goon wrote:
Regardless of whether we get back into the CL or not or what we get from outgoings, we have to spend well beyond our means as a one off to have any chance of really improving. Anything less and I'd be pretty much resigned to long term mediocrity.
I actually think the opposite is true. This upcoming summer is the first time in a long while where I think most of our improvement is going to come from internal solutions. Just looking at the squad I think the biggest injection of quality regardless of who we sign is going to come from guys like Martinelli, Pepé, Saka and Saliba. That's two great talents who'll have 30-40 games under their belts, one misfiring marquee signing who hopefully will hit the ground running with a year's worth of experience and a proper preseason, and one young defender who by most accounts is an incredible player.
I'd include Eddie too, but I think he'll be more or less a replacement for Lacazette next season in the bigger picture.
I think we will have to spend most of our money on the midfield, which isn't very good and only has a single player, Willock, that seems worthwhile to me going forward, and I think we need a new rightback badly. But I don't see the urgent need for massive injections of quality across the board. I think we're doing really well in terms of potential, and we should keep trusting the players that are emerging. They have proven they are good, and they're going to keep proving it if we give them a chance.
All the really good sides that have emerged in the last decade without having Manchester Unitedesque profit margins, like Dortmund and Atletico and Ajax and whatnot, have done this. The one crucial act this summer is to keep Aubameyang in my opinion. Having him here gives all the emerging players a chance to keep developing. He's not just our best player by a mile; he works with every single attacking combination that I can think of, but not a single attacking combination works without him.
