So, let’s just pretend for a minute this happens.
Guys like Marti Perarenau and Sam Lee have been saying for awhile now City are looking to bring in a forward and a defensive midfielder this summer.
Assuming City had no idea Isco would even be an option until just recently, I still don’t see how - even as versatile as he is - bringing him in as the rotation guy for LW. Everyone knows Pep likes his positions 2 deep, currently it’s Silva, KDB, and Gundo in the 8 role, so signing a player like Isco does makes some sense if Pep is really bent on that depth. The issue that arises imo is transfer budget.
I know City have somewhat of a blank checkbook but what would Real really accept for him? If he really becomes available surely City won’t be the only ones trying for him, so you’d have to think with the Coutinho deal setting a bar, Isco would be somewhere between 100-150m right? Great, we pay it and Isco is a Blue. We get the depth in the 8 role, and have a sudo LW maybe? That just doesn’t seem convincing. We need another real forward.
So our main links: Hazard (not happening), Lemar (too expensive after Isco), Mahrez (LC wanted 90m in a January...), and Bailey (maybe the only one that can fit financially, plus is arguably the most like for like replacement of the options) to rotate with Sane/Sterling/Bernardo without as high of play time expectations of the other options as well. So, let’s say we get Bailey for 50-75m, that puts us up over the 200m mark already are we really going to spend another 50-70m on a CDM?
To me (wtf do I know, but this sure is fun to think through), but the only way this works is if Pep decides to rotate Gundo and Dinho (which was originally the plan when Gundo was first brought in), OR...
We sign Emre Can for free. Which would fill squad depth in every single position, while allowing us to financially make Isco possible.
