24 May 2026 06:50:18
If we can get $125m plus for Enzo and Xabi can use the funds how he'd like, I'd bite Citeh's hand off. Enzo has been fantastic for 3-4 months but was hot and cold before that. He was almost never incredible playing under Maresca. Obviously the worry is we are strengthening a rival, however it can also easily strengthen us. Enzo was never good in the 6 and had his best games in a kind of 10. Citeh have Cherki and Foden. If Cole recovers, plays more central and Moises gets a world class partner, I think it's a positive.
In my estimation we need a starting GK, CB, CM and left sided attacking player. We also need to tapper expectations as funds aren't endless. I think that with the sales of Garnacho, Delap, Disasi, Jorgensen, Fofana and Badiashile we'd be lucky to get 100-150m. If we sell Enzo and Cucu that number increases closer to 300m. Sell Jackson and we are looking at 350m+.
We have a horrible squad in terms of return on investment. Although Enzo and Cucu have been two of our best players, I think having a lot of money at Xabi's disposal outweighs keeping two players that want to leave and we could bank handsome fees for.
Barco, Quenda and Emegha are already arriving. Quenda is 100% an upgrade out wide. Emegha was wanted by a lot of clubs last year and with any luck with injuries can't be any worse than Delap. Barco is a utility player who can fill in for the loss of both Enzo and Cucu.
We're skint, but have a decent opportunity to build a strong squad for Xabi, within one window.
24 May 2026 10:06:38
Melbourne, am I right in thinking Alonso likes to play a back 3, with the wingbacks giving width and two 10's? If so, we won't need any more wingers and the ones we have can be either offloaded or converted into wingbacks.
Quenda is a wingback and can give cover for Reece on the right, Barco can give cover for Cucurella on the left, we have Enzo (one of our best players, who must stay), Palmer and Estevao who can play as 10's, as can Jaoa Pedro, so we are well stocked there. Hato will excel on the left of a back 3 and Levi can play in the centre, so our priority must be an experienced world class right sided centre back in my opinion, and a striker to take the pressure off Jaoa Pedro.
Moises, Santos and Essugo to compete for those 2 places in midfield, plus one more? No doubt Alonso will have someone in mind. Then add a keeper or give Penders a chance.
The list of outgoings is long...
Jorgensen... Who knows.
Disasi... West Ham and Leeds want him.
BB... Who knows.
Tosin... Might stay as Palmer's mate.
Trev... Might stay as cover.
Fofana... Wants to leave.
Lavia... Who knows.
Neto... Liverpool and Barcelona interested.
Garnacho... Who knows.
Gittens... Loan.
George... Everton interested.
Mudryk... Who knows.
Delap... Newcastle want him.
Jackson... Alonso may keep him.
Guiu... Coventry want him.
24 May 2026 10:35:21
I agree, Melbourne. Return on investment is horrific and we've practically burned a large sum of the money spent on players. I imagine they will recoup by selling the players that will actually generate a return on investment, but the list isn't long.
24 May 2026 10:54:34
Largely agree with your well considered post, RPD.
24 May 2026 11:06:52
I never watched Leverkusen under Xabi, but it is widely reported he prefers a back three. Although I have read he is adaptable to his squad. I would prefer to hold onto Enzo as he seems to be hitting his prime, however, it costs more to hold onto an unhappy player than to sell at or around their peak and have a new manager reinvest how he sees fit.
I think the priorities prior to sales are GK and CB. I have very high hopes for Penders but think he's a year or two away. If we can get Maignan, who will be 31 when the season starts, I think it would be amazing. Have Penders hold the number two spot this year and understudy, or go out on loan for one more year and return to fight for the spot.
I agree on Hato and Levi for CB, so we need someone on the right. Maybe Reece plays next to Moises, Gusto competes with Quenda? If we sold Cucu we'd need someone to compete with Barco, but I personally think Neto/Gittens could do the job. Bring in Yildiz and we have Palmer, Estevao, Yildiz, Quenda and Neto who can fight over the two 10 spots?
Fortunate that Xabi is in control, as I haven't a clue how much we will have to spend or how expensive it would be to build to compete once more. It is fun to play fantasy manager though.
Hoping we don't get a European spot tonight as I think having a week in between games will benefit the squad massively.
24 May 2026 11:09:41
Thank you, JBS. I think the recruitment has been mixed, as it always is with nearly every club on the planet, but the nucleus is certainly there, and now Alonso is in. I'm very hopeful moving forward.
24 May 2026 15:21:17
I have no idea if we will get a return on any player investment. My guess is some we will and some we will not, but I would be very confident that, overall, we will get a positive return.
As far as players leaving are concerned, I can think of eight that I think will leave, but that could well be on the low side.
24 May 2026 18:26:58
RPD, is the nucleus actually there? Genuinely, what's your nucleus?
We have:
a poor keeper.
a collection of centre backs, of whom the only one that's capable of playing at the top level is 2 games back from an ACL.
A centre mid contingent that's extremely unbalanced, and again only Caicedo is 'good enough' and available.
Wingers, an utter disaster with very minimal output - again Palmer the only one that's done anything and he's been crap all season.
Joao Pedro is decent but can't be shouldering the goal scoring burden alone, and his backups are all terrible.
In addition to this, we just have an endless list of players simply not good enough to play for a club that wants to be in the UCL as a minimum. I'd list them here but it's a list of 15+.
We are not Brighton or Bournemouth, and the only way to take back our spot at the top is to raise standards and start believing we're a big club.
24 May 2026 18:39:08
Managers can get huge improvement from players.
I think the vast majority of supporters believed we were moving in the right direction at the end of last season. This season has been a huge disappointment, but I think our new manager will get a lot more out of these players than we have seen this season.
24 May 2026 18:54:34
That's a hypothetical, Tom. I'm more focused on what we have seen and have evidence of. Take Neto and Garnacho; both have played a lot of football now, yet offer minimal output. Will that change? Possibly, but history suggests not.
24 May 2026 19:11:51
Kazblue, of course this season has not been good enough, but we now have a proven manager who has won almost everything as a player and a manager.
History also suggests that players can have a bad season and bounce back to form, particularly under the leadership of a new manager.
The facts are we are making season on season improvement, but this year was a step backwards. We go again.
24 May 2026 21:31:19
Bounce back to form.... Issue being, most of them have never shown any form.
24 May 2026 23:14:15
Thankfully your usual negativity is not shared by my season ticket mates and maybe the majority of posters on this site. Now we have a manager who has a proven winning history as a player and manager.
We have had a bad season, it happened under Roman's ownership and ownerships before that.
25 May 2026 01:28:01
Your season ticket mates have been singing F*** off eghbali for half the season. alonso might be good but he's not a miracle worker and with shields stewart and winstanley still stinking up the place.it remains to be seen if he can work in these conditions with the bang average squad he's been given
25 May 2026 07:56:53
My season ticket mates have never sung songs asking for the owners to f*** off. I would like to think they are long on brain cells.
Asking owners to leave is a bit like asking managers to leave. The grass isn't always greener.