Maybe I didn't make my point clearly enough. It's fine to say that McTominay and Bruno are top 4 midfielders (jury's very much still out on Fred and vdB). But when McTominay plays deep his pass progression is really poor. I don't think fred can play 6 as his game is no8 - get around the pitch shutting down passing options. In that group (vdB, McTominay, fred - bruno is a no10 and his position is just different) we have no-one who can do what Pogba does - reliably create chances and beat players from deep.
There would be a massive gap between our defence and attack, as we wouldn't have anyone who is good at moving the ball quickly forward. We could have an attack of Ronaldo, Rashford, Greenwood and Bruno all standing at the half-way line all game cos we have no-one who could get the ball to them. Buying a no6 will not solve that, unless we find a previously unknown god-level cdm.
I think you're massively underestimating how important Pogba is for us as an attacking force. From cm/am he has been majorly involved in pretty much all of our goals so far this season - you can't downplay that.
I absolutely agree Fred is more of an 8 than a 6. But he has shown he can do a job if paired with Mctominay. So I think he'd be good enough to be the back-up 6. And if not, like I said there's also Galbraith, Garner and Levitt who are all doing well on loan. In fact, Ole has signed three right wingers since becoming the manager so why not sign at least two CDM:s, given how that position is equally a big a problem for him? Probaby won't happen though, especially since he already has the aforementioned three Academy prospects.
There is no God-level CDM obviously. But I think players like Bissouma, Neves and Rice would improve us markedly. Surely there are also a lot of unknown options on the market that we don't know about.
But maybe you and
@hobbers are right in that I underestimate the impact of Pogba potentially leaving. Don't get me wrong, I like and rate Pogba, but no one can deny he has been inconsistent or that he needs just the right accomodation to play well. I just think that if you put a specialized 6 in midfield then you get the best out of Mctominay who IMO is often underestimated as a player. Also, isn't Mejbri similar to Pogba in that he is good at carrying the ball forward and making progressive passes? All I'm saying is that if Pogba leaves I don't think replacing him like for like should be considered a priority or even necessity, especially since getting someone of his standing in the game would be quite difficult to say the least. I'm in favour of keeping him if he wants to stay, but sometimes letting go of a big player can free up others.