The Squad planning thread

Went over this in another thread but fuck it. Think Ortega, Wilson-Esbrand, Gundogan, and McAtee move on this summer. Could well be De Bruyne and Grealish in the summer of 2026, along with Pep. Then a new era begins.
 
Just curious, what do you guys think is a realistic (and appropriate) window for cycling out players?

Meaning given the small time between CWC and the start of new PL season, is it reasonable to cycle out and replace 3 players? 4? 5? Or more?

In terms of squad planning to phase out some players and get in youth and quality, it's probably a 2 year job, I think.

Eddy/Ortega, Walker, Ake, Stones, Gundo, Kova, Kev, Bernardo, Grealish, Nunes (maybe)..
 
Just curious, what do you guys think is a realistic (and appropriate) window for cycling out players?

Meaning given the small time between CWC and the start of new PL season, is it reasonable to cycle out and replace 3 players? 4? 5? Or more?

In terms of squad planning to phase out some players and get in youth and quality, it's probably a 2 year job, I think.

Eddy/Ortega, Walker, Ake, Stones, Gundo, Kova, Kev, Bernardo, Grealish, Nunes (maybe)..
I can't see much movement during the CWC. I'd imagine most action will take place after the tournament, albeit FIFA have said transfers in & out can take place during.

It's gonna be a big & messy summer!
 
Does Sheikh Mansour strike you as the kind of man who'd cut & run from the jewel in his crown? Pep has always worked with a small, high quality squad as a way of ensuring players get meaningful game time, & to lessen the chance of having unhappy players in the dressing room.

City have also always sought value in the transfer market, so will not overpay for targets, or make panic buys just for the sake of it. It's a high risk strategy, but one which has worked well during Pep's tenure.

We all recognise there needs to be an evolution of our squad, & I have confidence we have a plan of action going forward. Evolution is the word, not revolution.

I can see Walker leaving for Sheffield in the summer, & Gundog becoming a player/coach. I can also see KDB retiring from international football & being given a 12 month extension with a club option of a year, but I suspect his heir will be brought in & groomed to succeed him.

I've never seen the point of Nunes & because of the Rodri injury, I can see us wanting to go big in that respect. I think Bernardo will see out his contract & either extend for two years, or see out his career with Benfica.

This summer will be big for City for many reasons, & I can see Txiki wanting to leave a legacy & Viana wanting to make his mark. I'm not too concerned with the 115, because every time an outside arbiter has looked at City, they've told UEFA/PL to go fuck themselves & I suspect the same will happen here.

City are the best run club in the world, with a class leading infrastructure. We just need to keep cool heads & trust in the professionals who run the club. Pep has already said City won't make the same mistake where he's concerned, as the Rags did with Ferguson.

Having said that, I also hope/expect Pep to sign an extension so he can manage us at the Club World Club, & build the next iteration of his squad. The foundations are in place, & with 3-4 key signings, I think we'll be there or there abouts for the next 2-3 seasons.
I don't disagree with anything you are saying. I'm saying we've moved tepidly in the last two windows since the charges were announced and especially this past window. I wouldn't blame the club one bit if they're proceeding cautiously in lieu of the charges but the idea that we haven't had needs is simply untrue. The idea that there were no moves to be made that would help with those needs is also nonsense. We need to make 2 solid moves in January and follow up with at least 2 more in the Summer. Pep signing a 2 year extension eager to see us thru this transition would certainly be welcomed...
 
Upon winning The Treble I’m sure we earned circa 250+ Million plus another 65 million for the prem in 24. Plus sales of Palmer, Mahrez and Laporte, Yet we have had totally underwhelming transfer window since.
What’s going on?
Tbh this is always a very misleading thing that people say. We still get the majority of that money even if we don’t win the tournaments. It isn’t the case that winning the treble gave us hundreds of millions that we otherwise wouldn’t have had. Finishing 2nd in the PL and getting to the CL semis still gives us a shit load of that prize money. The FA Cup is irrelevant as the prize money is pretty negligible compared to the other two. So it’s less of a financial windfall and is mostly just money we budget for every season anyway.
 
Upon winning The Treble I’m sure we earned circa 250+ Million plus another 65 million for the prem in 24. Plus sales of Palmer, Mahrez and Laporte, Yet we have had totally underwhelming transfer window since.
What’s going on?
A lot of CL bonuses were handed out to players per their contract and/or to some of their former teams which had CL add-ons in the transfer fees.

That could explain some of it. Plus while City has generally been a club that reinvests profits into the team, it's possible some of that money could have been diverted to other CFG projects. Last part is purely speculation because I'm not a finance guy at all.
 
Does Sheikh Mansour strike you as the kind of man who'd cut & run from the jewel in his crown? Pep has always worked with a small, high quality squad as a way of ensuring players get meaningful game time, & to lessen the chance of having unhappy players in the dressing room.

City have also always sought value in the transfer market, so will not overpay for targets, or make panic buys just for the sake of it. It's a high risk strategy, but one which has worked well during Pep's tenure.

We all recognise there needs to be an evolution of our squad, & I have confidence we have a plan of action going forward. Evolution is the word, not revolution.

I can see Walker leaving for Sheffield in the summer, & Gundog becoming a player/coach. I can also see KDB retiring from international football & being given a 12 month extension with a club option of a year, but I suspect his heir will be brought in & groomed to succeed him.

I've never seen the point of Nunes & because of the Rodri injury, I can see us wanting to go big in that respect. I think Bernardo will see out his contract & either extend for two years, or see out his career with Benfica.

This summer will be big for City for many reasons, & I can see Txiki wanting to leave a legacy & Viana wanting to make his mark. I'm not too concerned with the 115, because every time an outside arbiter has looked at City, they've told UEFA/PL to go fuck themselves & I suspect the same will happen here.

City are the best run club in the world, with a class leading infrastructure. We just need to keep cool heads & trust in the professionals who run the club. Pep has already said City won't make the same mistake where he's concerned, as the Rags did with Ferguson.

Having said that, I also hope/expect Pep to sign an extension so he can manage us at the Club World Club, & build the next iteration of his squad. The foundations are in place, & with 3-4 key signings, I think we'll be there or there abouts for the next 2-3 seasons.
Good post mate but a one year extension is not enough and pep needs to tie down for 2 year’s minimum or we get a new coach because we can’t be going through this next season again.
 
I don't disagree with anything you are saying. I'm saying we've moved tepidly in the last two windows since the charges were announced and especially this past window. I wouldn't blame the club one bit if they're proceeding cautiously in lieu of the charges but the idea that we haven't had needs is simply untrue. The idea that there were no moves to be made that would help with those needs is also nonsense. We need to make 2 solid moves in January and follow up with at least 2 more in the Summer. Pep signing a 2 year extension eager to see us thru this transition would certainly be welcomed...
We had similar situations after Kompany left. I don't get why we didn't move to replace him other than Pep saying the right player at the right price wasn't available.

Not being in the room with Txiki & Pep, we can only suppose, but I do think this summer will be big precisely because of Walker, Gundog & KDB's age, & the need for a Rodri back-up.

With question marks over Nunes (imo), McAtee & JWE etc, we've a lot to be getting on with. However, I honestly don't think the 115 has directly affected our transfer plans. We've been under FFP, PSR & APT duress since 2010, & they've not stopped us from spending when necessary.
 

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