I've said since Ole came in (and beforehand) that our entire squad needs a proper gut and re-build and the outgoings would be just as important as the in-comings.
It's a difficult task re-shaping an entire squad of 25 while keeping players happy and buying into a new mentality, especially considering that we have players spanning across 4 different managers (Fergie, Moyes, LVG and Jose).
Ole needs to be praised extremely highly for what he has done already in terms of re-building the squad, while it's also clear the squad seems much happier under him than any other manager. People quickly forget the negative aura under Jose in particular. That was a toxic time.
While Ole has done well with outgoings so far, there's still work to be done.
The aim is to have quality throughout the squad, even the bench, with youngsters pushing for game time and improving while playing with high calibre players. Focus on youth, a hungry motivated squad can be title challengers, no doubt.
We've already seen the likes of Young, Fellaini, Lukaku, Darmian, Valencia go permanently and we lost Herrera to a free transfer. Smalling, Rojo and Sanchez also on loan rather than being an unwanted squad member. I've heard the media call this so far "ruthless" but for me its necessary and arguably not ruthless enough.
We all accepted before a ball was kicked that this season would be hit and miss form wise and probably a season lost with the transition with the squad. It's a work in progress after all.
So Ole's had 2 windows, signed 4 absolute top calibre players and shipped a lot out. Perfect so far! Shame its 2 windows correcting other managers errors but hey ho, it needs to be done!
So for the next window (or 2 as the world a bit mental), in terms of out-goings i would personally class the following as essential departures:
Smalling - Been on loan all season, not a player wanted in this current squad. Not part of the re-build
Sanchez - Been on loan all season, not a player wanted in this current squad. Not part of the re-build
Rojo - Been used sparingly in non-important games. Not part of the re-build
Jones - Pretty much the same as Rojo only we haven't loaned him (guessing no offers?!)
Lingard - Used sparingly, suffered with poor form this season. going backwards and didn't start at a good level anyway. Top form Lingard would only be a squad member for me, so this seasons Lingard serves no purpose whatsoever
So that's 5, quite a high number, but being realistic these 5 barely offer us anything anyway, so i'd look at what else we could do also:
Periera - Surely proven he isn't of the quality required. Future has to be in debate
TFM - Does he offer anything? Contender for loan/permanent transfer. I know injuries have hampered him but come on.
Pogba - The big one. The fan divider. A lot of what we do will rest on this guy, i personally think 3 seasons of debating if he fits us or not is enough. Time to move on if we can. It's a difficult sell due to the high fee we'd expect but probably for the best. Selling him has better squad value than not, for me. If we cant sell him he has to be used of course
Gomes - Contract issue. Would it harm us if he left? Id say no as he's not contributed to the 1st team and looks to be a raw prospect - wouldn't be a big loss really. if he signed, so be it. Squad option
Henderson - If he isn't displacing De Gea, he needs another loan. Big issue for us over the next 2 seasons in whether we phase De Gea out for Hendorson. We cant continually loan him out and De Gea surely will decline further
I think we are still in a position where we need more outgoings than in-comings, but of course if we lose 5+players we;d have to look at 3 in.
For the next window, i'd look at 3 signings, maybe 4 if you add in a youngster. You could push to 5 if a deal comes up you just cannot say no too: 3 would be the minimum though!
Ighalo
Sancho
Zakaria
Bellingham (younsger)
Upamencano (if reported 40mil is true, we must)
Squad:
Gk:
De Gea/Romero/Henderson/Grant (Might have a dilemma with De Gea/Henderson, but suspect that Hendo will be loaned again - a problem for a summers time, ideally De Gea sold and Hendo naturally succeeds)
Full Back:
AWB/Shaw/Dalot/Williams/Laird(Youngster)
CB:
Magure/Lindelof/Bailly/Tuanzebe/TFM(Youngster) + Possible new signing (Upamencano)
DM:
Matic + Essential new signing (Zakaria)
CM:
Fred/McTom/Pogba/Periera + Possible new signing (Bellingham)
AM
Fernandes/Mata/Pogba/Periera
Wide forward:
Rashford/James/Mata/Greenwood (Youngster)/Chong(Youngster) + Essential new signing (Sancho)
Striker
Martial/Greenwood (Youngster) + Essential new signing (Ighalo)
Sancho is a game changer, He elevates us up a level. Adding a DM is also essential as it phases Matic out and keeps the quality aspect of the squad ticking over and keeping Ighalo is important as we will not find a more motivated deputy for Martial.