Panic signing, most definitely, but some much needed quality in a position we absolutely have no depth in. Just annoying he probably won't be registered in time to play against the Dippers.
Some of my best exams were done in a fit of panic.
Although looking at it from a squad perspective, it looks more planned than De Jong.
Having Bruno and Eriksen, who would make more sense - Casemiro or De Jong?
Among our midfielders, we have playmaking capacities (Eriksen, Bruno), Box-to-box players (Fred, McTominay), attacking facilitators (VdB), but not one who can take defensive responibility in a reliable way. Based on what we have and what we lack, this looks more like a profile analytics based signing than De Jong or Rabiot would.