Superblue

The sanctions and takeover are being completely glossed over here. It's too easy to think that the club can still operate in the usual way in the second half of last season with its scouting and recruitment. If it were just sanctions in place and the expectation was these would be lifted by the summer window then I could understand but we've been taken over by new ownership. How are we realistically supposed to plan signings and lay any respectable ground work on deals if we don't even know who is going to own us and their ideas, outlook, budgets, etc. It's impossible to do any meaningful work with agents, etc with so much uncertainty at the club. Even when Boehly was made preferred bidder the deal wasn't a guarantee, look at Derby now. He wouldn't have been prepared to spend huge amounts of time on the recruitment side of things until he's confirmed in the door. We bought 5 or 6 new signings through the door 2 summers ago so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that we can do similar this summer. Give it chance. I fully expect some deals to fall into place over the next week or two for the club.

I think the bigger problem for us and United is stripping out the players we don't want at the club. Spurs need more depth anyway and City know that some of their players like Jesus, possibly Sterling will be in demand if they choose to move them on so can be confident with bringing players in first. It's easy enough to just go and splash out £150m on new signings but what happens if we can't move players on and we're stuck with them. I think the Lukaku transfer is a big one for the club. Getting clarity on our position with him, especially with his wages will I think help to make moves then in our attack. With Chelsea, very little information gets out. We're linked with anyone and everyone but ultimately if we're interested or negotiating with a player it rarely comes out early. I don't see why this would change with the new ownership so with that in mind, no one really knows where we're at with deals and negotiations for players. I'm not worried at present, I'm certain players will come in through the door over the transfer window. I'd like to get as much done as possible as early as possible and give new signings a pre season with the team but ultimately I also want the club to get the recruitment right starting this summer. Abramovich isn't just going to bail out bad signings anymore, it's imperative we hit the ball out the park with who we bring in.

The Kounde situation does seem a little strange because the assumption is it's nailed on him joining us but from what it appears we haven't even opened negotiations with Sevilla for him so perhaps we're exploring other targets first. As I've mentioned before I don't mind Kounde if we're continuing a back 3 as I think his skillset could see him flourish in a system such as that. Less enthused about him in a back 4. However he's very expensive and there are a lot of potential options on the market for centre backs, so I wouldn't be disappointed if we were indeed looking elsewhere. With Juventus' reported interest in Jorginho and Emerson, I think the De Ligt interest is genuine and one to keep an eye on.

I think Jesus would be a good fit for us. The right age but with good experience, premier league experience, winning trophies but still with a point to prove as has never really been perceived as first choice at Man City. His time under Pep I think would benefit us hugely with his pressing and his ability to drop deeper and influence the ball, but also provide a goal threat. I would actually prefer Jesus to Sterling. If we can add him and Dembele and move on for example, Lukaku and Ziyech (purely as the two that seem to be least suited to Tuchel) I think we look stronger in that area without spending an absolute fortune in doing so. I wasn't sure about N'kunku a couple of months ago, but having watched him a little more recently I am impressed but still a little worried of spending out huge sums on someone who's just had an insane season that they'll likely not keep up next season. I think he'll end up signing a new deal with a respectable release clause for next summer so we can explore him again then, although likely with competition if he carries his form from this season over to next.

Hope we draw Inter in the Champions League group.

England will never win anything under Southgate, he's had incredible luck with the draws England have enjoyed in tournaments. Struggle like crazy against remotely decent teams.

Don't forget a 36 year old Peter Crouch!

On the flip side of the blue tinted glasses is the idea the grass is always greener on the other side. I'd argue Spurs finished 3rd completely dependent on that front 3 and for the first time seemingly forever keeping Kane fit all year, the rest of their squad is distinctly average. Granted they are doing a good job improving areas of that squad but they are in the same position still of being reliant on Kane and Son staying fit through the season. Go and find what Spurs fans think of Emerson Royal. If you think he was a revelation that's your opinion, but every time I watched him he was barely better than useless in every possible characteristic and I know the vast majority of Spurs fans don't rate him whatsoever. And there's talk that Reguilon might get moved back to Spain as he's out of favour at Spurs. He's been ok, but he's someone a lot of this fan base was raging about Spurs buying for a cheaper price than Chilwell a couple of years ago. He's never hit the heights that the hype suggested. I don't think there's much difference between those wing back options as depth though with the only real difference being ours are much older and started showing their age last season when having to play every game.

Let's be honest though is Reguilon, Davies, Emerson Royal and Doherty any better than our current depth of Alonso, Emerson, Azpilicueta and Loftus-Cheek? Which crop of players would you rather have? They had to buy 2 new starting wing backs because their actual options currently are awful. The 2 new wing backs they're buying in my opinion are at least a level or two below our first choice still.

Bit annoying as I had suggested Perisic, Spence and Bissouma as possible pick ups for Chelsea this summer and it looks like all will end up at Spurs. It's good transfer business by them and they look like they're being as prompt as possible to give Conte no reason's to kick off just yet. However I would have been looking at all of the above options as squad players here. Perisic and Spence would have been superb rotational options at wing back for us, but I don't believe either is better than Chilwell or James in the wing back roles. At Spurs they are likely both going in as first choice. Bissouma similarly. I feel he has the potential to make a step up but I wouldn't look at him as a game changing signing. For us he'd be a smart pick up for the price to allow us to transition away from Kante but also still present us the opportunity to move for a bigger target in the future like Rice or Bellingham. I'm not prepared to compare and contrast teams until the season is here and window is closed. If our transfer activity has been deemed inefficient and ineffective by that point then there will be questions being asked, but I like the sound of some of the players we are being linked with in defence and attack and really the only name that seems to come up for the midfield is Rice anyway. Hopefully we can have 3 or 4 new faces in by pre season and some positivity flowing back through the club.

They have to be very confident his charges won't stick or else this is a huge risk by them

A couple of reports surfaced last night we're interested in Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves as backup to Chilwell. At least if true it suggests we're looking beyond Emerson for that role.

Yeah right now I'd just take someone like Skriniar in a straight swap deal and wipe our hands of him, and hopefully learn from the mistakes. But I would begrudge just giving into his demands and letting Inter essentially have him for peanuts. If they're pleading poverty yet still going out and buying players it should be a wake up call to Lukaku that they're not too bothered about the deal themselves.

Possibly they're in advanced talks to sell one of their defenders? I do worry a little that they're not too bothered about Lukaku if they can't sign him on the cheap, even more so if they manage to sign Dybala which looks likely.

He has characteristics that will suit Liverpool like you mentioned with regards to his willingness to press but from what I've seen he doesn't have the technical qualities and efficiency of a Firmino to link the play, and excel in a deeper selfless role. He will be more of a genuine number 9 for Liverpool. Will it mean him looking to occupy many of the spaces Salah, Mane, etc have been afforded with a false 9 set up over the years. Or if he's coming in to play a similar role to Firmino, will he be capable of playing that way and dropping deep to help create with the ball and make space for others.

We look a long way off currently but things can easily swing with a couple of big decisions. Nobody knows yet how the Haaland and Nunez signings will work for City and Liverpool as on paper both don't look typical players to slot seamlessly into their systems. Both may need a period of adaptation or tweaking of systems which could impact either and it also looks possible both may lose some players they perhaps don't want to this summer whilst also taking into account some of the key players on either side are now reaching an age where they may well have hit their peak and could end up coming back down the other side at any point. On our side sometimes it can just take a couple of signings to spark something. Like you said citing Dembele, an attacker comes in and hits the ground running, key players stay fit and those younger ones like Mount, James, Havertz, etc hit another gear next season. I'm personally not expecting miracles next season and anything beyond top 4 and a couple of cup runs or a cup win would be fantastic but I'm also excited to see what the new ownership can bring and what Tuchel can do with and to this squad now he's been here 18 months and looks like being given a greater say in the direction the club should head in.

The stars couldn't have aligned any better for Arsenal last season. We were dealing with sanctions, half empty home games and in general just an incredibly depressive mood around the club on the backdrop of constant negative media reports regarding Roman and if there would even be a club next season. On top of this we were going deep in all competitions fighting on all fronts whilst our league form completely nose dived. Arsenal had nothing but the league to concentrate on and in general a feel good attitude around the club where a lot of their fans on social media fancied themselves easing into a 3rd place finish above us last season. We got dragged back into Spurs and Arsenal last season through our own form as opposed to some monster run of form from either of them. They both showed during the run in they can't be fully trusted, especially Arsenal. I don't see them having a better opportunity next season than they did this last, and they didn't take it.

As mentioned earlier I can only think (1) Tuchel doesn't want to make too many changes to the squad this season and work with too many new players, and (2) he see's Emerson more as a left back option than Alonso which might open up more chances to play a back 4. I agree with you, I just think Emerson is distinctly average at everything. At least with Alonso whilst he has defensive flaws, he can get a few goals.

I see some of Rudiger in him - that aggressiveness and at times rashness to his play. It can be both a strength and a weakness in his game just like it was during Rudiger's career here, and will depend on his and Tuchel's ability to harness it and use it in the right situations. I still think if we retain a back 3 it really complements his game playing on the side of someone like Silva. If we go to a back 4 I do worry a little about that side of his game being exploited but like you said, he has to mature still as a defender. I think there's huge potential with him, and unlike some, I'm not too worried about bringing him in. I think Tuchel can coach weak points out of him because besides his height (although you're right, he's very strong in the air and has a great spring to his jump like Silva has had his career) I think he has the raw materials to be a top defender in Europe.

Depends how young you're thinking. If it was for example Gvardiol alongside Kounde being bought in, there is an extremely heavy reliance on Thiago Silva to stay fit and play as much as possible to lead and anchor that backline. If Azpi stays on, that probably becomes slightly less of an issue but if he goes then before signings we're realistically looking at a current pool of centre backs of Silva, Chalobah, Colwill and Sarr. I think Koulibaly would be good for at least 2-3 years and although he'll cost a bit I think he's a very good option to transition away from relying on Silva over the next year. I like the look of Gvardiol, but I think Leipzig will try and do something similar with him to what they've done with Werner, Konate, Upamecano, etc and are doing with N'kunku. They'll try and tie him down for another year or two by offering him the opportunity to move on when the time is right for a reasonable market fee. From what it sounds like, he's quite happy there currently anyway. I wouldn't be against Koulibaly now, and Gvardiol in a year or two.

I'd be delighted to get those 3 in the door, and Dembele, before pre season starts. I still think right wing back/full back needs depth if Azpi is leaving although it shouldn't be a situation that needs a fortune to address but a shrewd signing. I'd say the left hand side too but I have a feeling Tuchel wants to bring Emerson back from his loan spell to replace Alonso. I'm not keen on Emerson, but I'm also acutely aware of the sheer volume of players that could end up being turned over and bringing someone back into slot into the squad that is already used to the group I can understand the thinking behind it if it happens. I don't think there's smoke without fire and I think the club want to bring Rice back if they can and he'd be first choice for the midfield. I have a feeling we will look to address other positions such as the backline and the attack first, try and offload the players we decide are dispensable and see where we're at in a few weeks time to see whether a suitable bid for Rice can be made. Although Moyes mentioned £150m asking price, a lot of journalists seem to think if someone made a bid around £70-80m West Ham would have some tough decisions to make, especially as I think Rice will be keen to move.

Huge risk/reward signing for Liverpool. One good season in Portugal, it's difficult to really assess where his level is at. It's easy to say at least he's young so he'll have a resale value to him but for that price he'll likely be joining on some very good wages too which will price him back out of leagues like Portugal in the future if it doesn't work out. We've seen ourselves with someone like Bakayoko how hard a player is to shift from a big transfer fee and wages if they prove to be a bust. At least what Liverpool can probably do is allow him time to settle in, similar to what they did with Fabinho who looked nothing more than a pub player initially until he adapted to the league and the way Liverpool play. Klopp will only leave there when he's ready to, so Nunez can be confident he'll be given the time and support to do everything to make it work. It'll be interesting though to see how Liverpool rebuild. That front 3 was a vital element of their fear factor and I think in particular if they lose Mane this, and then Salah next summer that is a lot of goals to replenish, especially from players who aren't strikers. Diaz looks a really good player but I'm not sure he'll hit numbers like Mane and Salah do so I can understand the feeling and need to bring someone like Nunez in. We'll see if he can play that focal role as well as Firmino and Jota have in the past. I do think though on paper losing Mane for Nunez makes Liverpool currently weaker.

I think it's vitally important that most, if not all, of our transfer activity is done before pre season and the tour to America so that gives us roughly a month. Should be plenty of time to bring 3-4 players in, sort out Lukaku, etc but we'll see.

@Vesper What are your thoughts now on Romagnoli? I remember previously you were quite a big fan of his and he was hugely rated just a couple of years back. He's obviously lost his place in the Milan side over the last year or so which is a bit of a red flag but is that down to a huge loss of form, injury, or simply an effective partnership being established which has edged him out? One thing I am a little worried with is the potential lack of experience in our defence next season depending on who we sign. If we ended up bringing in Kounde and Gvardiol for example, alongside a potential combination of Chalobah, Colwill and Sarr we'll have a very young and inexperienced backline beyond Silva who can't play every game. I believe last season Silva played the most games in a season since he was playing in Brazil which is insane given his age but cannot be just assumed and expected. It'll be a bit annoying if we need to spend big money this summer on 2 centre backs, let alone 3 and I just wondered if someone like him is worth a shout on a free transfer who could rotate in the middle of that backline with Silva?

We've never seemed to be afraid of selling players to other teams in the league if it means getting the best deal and besides the obvious of Madrid, Bayern and PSG, City might struggle to sell these players for the prices they want to then reinvest in the squad. From what it sounds Jesus wants to leave this summer and that makes sense as he's been a rotational player throughout his City career and the introduction of Haaland may impact further on his opportunities. With the World Cup around the corner, I think he senses a move would be in his best interests and I think if we're interested we would definitely have a good chance of attracting him to the club. I get the impression that Sterling will sit on his contract and be more interested in seeing that out and looking at his options then. I'm pretty sure he's mentioned in the past that he may be interested in moving abroad and next summer when he'd be 28 would probably be the prime time to do so if that's what he would like.