A CM 4 of Fernandinho, Fernando, Rodwell and Garcia would not win the title.
Yaya must not be sold. Makes no sense. No-one will spend the money on him to make it worth it anyway.
I'd sell Garcia, loan Rodwell and go with Yaya, fernandinho, Fernando and Milner as our CMs
Signing a Gk as good as Cabellero as backup is overkill. No point when a HG player can be got for fuck all.
Foreign:
Zabaleta
Sagna
Kompany
(new CB)
Nastasic
MDM
Kolarov
Yaya
Fernandinho
Fernando
Nasri
Silva
Navas
(Sanchez or James Rodriguez)
Jovetic
Aguero
17)Dzeko
HG:
Hart
Wright
(new GK)
Clichy
Boyata
23)Milner
23 man squad + all the youngsters
Loan out (notably):
Lopes
Huws
Rodwell
Zuculini
Guidetti
Sell:
Richards 5-8m
Garcia 8-10m
Sinclair 2m
Negredo 20m
(Should get around 35-40m)
Buy:
HG GK eg. S. Given
Sagna 0m
Benatia 30m
Fernando 12m
Zuculini 1m
Sanchez 30m or James Rodriguez 40m?
(Should cost around 73-83m
= 43-48m NET)
-------------------------------------------------Aguero/Dzeko/Jovetic-----------
------------------------------Sanchez or James Rodriguez/Nasri/Silva/Navas
---------------------------------------Yaya/Fernando/Fernandinho/Milner
---------Kolarov/Clichy---------Benatia/Nastasic---------Kompany/Demichelis------Zabaleta/Sagna
--------------------------------------------------Hart/Given/Wright
I'd be very confident of a successful season if that was our squad[/quote]
I would be happy with your synopsis except for the GK comment - if we want to be a real contender for Champions League and compete on all fronts we need a top quality back up keeper to keep Joe on his toes. What happens if Joe has another loss of form or heaven forbid an injury that keeps him out for a month ? Let's keep to Pellegrini's philosophy - 2 quality players for each position - and get Caballero in. I am sure it will happen because so far the signings are addressing the weaknesses in our squad and GK cover and First team CB are the other priorities. If FFP allows then a bit more width on the left would also improve the squad but let's sort out the main requirements first.[/quote]
This was my thoughts from 3 weeks ago - we have now sorted the main requirements - if we sell Garcia and the other surplus players (Richards, Sinclair etc.) let's buy that left hand sided player as above that will mean Jimmy doesn't have to play out there and give us that other dimension/option that we have missed for so long. Then it would be a great transfer window all round.