The longer we don't have a DoF in place, the less confident I get on us doing what we need to do this summer to take the next step to being an elite squad next year. Hope we get someone in soon and it needs to be someone with experience negotiating big transfers IMO. I like the links today with Andrea Berta, the former sporting director of Atletico Madrid from 2017 - 2024. He had a great mix of value signings and bigger splashes (of course some didn't work out) and would seem to have good experience negotiating with the top clubs/agents. I trust Arteta's talent ID but I believe where we have dropped the ball is in convincing the player/agent/team to make the move. Let Arteta have a big say in who we go after but then get the deal done.

I'd sign him and Zubimendi

Another good CM to keep an eye on.

Hope we go for Kimmich, would be all over that.

Zubimendi doesnt really do it for me, bit too bland considering the type of player that occupies left 8 for us.. Going back for Douglas Luiz could be another option.

    Wonder if our name is being used for him to get a better deal! Would be a great signing imo but probably wants a massive salary which will be a problem.

    Doc Zubimendi doesnt really do it for me, bit too bland considering the type of player that occupies left 8 for us.. Going back for Douglas Luiz could be another option.

    Watch him for Spain last summer when Rodri went off injured, put in a clinic. There is a reason why Barca, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Arsenal are pushing for him.

        JazzG Wonder if our name is being used for him to get a better deal! Would be a great signing imo but probably wants a massive salary which will be a problem.

        Yeah from reading that tweet sounds like he will stay at Bayern.

          Hope he is our first signing to see the fans meltdown.

          Would rather Zubi than Kimmixh. Think both would be a poor allocation of resources.

            JazzG Watch him for Spain last summer when Rodri went off injured, put in a clinic. There is a reason why Barca, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Arsenal are pushing for him

            Yeah. I have seen it. Don't get me wrong, he is a very good player but its more about who he will be playing with, if we are going to continue to play with Rice at 8, I feel like we should be playing someone there that can add a lot more to our attack. looks like he is a good allrounder with nothing really that stands out.

            Having said that, I do think this type of player is the kind you need to see week in week out to fully appreciate, maybe he has insane positioning and tempo setting abilities that I have just not seen yet.

              Zubimendi definitely does not stand out on any compilations or highlights videos. However, like @JazzG said, he was immense for Spain when Rodri went off last summer and looked like the best player on the pitch - just intercepted everything and dictated the pace of the game. Personally, I'm a big believer in the idea that if the biggest clubs/managers in the world are after him, there's a reason. I do have concerns on how the rest of our midfield looks with him but I also think there's a world where we look back at his signing and realize how his profile completely changed the responsibilities (or lack thereof) that guys like Rice have and allowed him to be a disruptive and more attacking force. I see it working really well out of possession but my wonder is how it will look in possession.

              Let’s not dick about this summer. Spend pretty much all the budget on attackers. I’d rather have too many talents to choose from than next to none

              Kimmich's wages alone would be over 300k per week so there's no way we should be getting both. I think we should be looking at Zubimendi more since he will be less expensive wage-wise and is younger. We need to be spending the bulk of our funds on marquee attackers and then ideally finding a few younger squad players with higher ceilings like Nypan to fill out the squad and avoid being in a spot like we are now.

              fock, that's a lot... with a lot of big renewals coming up, maybe not the wisest choice

              Kimmich is 30 too - just not a great gamble at the wages and age IMO, especially when he's only played in the Bundesliga. You're betting on him to keep up his form on the wrong side of 30 as he adjusts to a new league - that's not what I would want to do when we are this close to being a title winning team. Seems like much more of a United type signing, despite him being in great form this year.

              Wirtz is phenomenal. If we have a chance to get him, we should be all over it. Now, I'd be concerned that we would then not have many funds to strengthen the attack but if you can get a player like Wirtz, you have to get him. Hard to imagine Bayern having more buying power than us and Leverkusen is going to want to get as much as they can for him. I'd even be fine taking less established attackers if it meant bringing in Wirtz - he would transform our attack. However, I don't know what that would mean for Odegaard or Rice's roles or our pursuit of Zubimendi. And this is all just hypothetical since I haven't seen any links to Wirtz for us.