Still can't see us paying £40m for a benchwarmer, especially when Dembele will be virtually free
A) Likely to be much closer to 30 million (the article mentions that, I think - similar to what we paid for Soldado).
B) Poch has hardly proved averse to playing multiple forwards in the past.
C) If you absolutely must exaggerate the cost of a signing and simultaneously question the value of the move, much more ludicrous numbers like 85 million for Batahuayi, Berahino and Wanyama is just much more entertaining from an observer's perspective.
What is the point of pushing for CL football if we don't use it to boost our profile and perhaps secure a signing of two that would otherwise be impossible for us to secure? We could likely get Dembele if we were seventeenth in the league with a -40 goal difference, it wouldn't matter to him (or players of his profile): we'd still be a step up from Championship/League One/League Two footie. But we wouldn't have a chance of acquiring players with Batshuayi's potential in that scenario, whereas CL football does offer us that chance, and it wouldn't be wise to spurn it.
I personally don't care if Poch is happy with free transfers and bargain buys, as long as Levy backs him without hesitation when he does ask for big-money purchases. Thankfully, last summer was a significant step forward in that regard, with big money moves for Toby and Son being made with little fuss, and a flurry of last minute bids for Berahino that would have sent us into the red, net spending wise, should we have pulled it off.
But the thing about that approach is, it's clear that Poch isn't some fanatic who wants to only stick to budget purchases and low-cost youngsters - he has and will occasionally ask for big money buys. He's done it at Southampton (Osvaldo, Wanyama), and he's done it here (Toby, Son, Berahino). He'll probably do so again this summer. I want Levy to continue backing him to the hilt on this, and spending big money on Batahuayi, Umtiti, Lacazette et al if the situation demands it. Hell, I'd even advocate offering these types of players to Poch as an initiative from Levy himself, to maximise the chances of making maximum use of our upcoming CL campaign (a la VDV back in 2010).
And if, after all that Poch decides free transfer Dembele is better than Batahuayi and Lacazette to fill our needs, fair enough. But I certainly wouldn't stick on Dembele's free price tag as a reason to prefer him to other signings. Not with CL football.