If we lose Partey, we’re fucked.
When he’s on form, he’s the top 3 midfielders in the league. Rice & Caicedo is a downgrade if we lose both Xhaka and Partey.
Ideally our midfield needs to be Partey, Rice, Caicedo & Gudogan. With Odegaard and Mount in the #10 spot. Anything less than that isn’t enough.
Signing both Rice and Caicedo in the same window is a pipe dream much less adding Gundogan to the mix. That’s an extraordinary outlay for a club that has never spent that amount of money in their whole window let alone just in one area of the pitch. We have to spend like Chelsea to achieve that.
It’s going to have to be Rice OR Caicedo, then maybe if City are charitable they’ll let Gundogan go out of pity. But for any of it to matter we have to hold onto Partey and Odegaard at the very least.
That midfield you list is when you start to get to city levels of quality.
That’s a fair point. I’d say that #8 spot is the weakest on the pitch at the moment, so we should aim for Rice over Caicedo as I think he can play in both the #6 and #8 slots on the pitch.
Gundogan is definitely a pipe dream, but hope he considers us if the City deal isn’t good enough.
Indeed, especially if we want to go far in the UCL.
Gundogan is out of contract this summer, so it’s not dependent on City letting him go, thankfully
Didn’t know that. Could be in with a reasonable chance if the player fancies it. Fully expect Barca to get him if those are his options.
Same. Barca seems a more logical move for him, being one of the world’s biggest clubs and playing in a league that Gundogan has not yet experienced. We’re in with an outside chance at best, imo.
Don’t Barca have financial issues though? Or have they resolved that with the Messi saga last summer 
Yeah, I think they still have issues, but I’d expect them to find a workaround if they want the player, especially on a free transfer.
They’ll force guys out of the club if they have to.
Like Jordi Alba…
Mans got that silky touch back today, don’t love him at RB but as long as he’s on form wherever he plays then he’s a nailed on starter.
Anyone who wants to sell or bench him must be off their rocker.
Even moreso if he’s actually looking useful in a utility role. I don’t care what business we do in regard to midfield this summer this dude has to stay if we want to have an actual CL campaign next season. Total no brainer
Still think he’s our best player. Hopefully the full back nonsense stops when Saliba is fit. He burned out at the wrong time but he was brilliant for the first six months of the season.