 |
They are very similar players which is probably why Juventus are shopping both, but will probably only sell one. Unfortunately, there is no reason to buy either, Henderson is just as good, Gerrard is better, Lucas is a far superior holding midfielder, and Can has all the assets to compete for minutes.
The Pope is great at crosses and saves, but do we really need a winger/keeper?