We'll probably just have to agree to disagree then, because I don't think fourth-choice midfielders are used particularly often at all when the players ahead of them are fit. Obviously they'll get substitute appearances and the odd start, but that's completely different from actually playing a meaningful share of the minutes.
Mainoo last season is a pretty obvious example. Once Bruno, Casemiro and Ugarte were preferred, his minutes dropped considerably, despite us being in Europe and the domestic cups. It was hardly surprising that there was then talk about him wanting more game time. That's essentially the point I've been making throughout - being the fourth option might sound fine on paper, but when the three ahead of you are available, there often isn't that much football left to go around.
Even when we were linked with Ederson, plenty of people were saying he'd probably come in as the fourth-choice/back-up midfielder rather than someone guaranteed regular starts. So I'm not really sure why the idea of a fourth midfielder having a relatively limited role has suddenly become controversial.
Personally, I'd be perfectly happy with Berge, as I've mentioned in a thread before. He can cover the deeper midfield role relatively well, has plenty of Premier League experience and, importantly, would give us some much needed physical presence in midfield. He'd also presumably understand that he's coming in as a squad option rather than expecting to start every week.
For me, that's far more sensible squad building. Three midfielders genuinely competing for the two starting positions, an experienced fourth option like Berge, and then Mount as additional cover who can play across several roles.
