The defensive strength looks great, and I've actually come around to the idea that we should maybe just keep Tierney and Tomiyasu. If they're happy to fight, then why not? It just makes us stronger.
The rest of that graphic is all wrong, though. Xhaka is gone, Partey may follow, Smith Rowe is fighting with Havertz, Jorginho is cover for Rice, and Vieira cover Ødegaard. Lokonga is both leaving and not an AM. Whilst assessment of the depth at CF hinges on what you make of Nketiah as Balogun is almost certainly out the door, and probably behind the former if he stays anyway.
It still looks to me like we're considerably stronger at the back-end of the team than the rest. Vieira's and ESR's terrible seasons (the latter due to fitness) make me wary about expecting too much from them when deputising for Ødegaard and Havertz - I can see a scenario where resting either one of them creates a big drop-off.
It also looks light to me out wide. I think we're still short a powerful, aggressive, speedy goalscoring wideman - someone who can offer something similar to Saka and Martinelli. Maybe I'm underestimating Nelson - he certainly has goals in him - but it's a risk, especially with his injury record.
Nketiah doesn't fill me with any confidence. I think a big, strong striker as an alternative to the main man, Gabriel Jesus, is what we'd ideally go and get. It bolsters our options for different games when we might want to go a bit more direct, and it also means Jesus can act as that additional speedy, goalscoring wideman when it's needed.
So, as things stand, I think we're looking at the untouchables in the squad being Ramsdale, Saliba, Ødegaard, Havertz, Saka and Jesus. By that I mean: These guys have to play every important game or there will be a significant drop-off. If we get to the stretch and these guys aren't available, we will suffer for it. In the cases of Saliba and Saka it's difficult to do much about it because they're that good. I'd also add Rice to the list regardless of whether Partey leaves or not, but especially if he does leave. You could also argue Gabriel is another, but I like what I've seen of Kiwior.
This is all ideal scenario territory, though. The squad looks better than it has done in years, and if you have top, top players, you're always going to struggle when you're without them. And we have quite a number who fall into that category now.
One more attacker for me, ideally an Ivan Toney-like CF, and we'd be getting very close to a squad that can rival City's.
