You are on another level to where we'll be this season, it will take a good 3 or 4 years of Rafa and solid investment to get to that end of the table but I look from 8th - 9th down (below the Everton, Southampton, West Ham type group) and see very little quality.
I think 12-15th will be us this season without being in danger but we are desperate for a new striker and a goalkeeper, get those and we'll be just fine. Team is well settled and well established and drilled in Rafa's system.
Lascelles is very raw, but mentally very strong and I still hope he develops into a good centre half but the likelihood is he will start the season as 3rd choice centre back and on the bench.
Really like the look of Merino so far, looks like a quality player but suspect he will start on the bench.
The biggest difference though is that we are a team, where the team is greater than the sum of its parts, for the first time in a long time. With everyone in the city pulling together I see no reason why we can't have a comfortable season consolidating and hopefully a Rafa special cup run.