Coward what?
Valverde just like any coach in the world, Wants to have players that can immediately address a need and fill a hole in his squad, Willian is a very experienced player that can start delivering immediately (Not in a few years down the road), And doesn't have a problem with being on the bench, To give some space for dembele to develop, And he's also somewhat versatile
When he sat down with the sporting directors, He asked for them to TRY and sign willian, Valverde didn't know in advance what chelsea will be asking (That's not the job of a coach), And i don't remember any news that signing willian was an absolute must for him, Or a condition for him to stay as our coach.
Our club tried to deliver on it's current manager request (As any sensible and normal club would do), But chelsea was not asking a reasonable price for him, And the club had to move on, That's it.
If it wasn't for his absurd price tag, One could say that bringing Willian made sense, And checked many needed boxes (Someone of them outlined above).
As for malcom, His singing looks absolutely **cking random, And is not what you would expect to be an alternative to willian.
He's too young and inexperienced (21 years), And it'll take a few years, If ever for him to start delivering, The opposite of what made willian desirable.
When he went to rome, He expected to be starter, And i don't think it'll change with us, And will not be happy sitting on the bench for dembele.
He's even less versatile than willian.
The only good news about malcom, Is that we didn't have to pay 80m for willian (And there is no evidence that we were ever willing), It's the only advantage i can think off, Other than that, Malcom signing makes no sense to me.
This obsession with hoarding, And emphasize the word HOARDING young players with 'potentials', Is not a reasonable strategy to make a winning team, Because their will always be some young hyped player that we must have, And if our focus is only with what will happen in 5 years, Then we'll never win anything in the present.