RB: Cant see Brands' first Dutch signing being Dumfries -- Im going with Aarons (who i think we could well have agreed a deal for) or Emerson.
CM: Kessie was flat last season, but hes become the beast i hoped he would. Only a year left on his deal and would probably be the perfect signing. Not sure whats more unlikely though, him, Camavinga or Gravenberch...
WF: Like Kessie, Bailey has rocketed this season but hes only got 2 years on his deal. I would still think we would need 2 wide attackers if were going to play that way though....Wamangituka or Antony perhaps for the second?
I'd say Aarons will be £35mil (as advertised) if as expected Norwich are promoted. Emerson probably £25-30mil.
Kessie, Camavinga or Gravenberch could be anywhere from £40-60mil each...
Bailey i doubt would be £30mil...i think him Antony and Wamangituka would be £35-45mil.
Ideally id like to see 2 × CM signed but if we got Kessie then id step back from that and be very happy.
Bailey id be similiarly impressed with but surely we would have to bring in 2 wide attackers or the drop off is going to be huge.
Having said that, if we stuck with the diamond and managed to get Kessie + another CM like Camavinga/Gravenberch we'd be incredibly strong in the centre.
The diamond suits our players as we dont have any wide attacking players aside from Bernard and Iwobi...
Emerson has been class (again) for Betis this season.
Tbh id rather go for a 'star' player in centre midfield as thats where we win/lose games and its been that way for years.
If we can get a top RB + 2 star quality CM players in -- go for the diamond for a season then we can always aim for the wide spots in another seasons time.
Cant tell with Ancelotti really. Hes definitely started to use the diamond in recent times but without the energy of Doucoure (and playing Allan/Davies the wrong way around) its fallen down.
If we dont go with the diamond then
@Stephenlloyd mentioned a 352 and i think
@BlueToff would go 433.
If we went 352 we'd need another mobile CB + 2×CM and a RB.
433 then i think we'd need 2 wide attackers + 2 CMs and a RB.
As well as Davies has done when deep, we need an upgrade on him + we also need another player to compete/rotate with Allan/Doucoure.
Morning Toffee, we're 6th