Plymouth Argyle: £1.5m man who has "yet to show his ability" tipped to come good on one condition | OneFootball

FLW's Greens fan pundit has been disappointed by Baidoo's lack of impact since his January arrival

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

FLW's Plymouth Argyle fan pundit has issued his disappointment at Michael Baidoo's lack of impact at the club since he joined in the January window for a club-record fee from Swedish side Elfsborg.

The Ghanaian attacking midfielder made his first steps into European football with FC Midtjylland back in 2018, and played for numerous lower league club in Denmark and Norway prior to his move to Allsvenkan outfit Elfsborg in 2022.

He grew into a standout player in his three seasons with the Yellow Ones, with experience in the Europa Conference League and Europa League as his club finished second in the league in 2023. Plymouth attempted to sign the 25-year-old last August, but their advances were knocked back due to Elfsborg's reluctance to sanction a sale.

Argyle reignited their interest in Baidoo in the recent January window, and were able to seal a deal for their new attacking midfielder as he arrived on a three-year contract for a reported club-record fee of around £1.5 million. Supporters had high expectations of his performances, but he has failed to impress as yet in the midst of a Championship relegation battle.

Plymouth Argyle fan pundit offers Michael Baidoo verdict after underwhelming start

Baidoo made his Pilgrims debut around a week after he joined against Brentford in the FA Cup, and was a key part of the side that surprisingly dumped the Premier League outfit out of the cup in West London.

He then started consecutive games as a striker in the Championship against Oxford United, QPR and Burnley, and another against West Brom, but was tactically taken off at half-time against the Baggies as Argyle went on to win the game in his absence.

The three-cap Ghanaian international has not been picked in Miron Muslic's side from the off since that game, and has only featured off the bench in four out of the last nine possible games in league and cup.

He has not even been a part of the Greens' matchday squad in their last three Championship outings, and boss Muslic has recently admitted that he needs time to adapt to English football before he can make a real impact from midfield.

FLW's Argyle fan pundit, Chris, has been disappointed at Baidoo's poor performances since he joined the club over two months ago, but believes that he will come good soon - only when he has had ample time to rest over the summer and get used to the intensity of the English game.

“Michael Baidoo arrived at Argyle in the January transfer window for a reported £1.5 million from Elfsborg," Chris told FLW.

“He was originally a target for Wayne Rooney during the summer transfer window, but Elfsborg refused to let him leave due to him being one of their top players at the time.

“At the end of their season, they eventually agreed the fee and allowed him to leave after he had requested to move to English football.

“The Ghanaian international, however, is yet to show his ability at Championship level due to his fatigue.

"Not only had he played a full season in the Swedish leagues, but he then had European football during the winter months, and then immediately came over to play here in the Championship.

“Overall, he hasn’t provided that much in terms of goal-scoring opportunities or assists yet. I strongly believe that, with a long period of rest, it will be a situation where we will see the best out of Baidoo.

“Not only that, but the prospect of League One football may allow him the opportunity to adapt more to English football.

“He hasn’t been included in recent lineups or squads, even as a substitute, meaning Muslic may indeed see that aspect of him needing a rest after playing near enough one-and-half full seasons, plus European football.”

Plymouth Argyle

Argyle's recent 3-2 defeat to Derby County has consigned them to a likely relegation from the second-tier this season. They now sit bottom of the league once again, and are six points from safety with just eight games of the campaign left to play.

Baidoo has not done much to justify his sizeable price-tag as yet, but some of his struggles can probably be attributed to a lack of a proper break in-between playing in Sweden and making the switch to Home Park.

His Allsvenskan season started in April and ended in November, then he played in the Europa League up to mid-December, while also featuring in three games for Ghana throughout October and November. Miron Muslic recently spoke to PlymouthLive about how tough it has been for him to be thrown straight into Championship action.

Muslic said: "He finished the season over there (in Sweden) and joined here. He came here without a break. So imagine you have to play throughout the whole season and you just have to continue another season.

"That's almost somehow unfair to Michael. He's a very good lad, he tries hard but he looks just fatigued. He's struggling in the moment. We try to give him all the support he needs but it's not easy for him.

"Then adapting to the Championship, it's physical here. It's a different type of place, a different style of play, and he's obviously struggling with everything.

"It takes a little bit of time. Don't get me wrong, as coaches we want players immediately, just come in, sign and play, and sometimes it's not the case.

"We have to consider all those kind of things before we sign players. Which condition is the player arriving? Is he ready to give us an immediate impact or does he need two or three months to settle in? These are very important things to consider for the future."

It is clear that Argyle's head-coach believes in Baidoo's ability, but they have not been in the position to play the waiting game for him to come good this term. His squad needed a real boost in the January window, but instead they landed a player who is not quite ready to play in the Championship.

The Pilgrims' troubles no doubt run much deeper than Baidoo and his lack of impact, but it certainly hasn't helped that they forked out a club-record fee on a player that has done so little. Their best hope now is that he can return to the team and help keep them up this season, or if not, he will play a key part as they seek promotion from League One next season.