Vestergaard

The club is apparently considering offering Jannik a new contract. On the face of it, given how well he's performed this year and how he's proved to be an absolutely vital part of the Enzo revolution, this seems to make some sense. Although 32 before next season starts he's hopefully still got a few years left at the same, or similar, level of performance, but critically, his speed is likely only going in one direction.

The question I've got, which is one I've had all season since it became apparent that he was the surprise first choice at CB, is he good enough for the Premier League? Of course we have to get promoted first and that still isn't a given with some tough games to come, but it's looking promising at the moment. If we didn't get up and were consigned to the Championship for another year I wouldn't have any issue with retaining him.

Let's say for the sake of this discussion that we are promoted, which must surely be something the club have in mind in making this decision. He has been outstanding thus far, and even improving, given that he picked up a lot of yellow cards earlier, none recently, so he (and no doubt the rest of the defence) have found a way to minimise the impact of his lack of pace and him being slow to turn.

Here's the rub, in the higher league the back line is likely be consistently subject to a high press, executed really well by far superior, faster forwards/midfield. I doubt he's up to it, likely to not only have to resort to professional fouls earning yellow cards, but possibly even getting the occasional red if there isn't a covering defender. That's not a good place for the team to be in.

Put simply, I don't think he's good enough for the EPL, so I await the result of these contract talks with some trepidation. He might be worth keeping as a backup, but I doubt he would want to be in that situation. Nothing would please me more than being proved wrong on this by the way.

Thoughts?