We should not be resorting to loaning Southampton cast offs.
I’d rather play Garner than loan Lemina out of principal.
Principal won't get us 4th place. Obviously we need to sign a midfielder and should have the confidence to spend 20 or 30M on a young player we like who will go for double that next year, especially if Pogba goes, but the club seems reluctant to do that apart from the occasional James or Dalot punt. A 22-24 year old CM ready to back up Pogba and McTominay would make a lot of sense.
I'd be fine with Ole seeing Fred as the option, but it seems like Matic is ahead of him in the pecking order and while Fred is enough of an enigma that I can talk myself into taking a step back and seeing a 26 year old with 11 Brazil caps who played well for a CL knockout team and moved for 52M as certainly qualified enough to backup Pogba and McTominay, his play on the pitch, even in preseason, makes that tough to do.
Also worth noting that McTominay might just not play that well but has somehow essentially become undroppable in his first season as a clear starter and that Pogba has averaged 55 competitive games a year (Club and country) over the last 7 and might at some point actually miss 2 months like an normal, less durable player does.
The bottom line is that post-Maguire we have 3 massive holes in the squad at the moment (#10, RW, a 3rd CM or a DM) and it seems unlikely we address any over the next 4 days, but goddamn would it be nice, and I think Lemina could be a 7/10 answer for that 3rd spot. Very good fit for Ole's pressing 4-2-3-1 too, I think.