We need to take a step back and be pragmatic.
We have strengthened the defence and midfield, in the sense that we now have an actual defence and midfield again.
Yes we have lost Richarlison however we have kept Gordon and what’s wrong with a home grown replacement? He’s already scored two and is playing well.
Despite the fact we have signed Maupay I’m seeing a lot of ‘we haven’t signed a striker’ remarks. Yes it would have been even better to sign two CFs but in the market we are dealing in it is incredibly difficult to sign a top notch CF - do we want a return to the bloated squad of Allardyce full of players we didn’t want, signed simply to appease fans, then ending up costing us a fortune in wages sat on the bench? That’s how we end up saying “we need a clear out” in two years’ time. We still have DCL to return, and as last as he is, Rondon. Is it ‘we haven’t signed another CF’ or is it ‘we haven’t signed the CF I think we should’? Some (not all) people need to remember that this isn’t a computer football management game at times.
As for outgoings, yes, Richarlison has gone but when we feared that at one stage we’d lose him, DCL and Gordon and sign only James Tarkowski (this wasn’t that long ago), to lose only one of the three and still move on deadwood in the non-existent Dele Alli (waste, shame) and Andre Gomes on their huge wages isn’t too disastrous. Coupled with sensible loans for Simms, Branthwaite and Warrington that’s not too shabby at all.
I’m no fan of the way things have been run in the recent past however I think Lampard and Thelwell have done more for us in this transfer window that anyone since Martinez signed Lukaku and Gareth Barry. Don’t forget, they’re essentially cleaning up a mess we’ve been in since Moyes left, all while FFP/P&S rules have had their hands tied up, bondage style.
I don’t go in for the finance side of football like some do as it bores me to absolute tears but overall, in the context of our position at the moment, I think that transfer window was far better than any of us expected.
