Yes the age is important.
Losing players doesn’t scare me, we finished 8th, and a few of these players have failed with multiple managers at the club.
The issue is who we bring in. In past years players like Soumare, Aouar would be in reach, now Soumare is going to Leicester for a very reasonable fee. Aouar seems like he is out of reach, so the type we can attract will be very interesting.
Edu will be under the gun this summer, we will need to exhaust all avenues to locate promising technical players, and up to now, there is nothing to show he can do it.