18 Mar 2026 17:03:22
So ignoring the third team selection of youth players and focusing purely on first team and back up
We currently have the following:
GK: Lammens, Vitek or Pope style transfer
RB: Kayode, Dalot
LB: Hall, Shaw
CB: Yoro, Heaven, New, Retain one of Maguire, MdL, Licha
CM: Anderson, Tonali (they seem to be everyone's preferred pairing), Gomes, Mainoo
LW: Cunha, Dorgu
RW: Mbeumo, Amad
AM: Bruno, Lacey (?)
SK: Sesko, back up signing
That's a 300-350m outlay.
Obviously we have funds coming in for some sales.
I think it is achievable.
Thoughts.
18 Mar 2026 17:48:13
I'm not convinced that squad wins anything. An injury to Bruno, and we are back to not a lot of creation. Is it much better than the current team?
18 Mar 2026 18:08:31
My thoughts are: wait and see what happens. This is entering the realms of fantasy, and that would not be my fantasy squad at all. Too many hypotheticals for me. Ask 1000 people, you'll get 1000 different squads they want.
I'll leave it to the subject matter experts to do their work and comment afterwards. We can't affect buys and have no influence or choice.
I'm happy to debate what we all see (God knows we can't agree on that most of the time), but not what we might never see. Go on what we do know, not what we don't.
I think at some point we've all put up who we would like or don't like, but looking for a consensus on this is futile imo.
18 Mar 2026 18:54:38
You don't have to join in if you don't want to.finding a consensus has in the main been widely received as a positive approach.
JSU, you never actually offer any alternatives. You say all the time, that team isn't better than what we currently have, yet when asked for alternatives you stay silent. But your balls on a block and throw some names out there.
18 Mar 2026 19:07:35
I'm not sure who we are gonna sign this summer, but I do have a slight concern over potential injury issues next season.
We aren't blessed with a lot of quality in depth, and when I look at our squad and think who I trust to be able to play an extra 10-15 games more next season than they've managed this season, the potential fragility of this squad becomes apparent.
I have doubts over Shaw, Maguire, MdL, Martinez, Mazraoui, Mount and Mainoo's ability to potentially play 45-50 games next season if called upon. Even Mbeumo hasn't played that many games before in a season, and he often looks like he tires later in games.
It is also probably not smart to put some of our younger players, like Yoro, Heaven, Mainoo, Amad and Sesko, under pressure to play a lot of games, potentially while carrying knocks, as their bodies continue to grow and develop.
That's before we even account for those unexpected injuries that just occur, like Dorgu's current injury.
Realistically, that leaves us with the keepers (who should never have a fitness issue from playing too many games), Dalot, Ugarte, Dorgu (should he recover without issue), Bruno, Zirkzee, and Cunha, who I think we can rely on to be physically capable of playing 50+ games next season, with maybe the older "young" players like Sesko and Amad, who are in their twenties rather than teenagers, and possibly Mbeumo.
That gives us 9 outfield players who we should be able to rely on being able to play 50+ games, and 9 players who we can probably expect to be able to manage 20-30 games.
That's a really thin squad. We probably need to add at least 5 or 6 players who are capable of playing 50+ games for us next season. Otherwise, we could be at the mercy of injuries.
18 Mar 2026 19:41:37
Of the 5 names mentioned, how many games have they missed this season? Tonali has had a couple of injuries, not sure on the others.
18 Mar 2026 20:44:32
If you offered me that squad to start next season I would take it just about.
18 Mar 2026 21:06:50
It is no world beating squad, DSG, but it is a marked improvement on what we currently have!
18 Mar 2026 22:24:25
Jimbob, over the last two seasons Lewis Hall has missed 28 matches, Sandro Tonali has only ever missed a few games here and there, no major concerns (bar the ban for betting on football matches), Elliot Anderson missed 25 games with a back injury during the 23/24 season, but not much since, Michael Kayode has been fairly fine, a few knocks but nothing major, Nick Pope has missed 36 games over the past three years with injuries. João Gomes has a perfect injury record.
The real issue is that you are looking to sign 3 players from Newcastle, now I know they might need to sell a player for financial reasons, but they will also receive a hefty sell on fee when Elliot Anderson moves from Forest this summer.
Also Anderson and Tonali are probably too similar in the role that they play, especially if you are going to be spending huge fees. I'd imagine it'd be either or with Anderson and Tonali.
Then we will probably look at a more aggressive/athletic ball winner like Baleba or João Gomes.
While I'm a big fan of Lewis Hall I'd probably steer clear of him due to his injury record. We can't afford to be signing a player with a patchy injury record to challenge Luke Shaw.
I'm not sure we will sign a RB before we sign a LW either.
I'd look to sign Marcos Senesi on a free transfer as he's EPL proven, at a great age, strong in his defensive duels and an expansive passer out from the back. The ideal cheap CB to bring in to provide support for our current crop without being a long term barrier to the likes of Yoro and Heaven.
At LB Malick Diouf has really caught the eye at West Ham this season, as is Adrien Truffert. Nathaniel Brown is getting good reviews in Germany if we want to avoid the EPL tax, or Quintin Merlin in France.
LW is an interesting position to try and fix, Yan Diomande is the hot property right now. He looks phenomenal, but would be a high risk high reward type signing as he won't be cheap. Other big names could be Bradley Barcola, or Kenan Yildiz.
Malick Fofana from Lyon could be a smart signing, he's still doing well but the media attention has moved on to the next hot thing so he would be available for a more reasonable price. Or we could go for EPL proven route like we did with Mbeumo and Cunha and look to sign someone like Iliman Ndiaye from Everton.
If it was down to me maybe something like Senesi, Diouf, Anderson, Baleba as EPL proven players, with Fofana as a high reward option on the LW (which I think is an easier position/role to adapt to the EPL than in midfield or defence).
19 Mar 2026 10:01:01
Did the 4 of you come to a consensus on the imaginary make-believe squad, Jimbob?
19 Mar 2026 11:30:55
Just a thought, don't shoot me down, but what about keeping Hoijland next season to fight it out with Sesko.
19 Mar 2026 12:50:12
We won't be signing 7 or 8 players.
19 Mar 2026 14:51:49
That would not be my choice, Sim. I can't think of any reason not to sell him.
He is miles off technically for the EPL. We have a decent deal lined up with Napoli, and I expect them to take up their option. If they do, it doesn't matter if we want to keep him or not; if they activate the option clause, we are not in control.
Carrick, more often than not, has not even played Sesko, so having another striker he won't start is not a priority.
Mbeumo has been played out of position a bit to accommodate Amad.
19 Mar 2026 17:06:47
Ken,
Yes, I like Senesi.
I only chose the players selected based off post and poll outcomes.
Personally, Hall and Kayode are not my choices and I wouldn't touch Pope if we go with Vitek (plus he is on a free from Newcastle, so only really signing 2).
I don't think we need a LW personally, but if the masses think we do, then it is a big outlay, and there are other areas we need to address.
The general overview was for constructive discussion. You have stepped up. ?
19 Mar 2026 17:03:01
Ken, there have been polls and posts on individual positions for a reason.to try and gather a consensus.
Am I saying this is my preferred team, no, I have gathered opinions and outcomes from polls to generate a potential teamsheet.
Your comment of 4 people for a consensus is beyond stupid.
Again, you don't have to be part of it, equally you don't have to be a prat either.
19 Mar 2026 18:51:46
My Senesi response was for you happy. ?