Brands needs to deliver younger players from Europe and further afield that won't come with a premium we have to pay for domestic players. If we are to build a sustainable model, 80% of signings from now on shouldn't be any older than 24-25 at most. We can make exceptions in exceptional circumstances, mostly where there is value for a free transfer or loan, or where a bigger fee could be justified. Even then I would keep that type of signing down to about 1 in every 5 at most, and no more than 2 or 3 players over 30 in a starting XI.
If we are looking at markets like Portugal or Holland for example, the better players yet to move abroad will all be under 23 anyway, its generally a red flag if they are still there when they're older. Same applies for South America.
Walsh objectively failed at this, and I doubt if there was ever a policy of any description. In addition to relative youth, we need as much pace, height, athleticism, and positional flexibility as we can get. Obviously we need guile and creativity as well, but those signings are few and far between, which is an oddity for elite-level professional football.
That, and they need to be ready for the first-team immediately. I don't buy into the idea that players need 12 months to settle. Good players, brought in under a rigorous scouting system, and without the confusion inherent under Walsh, shouldn't need that length of transition.
We can still buy teenage players for the U-23s but we don't have the luxury this summer of buying anyone for the first-team squad that warms the bench, or disappears into relative obscurity after a few weeks.
A tall ask for Brands, but that's his mandate. Our budget will quickly evaporate otherwise. But that's a three year objective, he can't be expected to radically overhaul the squad within the first window.
