Usually it's obscene to be talking about this a year early but given we have had no window and a very good idea about where our squad and youth are at I thought i would guage opinion on what type of players are and could be potentially available to compliment our upcoming youth players.

I think we can all agree we have to be going for top class players off the bat, no more squad fillers (apart from a new backup keeper which I'll get to later) and these are the positions I think as it stands we must be looking at.

1. Striker

Will be our most urgent need barring Tammy doing a Kane and I think a really good option could be Dembele at Lyon.

He really started to mature last season at Lyon with a 20 goal season and next summer he will 24 which is a very good age to come in to, especially if he progresses his game further.

We should be able to negotiate a relitevely decent price with them aswell, and as he's a Fulham academy product he may like the idea of returning to West London.

2. Centre Back

Probably dreaming a bit with this one but a quick Google search has told me Jose Maria Gimenez has a 120 euro release clause which in this market is a very decent price for one of the best around. We should sound him out and if there's even a chance he may be up for moving we should be all over that.

3. Left Back

Not really clued up on this area ATM so any suggestions welcome. I would have loved Tagliafico if he was a few years younger (maybe could be an option for 2-3 years if Lampard really thinks Castillo can make it) but we will need an athletic all round fullback to hopefully compliment James in the long run, personally I think fullback area is not far off being as pressing an issue as ST.

4. Winger

It's a real shame to miss out on Pepe but we will need another body to add to CHO and Pulisic long term, out of all of them I like Lozano, maybe David Neres if he makes more progress in the upcoming season.

5. Back up keeper

Think we need a refresh here as Willy isn't getting any younger. Probably look at a number 1 keeper from a relegated side or do what Liverpool did with Adrian and find a quality back up at a mid table team because after all, which bench would you rather sit on? Then if Willy will accept that put him at number 3 or if he doesn't sign a random HG one again for that role so Cumming can head on loan for the consistent game time he will need.

The links with Zaha persist, especially since he didn’t move again this window. I think he’s our new Hulk. 

Striker:

I really hope Tammy takes the step! Would be perfect if we have Tammy and a new star striker next season.  Batshuayi must prove something this season or his out with Giroud!

CB: 

I believe Zouma and Christensen will show that they are good enough, but its perfect to have the chance to resign Nathan Ake for 40£m next year!(if he has another good season). 

LB:

Get Alonso out!!!  We need a new player that can compete with Emerson.

Winger: 

What we really need is a right winger, Sancho is perfect!  CHO and Pulisic are both best on the left so i hope this Zaha talks are just rumours.  Willian and Pedro most leave after this season!

Part of me thinks great only another 39 weeks of this type of speculation but then another part of me thinks this will become quite interesting as we see how the season goes in terms of league position but also how the rookies do and in that I include FL.

GK. Kepa is probably here long term indeed he is on a 6 year deal. Cummings. My guess is he is going to step up to the number 2. GK 3. Very vey few third choice keepers get to play anymore than the odd game or two. Not an area you need to consider using up one of the limited number of non HG berths.

RB. Reece James. I really have high hopes that this will be his break out season .LB It seems that Ben  Chillwell is already being linked to us. Dave possibly will be considered more as back up but we need more in this area. Alonso, Zappacosta and Emerson wouldn’t be my choice going forward 

CD. Age wise Zouma, Rudiger, Tomori, and Christensen should mean that they lock down these berths but are they all good enough? Think we need to wait and see.

Midfield. Kante, RLC, Mount I think are more than ok although I do worry about how RLC will perform following his injury. Barkley I hope will now play in a more advanced position and possibly we will see the talent mature. Jorginho and Kovachic I am far from unsure of but this season we will see if there is more to their game.

Wide. Willian and Pedro are fast approaching the end of their careers . To a degree they regressed under Sari but to be fair to them they are still decent players although in the case of Willian I get the impression he is looking for one last big pay day.Pulisic and CHO should be the future but like RLCs will have to overcome some demons if he is to be a guaranteed starter.  We will need one or two wide men.

CF. Tammy I have no clue about but we need better than Bats and Giroud so bid spend in these areas.

 So by my reckoning that’s a big ole shopping list .

Edited August 11, 20196 yr by terraloon

I think the best thing is after this season we'll have a better idea of what we have grown ourselves v what we need. We have bought so many bog average players over the years when we could have saved the money and used our own. 

Let's hope Mount, James and others show their worth and help us spend only where we really have to

On 11/08/2019 at 10:30, terraloon said:

Part of me thinks great only another 39 weeks of this type of speculation but then another part of me thinks this will become quite interesting as we see how the season goes in terms of league position but also how the rookies do and in that I include FL.

GK. Kepa is probably here long term indeed he is on a 6 year deal. Cummings. My guess is he is going to step up to the number 2. GK 3. Very vey few third choice keepers get to play anymore than the odd game or two. Not an area you need to consider using up one of the limited number of non HG berths.

For me back up keeper is the one position where experience is non negotiable.

In the past we have had keepers having to come on out of nowhere nowhere in big CL and PL games, for a situation like that you need a been there and done it type character.

11 hours ago, Argo said:

For me back up keeper is the one position where experience is non negotiable.

In the past we have had keepers having to come on out of nowhere nowhere in big CL and PL games, for a situation like that you need a been there and done it type character.

Can understand that point if view but for me it’s a double edged sword in that if you have an experienced  number two there seems an almost obligation to play then in say FA cup and CC games yet very very few goalkeepers need to be rested.

I haven’t the time to go through the stats but I would be interested to know how many games have been missed  through injury by GKs in the PL in the last say 5 years.

I understand the risk but just like say a midfielder you need a pathway through from the academy to the first team squad for as we seen fees paid for GKs has gone mad and how much do you need to invest on a back up ?

On 10/08/2019 at 15:12, Pulisic22 said:

Striker:

I really hope Tammy takes the step! Would be perfect if we have Tammy and a new star striker next season.  Batshuayi must prove something this season or his out with Giroud!

CB: 

I believe Zouma and Christensen will show that they are good enough, but its perfect to have the chance to resign Nathan Ake for 40£m next year!(if he has another good season). 

LB:

Get Alonso out!!!  We need a new player that can compete with Emerson.

Winger: 

What we really need is a right winger, Sancho is perfect!  CHO and Pulisic are both best on the left so i hope this Zaha talks are just rumours.  Willian and Pedro most leave after this season!

Laughable. Get that terrible CB out of my club! Should have sold him to Everton when we had the chance and kept Luiz.

We do need a centre back as soon as possible, our depth is not good enough for a top club anymore.

 

How about the striker from Norwich, pukki?

46 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

How about the striker from Norwich, pukki?

He’ll be 30 next season but he certain can Finnish...

On 19/08/2019 at 18:29, Munkworth said:

He’ll be 30 next season but he certain can Finnish...

I liked what you did there :)

On 19/08/2019 at 11:41, axman2526 said:

How about the striker from Norwich, pukki?

He looks like the real deal.  I think the club have had their share of over 30 strikers though, between the Giroud and Higuain signings.  I'd rather we signed someone younger.

 

On 13/08/2019 at 22:57, ENygma said:

Laughable. Get that terrible CB out of my club! Should have sold him to Everton when we had the chance and kept Luiz.

Haha ur laughable ?   Zouma has been very good since the United game! Do u really think Luiz should have stayed???? ?  Its so satisfying to see Luiz is still Luiz ?

Edited August 26, 20196 yr by Pulisic22

Our whole defence is a shambles. I don´t think anyone should be a guaranteed mainstay at this point. Rüdiger can feel safe (despite my personal opinion) but the rest should feel pressure to perform or be on the market. I really like Ake for 40m£.

2 hours ago, Soulo said:

Our whole defence is a shambles. I don´t think anyone should be a guaranteed mainstay at this point. Rüdiger can feel safe (despite my personal opinion) but the rest should feel pressure to perform or be on the market. I really like Ake for 40m£.

Our defence is shambles? If we goes in the deep, who has been worst? I love Azpi. Its sad to say it, but he`s has been the biggest problem! Zouma was terrible against united, but have been very good after that.  Christensen and Zouma have been good and their getting better understanding togheter.  Ake will get this season to prove he his better than Zouma and Christensen, right now im far from sure that he is. But its a VERY good option to have!

And when will people see that Jorginho don`t do a good enough job for our defence?  He`s amazing, but people must admit he`s not good for our defence?  I would love to see Kovacic-Kante together after the intrenational break.

I would certainly like to see a combination of Kante, Kovacic and Mount tried in midfield.

Nothing against Jorginho yet with Mount playing feel we lack defensive strength that the former suggested combination would give us and can't see Mount being dropped.

1 hour ago, Strider6003 said:

I would certainly like to see a combination of Kante, Kovacic and Mount tried in midfield.

Nothing against Jorginho yet with Mount playing feel we lack defensive strength that the former suggested combination would give us and can't see Mount being dropped.

Mason may not have Ruben or Ross's physicality but is a lot better defensively/tactically than both.

21 hours ago, Pulisic22 said:

Our defence is shambles? If we goes in the deep, who has been worst? I love Azpi. Its sad to say it, but he`s has been the biggest problem! Zouma was terrible against united, but have been very good after that.  Christensen and Zouma have been good and their getting better understanding togheter.  Ake will get this season to prove he his better than Zouma and Christensen, right now im far from sure that he is. But its a VERY good option to have!

And when will people see that Jorginho don`t do a good enough job for our defence?  He`s amazing, but people must admit he`s not good for our defence?  I would love to see Kovacic-Kante together after the intrenational break.

We have conceded 9 goals in 4 games to start the season. I agree on the fact Dave is losing his value quickly and it might be time to look beyond him, for what we signed him for I still think he´s been one of our deals of the decade. 

If we want to get back to the level I think Chelsea needs to be on then we have to raise our standards as to who deserves to be starting in our back line. 

On 27/08/2019 at 09:38, Argo said:

Mason may not have Ruben or Ross's physicality but is a lot better defensively/tactically than both.

Mount isn't better tactically or defensively than Ruben. Ruben's the most complete midfielder we have after a year under Sarri.

We could/should have a massive budget going into the next summer transfer window considering we didn't spend anything (apart from Kova?i?), plus sales from this season will add to that transfer chest. So basically we should have two budgets plus our sales money, but of course we won't spend it all obviously but the funds will be at our disposal to strenghten this team. Obviously if the kids show up we will have less to spend as they are all English and from our academy. Then we will just add to depth and rotation power.

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Mount isn't better tactically or defensively than Ruben. Ruben's the most complete midfielder we have after a year under Sarri.

I'm happy with the progress Ruben made last season but lets not pretend he will be able to press and cut passing lanes aswell as Mount does, especially from the 10 position.

1 hour ago, Argo said:

I'm happy with the progress Ruben made last season but lets not pretend he will be able to press and cut passing lanes aswell as Mount does, especially from the 10 position.

We're forced into play a 4231 with Mount because he isn't good enough defensively to play in a three man midfield. When RLC is back we can go back to playing 433, where we have had our best performance this season using. 

On 28/08/2019 at 19:27, TrueBlueBIH said:

We could/should have a massive budget going into the next summer transfer window considering we didn't spend anything (apart from Kova?i?), plus sales from this season will add to that transfer chest. So basically we should have two budgets plus our sales money, but of course we won't spend it all obviously but the funds will be at our disposal to strenghten this team. Obviously if the kids show up we will have less to spend as they are all English and from our academy. Then we will just add to depth and rotation power.

Disagree on buying for depth. It got us into this mess in the first place with players like Zappacosta and Drinkwater. We are just a world class CB away from being a top 4 challenging team (provided our best players are fit and on form)

On 03/09/2019 at 23:35, Deino said:

Disagree on buying for depth. It got us into this mess in the first place with players like Zappacosta and Drinkwater. We are just a world class CB away from being a top 4 challenging team (provided our best players are fit and on form)

Any team trying to win trophies in England and in Europe needs depth, and we are lacking that at the moment. Problem is we´ve been buying poor players, doesn´t mean we shouldn´t buy players at all.