If Jim and co are serious about a 2028 title win, then they have to invest hard and smart again this summer.
TLDR... my semi-realistic ideal summer.
GK - S. Ortega - £0m
LB - A. Balde - £40m
CM - E. Anderson - £90m
CM - M. Sangare - £40m
CM - S. Charles - £30m
LW - M. Mane - £35m
ST - D. Franculino - £30m
With Casemiro, Sancho and Malacia all being released, Hojlund (£38m) pretty much confirmed going with Napoli comfortably in CL spots, Rashford (£26m) showing good enough form that I think he'll have suitors regardless of what Barca do, both Ugarte's (£30m?) and Zirkzee's (£30m?) minimal minutes tells me they'll both be out the door, and I simply don't see the club wanting Onana (£8m?) around the club - we should have a pretty decent war chest to attack the summer. Even if Zirkzee or Ugarte are a loan-to-buy type deal, we should still get a minimum of £100m in fees with a huge chunk of the wage bill too.
If we're planning ahead this is where I would target over the next two seasons;
2026: GK, LB, CM x 3, LW and ST
2027: CB, RB, LW and CAM
For me all of these signings should be in the 20-26 age range, exceptions being older bargains or out of contract players or superstar "generational" wonderkids eg. if the next Kaka comes onto the scene next season we can't not be in for them.
Here are my thoughts on each position I think we should be targeting this summer, using players we've mainly been linked to, with few outside the box options sprinkled in.
GK - we just need another safe pair of hands, ideally an experienced head who can be brought in on the cheap or for free. One of Stefan Ortega or Mats Sels from Forest would be my shouts.
LB - there are a few interesting options and judging by the recent links, I think we're after a more attacking, fast, ball carrier to add threat down the left. Brown at Frankfurt, Balde at Barca, Dahl at Benfica all fit a very similar profile. A slightly different option I like is Diouf at West Ham who is a more powerful, overlapping full back with a really good cross. It's a tough one, but if I had my pick I'd go for Balde out of the first group, but if West Ham go down I wouldn't be against Diouf at all.
CM - Anderson is the obvious pick for obvious reasons. He's an 8 out of 10 in every aspect of a central midfielder, apart from maybe goal scoring. If he chooses City, then I think Mateus Fernandes is the obvious 2nd choice who I actually think has just as high a ceiling as Anderson, and I'd then be keen to see if we could tempt Tchouameni away from Madrid as our 'big' CM signing. If we do get Anderson however, we'll need to be smart and Sangare at Lens looks the real deal who can probably be gettable at a reasonable price. We'd then need a 3rd CM as I don't see Kone, Thwaites or the new Orozco guy being ready to be a 4th choice for us. Joao Gomes would be a safe option who I would be okay with albeit uninspired. I prefer the links to Shea Charles who Wilcox signed at Southampton, who I think could be a really smart buy.
LW - this one is tough. There are some big names out there such as Diomande and Barcola who I would absolutely be keen on, but it would come at the expense of a ST, and either baring with Cunha/Mbuemo as back-ups or signing a very cheap or free option. Out of the two, I'd feel more comfortable investing heavy on Barcola as I just don't have as much faith in the Bundesliga and the fees being quoted for Diomande feel like a stretch too far on the budget. The alternative is a cheaper option, and for me that player would have to be Mateus Mane. He's played all over the place for Wolves due to his versatility but I think he'll end up being a winger long-term due his attributes. He has lots of potential and feels fairly low-risk in the sense that he's young with potential resale value and proven he can handle the prem. He's also grown up in Stockport which is a small plus.
ST - this depends on what we do at LW as explained already. If we go big on a new LW then we're left with either promoting Chido or find a free / bargain to come in. I personally think Chido needs a loan, so that option is ruled out for me. Raul Jimenez or Welbeck would be my picks, although annoyingly Welbeck just extended for a year, I wonder if we dangled £10m at Brighton if they would bite. The alternative is a Dorgu-esque punt to challenge Sesko, and for me the perfect guy would be Franculino at Midtjylland, who has been banging them in and is a very complete striker. He's a gamble but someone who I think could take to the EPL quickly.
