Lucas Paquetá

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I would not rule out any or all of Bernado, Walker and KDB leaving. I could also envisage any of Alvarez, Kova and Nunes going. This is in addtion to who you mentioned.

Obviously, I'm not expecting massive changes but even allowing for Phillips and Cancelo as squad members, I'd like to see one or two more in the squad. I know Pep does not favour that but maybe he needs persuading.

Regardless of any of the foregoing, I feel we need to make the squad a bit stronger, which wion't be easy if KDB and or Bernie goes but this season's squad is not as good as last season's and that the club cannot afford to let that become a trend.
 
We'll be giving them money, the question is how much.
We have to weigh up Philips' wages vs keeping him in the squad. Somehow, we'll have to swallow big losses for him, but balance it against paying £44m for Fernandinho & Akanji combined, who've given sterling service to City.

We win some. We lose some. Our best hope is that Leeds & Leicester gain promotion & take Philips & McAtee off our hands.

We also need to dispense with Cancelo & imho Nunes too.

There's the annual question mark over Bernardo, & the futures of Walker & KDB who rumours suggest have lucrative offers on the table away from the Etihad.

Personally, I think both will remain for at least a season & I hope Bernie remains too, but one or all of them could feasibly depart too.

It's gonna be a huge & pivotal summer for Manchester City Football Club.
 
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We have to weigh up his wages vs keeping him in the squad. Somehow, we'll have to swallow big losses for him, but balance it against paying £44m for Fernandinho & Akanji combined, who've given sterling service to City.

We win some. We lose some. Our best hope is that Leeds & Leicester gain promotion & take Philips & McAtee off our hands.

We also need to dispense with Cancelo & imho Nunes too.

There's the annual question mark over Bernardo, & the futures of Walker & KDB who rumours suggest have lucrative offers on the table away from the Etihad.

Personally, I think both will remain for at least a season & I hope Bernie remains too, but one or all of them could feasibly depart too.

It's gonna be a huge & pivotal summer for Manchester City Football Club.
I read that every summer and it seldom is. There'll be the usual flotsam and jetsam again, but I expect the main players to remain and be supplemented by 2-3 solid but unspectacular additions. Too many good players have had under-par seasons- but they're too good not to come back, and 6 young players will be a year older and more experienced.
 
I read that every summer and it seldom is. There'll be the usual flotsam and jetsam again, but I expect the main players to remain and be supplemented by 2-3 solid but unspectacular additions. Too many good players have had under-par seasons- but they're too good not to come back, and 6 young players will be a year older and more experienced.
I think the quality of our squad's gene pool has been diminished since last season. Others are catching us up & it's my fear that if we don't put clear Sky Blue water between us & the chasing pack, they'll close the gap even further to the point where in a season or two we could be sweating on a CL place.

After 12 years of the Sky Four, I bet the Rags, Dippers, Chavs & ArseAnal never thought they'd all spend extended periods outside of the CL. It's not beyond the realms of possibility this could happen to us too. This season's been more than a bit to close for the comfort we've previously created for ourselves.

Just like Foden, we need to capacity build Bobb, Doku, Lewis & the other promising youngsters we have. The truth is we can't rely on any of them consistently at the highest level right now, but they're great to have in the squad as we build them up.

KDB summed it up best the other day when he said Phil isn't a kid any longer, & he was competition for his place. We could only really say that about Foden over the last two seasons, & I reckon we'll have to handle the younger squad members in much the same way.

In the meantime, we desperately need competition & cover for Rodders, a replacement for Gundog & Mahrez, a proper LB, & to start the succession planning for Kev & Kyle, not to mention addressing the annual Bernardo will he/won't he circus.

If there was ever a time City needed to go big, it's this summer imho...
 
I think the quality of our squad's gene pool has been diminished since last season. Others are catching us up & it's my fear that if we don't put clear Sky Blue water between us & the chasing pack, they'll close the gap even further to the point where in a season or two we could be sweating on a CL place.

After 12 years of the Sky Four, I bet the Rags, Dippers, Chavs & ArseAnal never thought they'd all spend extended periods outside of the CL. It's not beyond the realms of possibility this could happen to us too. This season's been more than a bit to close for the comfort we've previously created for ourselves.

Just like Foden, we need to capacity build Bobb, Doku, Lewis & the other promising youngsters we have. The truth is we can't rely on any of them consistently at the highest level right now, but they're great to have in the squad as we build them up.

KDB summed it up best the other day when he said Phil isn't a kid any longer, & he was competition for his place. We could only really say that about Foden over the last two seasons, & I reckon we'll have to handle the younger squad members in much the same way.

In the meantime, we desperately need competition & cover for Rodders, a replacement for Gundog & Mahrez, a proper LB, & to start the succession planning for Kev & Kyle, not to mention addressing the annual Bernardo will he/won't he circus.

If there was ever a time City needed to go big, it's this summer imho...
We’re in the position we’re in because we don’t panic and because we make incremental changes. It was only the allegations that prevented us landing Paqueta, so assuming they’re dropped, he’ll automatically add a bit of muscle and guile to midfield, and if we sign Neves, we sign the energy and work rate of about three players. Add a wild card, Savio, and we’re strong enough to keep the players fresh over a long season and compete for the big trophies.
 
We’re in the position we’re in because we don’t panic and because we make incremental changes. It was only the allegations that prevented us landing Paqueta, so assuming they’re dropped, he’ll automatically add a bit of muscle and guile to midfield, and if we sign Neves, we sign the energy and work rate of about three players. Add a wild card, Savio, and we’re strong enough to keep the players fresh over a long season and compete for the big trophies.
In the summer of 2017, we went big. We spent £200m on a new defence & became Centurions. That closed the gap on those ahead of us & allowed is to pull clear.

I get a sense that going big this summer will enable us to reestablish the gap we created & pull ahead again. This season's been too close for comfort, & we may yet end up empty handed.

If we snooze, we'll eventually lose.
 
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