Our most like first 3 recruits this summer:

• Timber – CB – Ajax, a Dutch international. A young and promising defender, he brings some physicality and pace to our back line and he is not bad at bringing or passing the ball forward, in the tradition of Dutch players. Gabriel and Saliba have a tough competitor to contend with now…
• Rice – DM/CM – West Ham, an English international. A solid performer in the EPL but also at international level, Rice can play at DM and at CM. Good at breaking plays and also at taking on people in the midfield, an astute acquisition but what a price to pay at 105 Mln…
• Havertz – AM – Chelsea, a German international. Considered a prodigy at his beginnings in Germany, he has been struggling a bit since joining the EPL. A hard working player that can play in the midfield and upfront. Versatile, young and talented but quite expensive as well at 65Mln

Does the arrival Timber means the end of the Holding experience at AFC or just the sending of Kiwior on loan?

With the arrival of Rice, there is a question mark on the future of Partey and Xhaka. Let us see. Ideally, we keep both.

With the arrival of Havertz, players like Vieira, Nketiah, Balogun and even ESR may seek a move away from our club.

The Edu-Arteta axis still targeting young, hard-working, technical and versatile players. We have to trust them. I am still baffled by Havertz but gotta trust the process…

Ramsdale – White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko – Partey, RICE – Saka, Ode, Martinelli – G. Jesus

Turner – Tomy, TIMBER, Holding/Kiwior, Tierney – El Neny, Xhaka – Trossard, HAVERTZ, ESR – Nketiah

Still think we can improve our RB position and our back-up GK…I d like to see us go for Frimpong at RB and then M. Sels at back-up GK.

COYG!

So you gave your verdict on the starting XI, now let us see what happens on our bench. Arguable, our lack of depth cost us some points in the last stretch last season so we need to make sure next season to have a well rounded squad to make up for injuries, dips in form or fatigue…

• GK: Turner, Hein.
  • Not convinced by Turner at all. I would suggest moving him on and bringing in a more reliable GK. I likeMaignan from Milan, Mendy from Chelsea, Lafont from Nantes, Meslier from Leeds but they ll probably want to be starters to why not make a move for Mats Selz from Strasbourg. He is a very good GK, highly underrated or Hradecky from Leverkusen.
  • Hein, the jury is out
• RB: Tomyasu, AMN
  • I think Tomy should be kept because he allows us to play in different set-up so I would keep him and I d loan out Kiwior (see below). That said, he may want to be a starter so let us see…Also, if we buy a RB to compete with White, things may change…
  • AMN should be moved on
• CB: Holding, Kiwior, Trusty, Mari
  • Kiwior and Trusty should be loaned out.
  • Holding is a tough one because he is now a club player. He is not great but he is a good squad player. If we buy a new CB to compete with Saliba and Gabriel, then I think he should be sold and thanked for good services. It would be a bit like saying good bye to Chambers.
  • Mari to be moved on
• LB: Tierney, Cedric, Tavares
  • He is a definite keeper for me. I d hate to lose him especially to Newcastle – they would have Trippier on the right and Tierney on the left, it would be a disaster for the rest of the EPL given their crossing abilities…
  • Cedric – not sure about his contract situation but he should be moved on.
  • Tavares – another loan would help him out. I d say Italy would be best for him. He is great going forward but needs to be more disciplined defensively. Lecce or Atalanta would be good destinations.
• DM/CM: Jorginho, El Neny, Lokonga
  • Jorginho and El Neny would be kept.
  • Lokonga – seems the EPL is a bit too much for him yet. He can be sold or loaned out.
  • Xhaka – I d keep him in the squad even if we get Rice. An experienced and valuable player.
• AM: ESR, Vieira
  • ESR, plagued by injury but needs to be kept because when he is fit, he is lethal.
  • Vieira – a tough year for him but he ll get better. A loan in the EPL would do him good. What about Forest?
• RW: Nelson, Marquinhos, Pepe
  • Nelson about to sign a long term contract again. He can be a useful player so I d say sign him up for long and then loan him out again. He needs more game time.
  • Marquinhos – another loan but at EPL level is required.
  • Pepe – the end of the road for our most expensive signing. He had an OK season at Nice. He d do well at Marseilles, Benfica, Leverkusen…Sad it did not work out.
• LW: Trossard,
  • Instant impact and then faded but good to have him on the squad. Must be kept.
• FW: Nketiah, Balogun
  • Two good forwards. Nketiah helped us really well when Jesus was injured and Balogun had a breakthrough season in France.
  • Nketiah and Balogun are both highly rated at home and away. Id hate to sell any of them but maybe we may have to part with one. I can’t decide.

So here are my keepers: Hein, Tomy, Tierney, Jorginho, El Neny, ESR, Nketiah or Balogun. Also interested in keeping Xhaka even if Rice joins us. Here is my back-up team:

SELS – White, Tomy, TARKOWSKI (or Gabriel if we upgrade at CB), Tierney – Jorginho, Xhaka – BOWEN (or Mbeumo, Barnes or Harrisson or Chukwuze or N. Williams or even Rafinha), ESR, Trossard – Nketiah or Balogun

I need to add 3: Hein or Okunkwo, El Neny and Taylor-Hart.

Of course, if Xhaka leaves, we will need a back up CM/DM: Ward-Prowse.

From the current XI, the following players for me are “safe” as starters next year:

Ramsdale, Saliba, Zinchenko, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli

I think that Arteta also sees Gabriel, Partey and G. Jesus as starters so…and Xhaka if he stayed too but let us go with the flow and assume he is leaving

Ramsdale – RB, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko – Partey, DM/CM – Saka, Ode, Martinelli – G. Jesus

So that leaves 2 spots on the starting XI, one for RB and one for DM/CM.

At RB, White has been very good for us but there are also great RBs on the market and if Xhaka leaves, it will be unthinkable for us to not purchase a DM/CM so who would I like to see join us?

RB: One of these players would be very interesting Cancelo, Frimpong, Coufal, Dumfries, Arnau Martinez

DM/CM: Rice, Caicedo, Zielinski

So here is a realistic starting XI from my side:

Ramsdale – FRIMPONG, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko – Partey, CAICEDO – Saka, Ode, Martinelli – Jesus

What a roller coaster of a season! After an exhilirating first half of the season and a good start of the year and after more than 200 days at top of the league, our form dipped and Man City wins the league with a 5 points cushion…So how do we see the season? As a success? As a failure? As something in between?

• Positives
  • We led the EPL for a good part of the season
  • We played some good football and finished in the Top 2 and with one of our highest points’ tally ever
  • The atmosphere around the team and the club generally was very positive
  • Our recruits made a positive difference both summer and winter recruits
  • Arteta-Edu seems to be a working duo
  • Some of our players grew tremendously: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli especially

• Less positives
  • Finished the season without a trophy
  • Wobbled in the last 8 games…no matter what the reason is (mental, injuries…)
  • Some key players lost their ways in the finishing line: Ramsdale, Gabriel, Holding, Partey especially
  • Squad seemed too thin to match up against the might squad of Man City and will stuggle next year against teams expected to strengthen, especially Man Utd (Kane, Mount…)

So how do you see the season? Did we miss an opportunity to win the League? Does the “no trophy season” means that it was not a good season? Do the positives outweigh the negative?

Who are your:

• Defender of the year: Saliba?
• Midfielder of the year: Ode?
• Forward of the year: Saka ?
• Player of the year: Ode ?
• Most improved player: Xhaka (and then White)

Where do you think we need to strenghten?

• We need a better back-up GK – Lafont from Nantes or Islier from Leeds for me
• We need another CB – Kim Min?
• If Tomy leaves, we need another RB too
• We need another DM/CM for sure – Rice?
• We need another MF/FW as well to cover for Saka – Musiala? Gnabry?

Ramsdale – White, Saliba, Kim Min, Zinchenko – Rice, Xhaka – Saka, Ode, Martinelli – G. Jesus

Lafont – Tomy, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney – Partey, Kiwior – Gnabry, ESR, Trossard – Nketiah

Anyways, what are your thoughts and COYG! What a season to follow 🙂