Positives:
- Malacia has been great. Telles unlocked Shawberto Carlos back when he was signed, so hopefully the time off and extra competition lights a fire under Shaw's arse so he gets back to his best.
- Martinez looks like an absolute boss at CB. As long as he keeps playing like that and Varane is fit we will have a sound pair at the back. Woefully thin behind them, but hopefully the time off and extra competition lights a fire under Maguire's arse so he gets back to his best.
- The signing of Casemiro will protect us at the back even if we have to play Maguire and/or Shaw at some point.
- Eriksen on a free is amazing value. He gives us something we don't otherwise have in midfield and his experience is worth a lot on its own.
- Antony is something as rare as a left-footed right winger with bags of pace. We desperately need one of those. Here's hoping he takes to the PL quickly.
- Dubravka is a better keeper in most aspects than the current iteration of De Gea. I have a sneaky suspicion he will be a starter before the end of the season.
- Getting rid of Lingard, Matic, Mata and Cavani was long overdue.
- We recuperated some decent money from academy products Garner, Pereira and Chong. Shame to see Garner go without getting a proper chance, but such is life. The other two were clearly never going to make it here.
Negatives:
- The De Jong saga was a whole lot of fart and no poo and should have been nipped at the bud way earlier so we could focus on getting our other targets. He would have been the perfect player for our midfield based on his footballing skill, so we were right to identify him as a target, but we should have pulled out way earlier when it was obvious he wasn't keen on leaving no matter how much Barca shat on him. You'd think with the ETH connection that would have been communicated instantly and we could move on? The whole saga just leaves me with the feeling that he's not the right sort of personality for what we need. What sort of person accepts that sort of treatment from his employer? A feckless wuss. We've already got enough of those.
- There's still a gaping hole in the striker department. We're relying heavily on either a waning Ronaldo or a streaky Martial to get us goals this season, and neither of them are typical centre forwards.
- My initial thoughts are that we've overpaid grossly for Antony, Martinez and Casemiro, but the latter two have been solid so far, so if they turn out to be what it takes to get top 4 it might be worth it. Hell of a job ahead of them to justify their cost, though.
- The incompetence from top to bottom at the club over the last several years has led us to a position where we were never in a position to fight for Haaland's signature. City have arguably widened the gap between us and them in this window by adding him in particular, but also Alvarez and Phillips, so even though our signings have left us better equipped to challenge for a top 4 spot, we're possibly further away from a title push than we were last season.
- Said incompetence let a player like Pogba leave on a free. Letting him go was the right move. The guy is a wanker. He should have been sold years ago when some rich club would have spat up a sizeable amount of money for him. Getting zero money for him for the second time in his career is disgraceful, especially considering how much we paid for him.
More positives than negatives, so I guess 6/10 all things considered. Not perfect by any means, but also better than expected (expectations were about a 3/10 at best with our owners and executives)