It's obvious that we need a player that's capable of primarily being a compliment to Rodri but can also play as his back-up in certain (early cup rounds, winnable CL group stage games) matches too. Gundogan was perfect for it but that monumental fuck up has to be forgotten.
Bruno is the most obvious one. But he's expensive.
Frenkie would be perfect. But his wages are ridiculous.
Fabian is another. But he's at PSG and won't be allowed to leave (even if he wanted to).
Do we look closer to home? Develop Nunes to play the role? But he doesn't have the composure needed to play the lone 6 IMO. Same with Lewis. Kovacic is a fantastic footballer and IMO can serve as the back-up to the lone 6 position but he doesn't get enough goals and we missed that (IMO again) last season - you could always rely on Gundo for 10-15 goals a season.
There will be others out there that I'm ignorant to I'm sure but one thing is for certain, we can't afford to skimp on it again. We need to go balls out and get somebody who fits the role and can come straight into the team and play various roles and positions. Like when we replaced Aguero. We didn't fuck about and we got the most sought-after striker in world football.
I'd go with Bruno. Release clause, fantastic player, great character, knows the league and who gives a fuck how much he costs as long as we can afford to spend it!?