Yeah, people sincerely expressing both of those opinions are being a bit inconsistent, fair play
I stand by the core points made against Xhaka and certainly make no secrets of my excitement about him leaving, but I do also accept that my hatred of him means that I have some difficulty in being entirely rational about him.
Iāll add a note to ward off any me style pedantry, obviously I donāt know Xhaka personally, maybe heās a great guy, so I donāt literally āhateā him.
Yeah Iām hoping for something similar to this on the sales front. Seems realistic. Makes our net spend at 0 after White/Lokonga but really needing to add genuine quality at #10 and CM (looking at 100m net spend here). Then a RB on top of that if the right opportunity is there.
With Luiz leaving and possibly players like:
Xhaka
Bellerin
Guendouzi
Torreira
being sold, we could get around 50m in transfers and also save more than 10m a season in wages.
Willian and Kolasinac need to go and AMN or Nelson are also players we could get money for which would be a big saving on wages and even a few million in transfer fees.
Realistically weāre only going to sell a few and get around 50m, as well as getting some of the high wage earners of the books.
If our budget is 50m, the sales of some of the high wage earners could take that to just over 100m to get some quality in.
An ideal window would be a top quality CM and attacking midfielder but with White coming in it means itās unlikely weāll get both because we also need cover for LB and GK.
So a good window would be a player like Maddison, with White and cover for LB, GK and possibly a Bellerin replacement.
I think we will sign two CM/CDM players this summer. Too much noise around Lokonga, so our interest there is genuine, but canāt see us not signing a more experienced CM/CDM in addition.
CM is less important if our forward line is actually working and is being fed properly which includes creation. Evidence is clear weāre not scoring or creating enough, adding another CM doesnāt alter that issue.
If you sign a player like Maddison for example ie someone who can add goals and create chances, adding a CM become less of a priority for me.
Iād rather not spend big on the likes of Barge or Neves if thatās the best we can get this summer. Either go younger with Lokonga or make do with what you have. I donāt feel the pressure to āfixā the side this summer
I donāt think we have a set budget as things stand atm, and I think it depends who leaves. They will trim the squad significantly, but I think we will spend what is required in key positions that we need to strengthen in, so:
RB
CM/CDM x2
AM
LB (backup for Tierney)
GK
After the above, I think it depends on departures i.e. if we sell Laca, we will then need a replacement.
What yall think is gonna happen this summer would be unprecedented for this club. Imo what is really gonna occur is we will chase these doods like Madison trying to get a deal but we will ultimately end up with doods like Neves and Berge as a concession signing, along with Lokonga. Wonāt be surprised if our midfield options to start the season are as follows: Partey, Elneny, Willock, Lokonga, and then be stuck with Berge, Neves, or Bissouma. We wonāt be able to attract a top player despite the deluded ideas of many fans.
I hope thereās some truth to the Renato Sanches rumours.
I donāt think Neves would be a terrible signing. Maybe not transformative but I think heās steady in possession, less cumbersome/more press resistant than Xhaka and more defensively active too. I could see him and Partey working out as a partnership. Our best games as a team last season were always with Xhaka/Partey in midfield and Iād see that as a slight upgrade. Neves could be a Jorginho type best case.
Bissouma/Berge Iām against, granted Iāve watched fuck all of Berge, apparently heās tall and can dribble.
