The club needs to look at this summer as a huge opportunity. In my eyes the culture and squad reset is a much bigger priority than league position next season. And with us only having a limited number of games next year, we are never gonna have a better opportunity for a complete squad overhaul, which is exactly what Amorim did in his first summer at Sporting.
As such, my plan would be to cash in on our most sellable assets (Bruno, Garnacho, Mainoo) to raise additional funds to buy for key positions (CM x 2, ST, Another 10, GK).
This would potentially leave us in a position where we would have a squad capable of doing OK in the league, whilst also being able to freeze out the players we want shot of because of their lack of quality, suitability, or amount of money they are on. That list for me could be as long as:
- Rashford
- Sancho
- Antony
- Mount
- Hojlund
- Onana
- Martinez
- Shaw
- Casemiro
The club should be saying… “ You are no longer needed by the club. We have raised funds for squad building elsewhere. You have a couple of options. Accept any deals that the club can find for you, and negotiate as favourable terms for yourself as possible. Or sit in the reserves for the entirety of next season in the lead up to the World Cup. We will be accepting zero loan deals where we are making huge contributions to your existing salaries.”
With just 6 signings in total, we could theoretically cut/sell/freeze out up to 15 players from this year's squad (including Eriksen, Evans, and Lindelof), and still be left with the following options for each position:
GKs: New, Balandir, Youth
CBs: De ligt, Maguire, Yoro, Heaven, Maz, Fredericson, Youth
WBs: Amad, Maz, Dalot, Dorgu, Leon, Amas, Youth
CM: New x 2, Ugarte, Youth
10s: Cunha, New, Amad, Zirkzee, Youth
ST: New, Zirkzee, Cunha, Obi, Youth
I appreciate this is all very hypothetical and to an extent unrealistic. But it gives you an idea of the possibilities we have. As Amorim puts it though, I just hope we are “brave” and go big!
