Ben McKevitt says…
There are a lot of bases to cover in terms of recruitment.
Of course, we primarily look at the incomings but due to the position of the club right now and the way we want to operate, there’ll also be a lot of noise around outgoings this summer.
The club did an amazing job at bringing in quality at good value over the summer but I still think we lack depth at the top level — which will be required if we’re aiming to push even further in the coming years. With the added allure of stability and proven
Premier League results now in the club’s favour, I could see the recruitment team looking for fewer but potentially higher-quality signings.
In terms of immediate priority, I think it’s well known that we’ve struggled with consistency and quality on the wings for large parts of this season.
It’s a situation with a lot of moving parts, especially when you consider that Monaco hold the option to turn Simon Adingra’s loan into a £20 million permanent move, whilst we have the opportunity to keep Bertrand Traoré on Wearside for an additional year.
I’d say those two specific situations are far from foregone conclusions considering Adingra’s somewhat mixed form in France and Traoré‘s injury issues. To me, the most probable outcomes here would be for Adingra to move on permanently and for Traoré to stay for the additional year.
This would free up both wages and a transfer fee which could be reinvested into a top quality winger. Our current options of Chemsdine Talbi, Nilson Angulo, Jocelib Ta Bi and Traoré (with cover from Chris Rigg and Enzo Le Fée; are promising but largely youthful options with potential to grow and/or suffering from injury issues. It may seem like overkill but as we’ve seen, it doesn’t take much before we’re playing an eighteen year old centre midfielder at right wing.
A more difficult task may be that of signing a direct replacement for Grant Xhaka at the heart of our team.
It goes without saying that finding a like-for-like replacement is essentially impossible as he brings so much in terms of raw ability, leadership and know-how, but Xhaka’s injury showed how susceptible the team is when he’s unavailable and our results and performances suffered massively.
It looked like Matteo Guendouzi could’ve been coming in to deputise for the Swiss international and although that didn’t materialise, it did show a direction which would make sense for the club to pursue in terms of replacing Xhaka. Again, this is a mammoth task but I think it’s clear that we need a natural replacement in that holding role — and this summer would be an optimal time for to allow for a bedding in period.
For me, there is a case to be made for every position across the pitch, but I see the centre half position as the next most glaring area for strengthening.
Dan Ballard and Omar Alderete have their respective positions locked down for good reason but beyond them we only have Nordi Mukiele and Luke O’Nien for cover. They’re all great options and while there is indeed additional tertiary cover from the likes of Reinildo, potentially Lutsharel Geertruida and Trai Hume, who’ve stepped up in the past, I think there’s a great opportunity for a young and imposing centre half.
It’s the position with the highest concentration of leadership in the squad and while we don’t need a player to step in immediately, we currently lack a clear deputy learning from the senior players like we have in most other positions.
Ciaran McKenna says…
European football would be a fantastic achievement for both the players and the fans, but that success brings with it some major disadvantages.
If we do achieve our European dream, bolstering the squad will be imperative as during the past few years, various teams have fallen victim to the high volume of games that come as a result of European football. This gives a lot of notes to take.
Some clubs prioritise quantity, buying a load of players, but they aren’t of high enough calibre; some clubs prioritise quality, bringing in a few great players but not having a big enough squad to rotate — and some clubs do neither and see themselves crash out of the continental competition and slump down the league through fatigue.
The important thing is finding the right balance, which is something that I think we did very successfully last summer. However, it must be said that our business last summer was something of a gamble and trying to repeat the trick to combat a tighter schedule may backfire.
Throughout the season, the first team squad has proven itself to be of Premier League standard, but injuries have taken their toll, leaving us with limited options and having to fill the bench with youth players.
This tells me that there all areas of the pitch could do with investment — as long as we don’t sacrifice quality. If we are talking about specific positions, I think we definitely need to improve our attacking threat.
Brian Brobbey is a fantastic player but he can’t be our only available striker.
We know that Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor have potential, but they haven’t given us any reason not to go back into the market for a centre forward, especially if we’re playing European football. Similarly, our wingers have all shown their quality and high ceilings but if we do have European football to play, we need to have proven, experienced and talented wingers on the books.
I’m confident that Florent Ghisolfi has everything in hand and fingers crossed, we’ll be able to wrangle ourselves into a European spot come June.
John Wilson says…
I agree with all the points mentioned so far and the only additional view is that I’m not sure what the difference in our planning would be in terms of qualifying or not qualifying for Europe.
I think we all realise that if we were to have midweek European football during certain weeks, we would need a much deeper squad of players brought whom we can rotate and give us reliable support for cup games and league games.
That’s a given, but what might the plan be if we don’t qualify for Europe? We’ll still need a deeper squad as at times this season, we’ve been a little threadbare.
The three Jones’ on the bench — at times square pegs in round holes — isn’t really conducive to a strong Premier League side. We’ll also need support for Brian Brobbey, for the midfield to be strengthened and to add another centre back, so I’m beginning to think the plans needed for a European venture and to attack for a higher Premier League position are very similar.
At no time will we buy a player lacking in quality or who can’t do a job in the team but just as a squad filler.
That won’t be in their thinking at all and unless we bring in younger talents whose skills we want to hone and develop, all newcomers will be fighting for their positions.
The areas in which we’ve struggled for one reason or another are the same areas the club will be looking at: left back, centre back, cover in midfield, reliable wingers and a forward or two.
I’m confident that the hierarchy have everything in hand and will already be starting the planning for next season, so I don’t think there’s much difference between qualifying for Europe or not.
Malc Dugdale says…
It’s a tough one, as much like last season, we don’t really know what we’re investing for — but based on where we’re at, they clearly know what they’re doing.
Buying players to consolidate in mid-table and have a better chance of European football is different to buying players to manage competing in the Premier League’s top eight and in Europe next season (ask any Mag, they’re clearly bad at this).
Given the see-saw position we’re in (a great place to be) I’d look to strengthen the areas where we’re currently thin but do so with quality that can step up if Europe is a factor.
We have more injured wings than the RSPB, and we have to hope that’ll sort itself out in part over the summer, but if we want to push for progress with depth, we probably need at least one more next-level wide man.
We can’t be playing Enzo Le Fée and Chris Rigg out wide and expecting to compete with the top eight and in European games, despite how well both have done when called upon. When the tactics are right, let’s do that, but it feels forced rather than a tactical choice — and it shouldn’t be.
In defence, we also need some depth.
Although Lutsharel Geertruida has deputised well he may not stay. Luke O’Nien has done a good job, albeit with a few blips, but if we can get a third centre back to compete with and provide cover for Dan Ballard and Omar Alderete, that would be ace.
At left back, we may need help given Dennis Cirkin’s injuries and Reinildo’s combination of age and fitness. With Nordi Mukiele and Trai Hume at right back, that’s one of the few places I think we have two very good players but we may seek more if the fixtures get more dense, as that’ll test physical durability even more.
The two main areas in which I think we’ll invest no matter what will be in the middle and up front.
Brian Brobbey has been a revelation but he needs help. I think Eliezer Mayenda can be part of that but I do think it may be time to let Wilson Isidor go and to find someone else who can be the challenger to the throne up to. I love Isidor to the point I named one of my family chickens after him (an honour no other player/chicken combo has), but he hasn’t clicked this season and doesn’t even seem himself. We either sort that or change it.
Finally, we need a clear succession plan for Granit Xhaka. His leadership and quality changes games, but he’ll be thirty four in September and we’re a different side without him.
We need to either align a player to replace him from within and buy a next-level apprentice, so to speak, or we need to invest in a similar player who has a few more years to go than Xhaka, and use others to learn that trade over the next couple of seasons.
I strongly believe that Xhaka will be the next Niall Quinn — a player who goes on to coach and maybe even becomes part of the ownership, but now’s the time to plan for his succession and with the possibility of European football within our grasp, the calibre of player we can look to replace him with is now way higher; looking at younger peers and showing them our future, rather than taking more of a gamble.
If I was them, I’d be on the next plane, because we’re flying.
Go and get us the rest of a Champions League squad, Mr Ghisolfi.
