What we have with Dowell, Davies, Kenny, Calvert Lewin, Holgate, and Connolly, together with Pickford, who is in a similar situation and knew a couple of them already from u21s, should be fostered and added too. They have have something we have missed for a while now, and that's team work, fight, and a genuine bond.
I'm not saying they are all the finished article, or that all 7 should be in the 1st team from game 1 next year, but they should all be in and around the match day squad, and combined with the experience of Rooney, Walcott, Coleman, Tosun, and Sigurdsson, and maybe a fresh start for Sandro, Vlasic, Keane, Mori, Onyekuru and Klaassen, it starts to have the makings of a squad that a new manager can hopefully cultivate.
I would say we then need to add 4 players to that...
1. An established, vocal centre half who leads by example.
2. A new 1st choice left back.
3. A proper centre midfielder.
4. A new back up Keeper (because I still think they messed up not tying Joel down).
But those 4 positions are about all I'd advise in signing in 1 summer or we'll end up like we did this year again, no balance, no stability, too much change, not enough consistency.
Baines, Jagielka, Williams, Schneiderlin, Mirallas, Bolasie, Niasse (as much as I've enjoyed his resurgence and his exemplary attitude, something I can hardly level at any of the others), Stekelenberg and Martina should all be surplus, and be kept on the fringe of the squad or moved on if the money is right. I could take or leave Gueye. Personally, I'm not overstruck on him, and if someone offered us stupid money, I'd bite their hands off. I think he's massively overrated.
But back to original point. Those younger players who have already bonded the way they have, they should be part of the new nucleus of the squad. Like I said, there's no need to rush them all in at once, but ease them in gently and let the team spirit build from within, something we have sorely missed for a long time.
And from everything i see and read in interviews and on social media, Dowell seems central to that, so we should do everything we can to keep him, and that's not even taking into account the clear ability he has. If he wasn't already with us, we'd be desperate for us to sign him.
