Bernardo staying would be huge. Squad looks pretty good as it is:
Mahrez, Trafford, Charles, Borges, Porro (sell-on), Herrera and the Fletcher twins all leaving for a reported 94,1m (including add-ons). Plenty of other players could be leaving for big money. Cancelo, Laporte, Lavia (sell-on), THB, T. Doyle, Mebude and possibly Walker could be another 120-140m. Seems like we could comfortably reach 200m in sales
Kovacic and Gvardiol coming in for around 115m would still leave us with a big negative net spend. Gvardiol replaces Laporte, and Kovacic replaces Gundo. In terms of pure numbers, we`d probably need another player to replace Mahrez, either a midfielder or a winger. I`d guess Bernardo is pushed out wide to replace Mahrez, and Bobb/Foden would be solid backup options.
If Bernardo is pushed out wide I think we`d be a little light in midfield. Kev`s getting older and more injury prone, Kovacic had some struggles at Chelsea too, Foden might play out wide at times and McAtee is not very experienced. Could need another midfielder. I`d love either Barella or Matheus Nunes. If we`re gonna target another winger (and Bernardo plays more centrally) the market is very very slim. Saka and Rodrygo are the only ones that could be pushing for a start immediately, but none of them are available or realistic. I`d take either Cherki, Kubo (very underrated player) or Raphinha, but my preferred option would be Adeyemi from Dortmund. Can play anywhere in the front 3, one of the quickest players in world football and very good on the ball. Very exciting player
