My Summer Plans and Predictions

This is where I want us to be come the start of the 2024/25 season or at least by the end of the summer window

Good Morning Ladies and Gents,

Apologies for my lack of article yesterday, I had an incredibly busy day at work and then got bogged down with the England v Belgium game.

The first of my two articles today, I am going to run through the activity I want to see this summer, both incomings and outgoing at club and staff level.

The Outgoings;

Robert Sanchez - I like Sanchez, he worries me to an extent and he isn’t the right number one to move us on to the next level.

Trevoh Chalobah - I am a big fan of Trev, but the obvious issue is his minutes, with everyone fit he is probably 5th choice CB for next season and with the pure profit we can make from him it is a no brainer.

Marc Cucurella - One of Cucurella and Chilly have to go and I prefer Chilly when fully fit he is a lot more of an attacking threat and a leader in this current group. Cucurella is unfortunate coming in when he did and for the money he did, he’s a decent player on his day, he just hasn’t had many days at Chels.

Ian Maatsen - A good player and is proving so in Dortmund, I question his defending abilities as a Left-Back but it is nothing that can’t be improved long term, I would be happy if he stays but I think he will move on and £30m is an excellent price for him in my view.

Raheem Sterling - It is predominantly financial my reasons for selling Sterling due to his salary and contract, he obviously is very hot and cold, and shows up cold more often than hot. BUT, he is a good role model for our younger players, who say so themselves, he is a winner and a leader in his own right.

Noni Madueke - I love Noni and this is the hardest one for me to write but I just don’t think he has the ceiling to get to an elite level which he would need to do to displace Palmer, there are better players out there, like an Olise with a much higher ceiling and ability to compete with Palmer.

Armando Broja - I think with the way the Fulham loan has gone and the way he was treated in January it makes perfect sense to cut ties, I still think there is a really good player in there, he needs to go somewhere and settle and let his football do the talking.

That concludes my major outgoings of players involved with the squad this season, there are obvious outgoings that are out on loan or separated from the current squad, which you can read here.

The Incomings;

The centre back;

Joachim Andersen would be my centre back of choice, cheaper than most, huge PL and leadership experience. We need a CB who is happy to be a rotation option, can bring good attributes to the role which Andersen has, he is a monster in the air and an absolutely top passer of the ball.

A Left-Back;

We need a dynamic, defensively sound Left Back that can contribute in attack as well. This sounds like I am asking for a lot and I probably am, Theo Hernandez is the completely unrealistic dream target, realistically I am looking at Milos Kerkez but he is still very raw, Raiyan Ait Nouri who continues to impress me massively and Antonee Robinson for PL experience, or somebody like Luca Netz from Borussia Munchengladbach

A winger for each side;

My priority targets would be Michael Olise and Nico Williams, they are both incredibly direct, can carry a team up the pitch with their ball carrying abilities. Olise improves game upon game and season upon season, he is incredibly talented and would really elevate our squad and attacking threat. Williams is extremely both footed, and an extremely high volume dribbler. He could provide some great competition from the left and right. He also has a 43m release clause.

The No9;

For me it would depend on budget, I think we need to spend big on a left back in my view but if the outgoings go well we may be able to on centre forwards. We don’t need to spend one big transfer fee, but what I would do would cost us 100m. I would buy Benjamin Sesko for the 41m Release clause and buy Ivan Toney for 55-60m. This does depend on europe, if we have european football then we have the amount of fixtures to suit a slightly larger squad, if not then just go for one of the two.

Overview;

To get my complete dream targets it would cost just over 300m this summer that would be;

Joachim Andersen 20m

Theo Hernandez 80m

Michael Olise 60m

Nico Williams 43m

Ivan Toney 60m

Benjamin Sesko 41m

Staff

When I say staff I am talking predominantly about a manager, the medical department has been gutted and replaced recently as has the scouting department which had been needed for many years.

We need the manager dilemma to be resolved as quickly as possible, I am still on the fence with who my ideal candidate would be but the board and club need to get it resolved as soon as the season ends and be dead set on their manager and their number one choice. Nagelsmann and Amorim would probably be my two favoured options.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this and I look forward to seeing your responses

Luke Rushbrook