They spent a lot of money on him. They’re probably not ready to cut their losses quite yet - if he can find 1 good season on loan his value for sale will recover a bit. And if he can find 2 good seasons there’s the possibility of him becoming a squad member for depth or being sold for close to no loss.

They’ve yet to play many of the harder fixtures in Spain, Betis, Bilbao, Atleti, Barca, Real away all remain on their calendar. Sociedad, Barca, Atleti at home are a likely place to drop more points - especially for a club with extremely limited squad depth as the season drags on. They’re likely to drop off from the title chase but they have set themselves up excellently to challenge for the Europa League slot with this brilliant start to the campaign - Michel deserves a lot of plaudits for that