Went for a 6 but on the basis that a 5 is par and using the full 1-10 scale and not the new general perception that anything less than a 7 means shit. We did what we needed to but could have done more.
I will add that there's potential for it to jump up quite a bit. Based on potential and bringing the average age of the squad down it could easily go up another 2/3 looking back in 12 months but I'm looking at it as what we've got to work with for this season.
Gvardiol replacing Laporte is no downgrade in the here and now, I'll hold off calling it an upgrade after 3 games but I believe it won't be long at all before we consider him an upgrade. he will be immense for us and he's got a decade in him. Identified the best available player for that position and got him. Top top quality signing.
Laporte fee however you dress it up was abysmal on our part especially when you look at what Saudi's are paying for others. we should have been looking for around double what we got in this market.
Kovacic I'm a huge fan of, I've talked about him being the ideal replacement for the irreplaceable Bernardo for a few years now if he left us without ever thinking we would actually get him so to get him in and keep Bernardo and pay £25 million for him is phenomenal business. Losing gundo was always going to be a huge blow to take, he was unique in that he could perform 2/3 roles for us to an elite level, there's no replacing him, we were always going to be weaker without him but I believe we've signed the best possible fit for us in kovacic. Great signing but unavoidably weaker for the loss of gundo.
Doku I'm very excited to finally see some pure pace back in the side, I'm of the opinion we've really missed it since we got rid of sterling, despite winning the lot without it and signing anybody pacy was going to add a hell of a lot to our side. Doku himself is very raw, don't think he's quite at our level just yet, I'm anticipating a mixture of excitement and frustration from him at first but he certainly could be elite. I think he was on the tier below where youd expect the champions of europe to be shopping but I expect pep to develop him and he will be a big hit for us in time.
Completely different to mahrez, can't say he's better than mahrezas his replacement right now so have to look at it as a downgrade for now but he's got a decade on Mahrez to change that and believe he will. Other transfer fees may suggest we let mahrez go a little cheaply too in the end but given his age you have to say we got a decent fee for him.
Nunes. We definitely needed an extra body in midfield, we have done for a few seasons now so its good to finally bolster that area. Didn't set the world alight at wolves which dampens excitement but I trust pep and txiki's plan, I can see the talent there, and trust he will be a big hit eventually, might need some bedding in time though.
For the departures we didn't replace;
Letting cancelo go out on loan again with no obligation to buy is piss poor, he was widely considered the best fullback on the planet 12 months ago, a £60 million fullback that we made better, seems mental we can't get rid. All we've done here is done barca a favour for nothing and kicked the can down the road, we are going to have the same issue with wanting to get rid of him next summer only he's then a year older and worth less. Poorly handled and should have been dealt with this window.
Not replacing him is a mistake in my eyes too. We've got 7 defenders in the squad, I refuse to include gomez as a defender, it's pretty clear he won't play any significant minutes for us in defence this season. Last season we went into the season after buying akanji on deadline day as our 8th option because we felt we were short yet we are going in a man lighter this time and one is Rico lewis who I still think needs time to grow into an adult before he's truly ready to play every week. We are the standard injuries to stones and ake away from being down to the bare bones defensively. Maybe we sign this argentinan we are linked with for January to rectify that, if not, I think we will
be forced to do something in January.
Palmer, just a weird transfer for everybody. I'd argue we could have squeezed more money for him if there's no sell on clause when you look at what Newcastle paid for Gordon last january for example and see what Brennan Johnson has just gone for. From Palmers view it's odd as I actually thinking he was higher in the pecking order here than he will be at chelsea, keeping him or loaning him out would have been ideal as I believe he could have been a regular for us but he wanted out and we banked £40 million pure profit so can't grumble. I expect him to be a very good player, possibly the best one we've let go but we'll move on just fine.
Other academy players we've sold, got decent money for them all, trafford is the only one I see having the quality to play for us regularly but obviously being a keeper he's not going to so made sense for us to sell. Banking nearly £50 million for Trafford, Borges and Charles is good business.
Mcatee had to go out on loan, isn't ready for us, playing regularly in the premier league even if it's at a side we expect to be relegated will be good for him and us.
Players still here that shouldn't be;
Phillips, I've never knocked him, I'm of the opinion he hasn't had the chance to fail here yet but it's clear there's no trust in him from Pep so there's no point being here if he isn't going to be trusted, his role as understudy to rodri is important, we need somebody pep trusts to before we burn put rodri, if phillips isn't that player we needed to ship him out and replace him.
Gomez, just isn't at our level. Seems we abandoned the idea of him ever being a left back for us, he's clearly a winger, but hes not getting minutes there either. maybe he plays a few carabao cup games and a couple of dead rubber champions league games if the groups goes to plan but can't help think we should have loaned him out.
In summary, happy with the signings we did make even though half of them probably weren't our top picks. don't think we've currently got a stronger squad than we had 3 months ago if you're judging on it right now but the potential we've added and the age reduction is key and sets us up nicely for the next 5 years in some key areas. Can't fault the signings we made.
Players we shipped out though i don't think we've got their true market value overall and I don't think we've signed enough replacements.
Business we did was good, could have done more and should have sold better.
