Lijnders talked about Gini as one of the few players able to "switch to a different mentality" and thus play in all 3 positions in midfield and anywhere from winger to a CB really. I wonder, however, if all that switching messed him up a little bit; now that Fabinho and Keita added strength in depth to the #6 and #8 positions I'd like to see Gini continue where he left off against Bournemouth, playing as the most attacking of the 3 midfielders (but still, naturally, able to contribute to defense and pressing).
One of his biggest strengths throughout his career has been making 3rd-man runs from midfield and getting on the end of lots of chances – this is mostly how he scored his 10 goals for Newcastle, including 4 in one game and over 80 goals in Holland. We saw what looked like a return to this version of Gini in pre-season, but then immediately as the season started he had to switch back into the defensive mode to play as our #6 as Hendo was injured and Fabinho not ready. I hope we finally have the pieces in place to put Gini back into that more attacking role, which will allow him to recover his confidence as a finisher.
He could become a perfect player for the role that Sarri is trying to turn Kante into – a physical powerhouse who plays box-to-box, pounds teams into submission with his energy and stamina and contributes with a decent amount of goals. This idea is often found it Italian football – think Khedira, Seedorf, Gattuso, Naingollan, Napoli's Allan and it could be an interesting antidote to Man City's endless array of lightweight tippy-tappy central/attacking midfielders. When Ox comes back, we should be able to rotate him and Gini in this attacking CM role.