Feels like Eriksen’s Real Madrid move is off, and I can’t see him going to United. So, I could see us re-signing him with some sort of buy-out clause/gentleman’s agreement that we’ll move him next summer if a Barca/RM/Bayern come in for him. I think that means Lo Celso is unlikely, but maybe we return to him next season if Eriksen goes.
I’m also going on the assumption that Toby doesn’t resign but isn’t sold and walks on a free next summer. This makes the Saliba with a loan-back move make sense, but if we could sign him outright, it might be nice to bring him in and take the 25 mil for Alderweireld, but that would leave us with a really young CB rotation.
Here’s what I’d like to see based on rumors and what is out there in the press.
In my opinion, this squad is well covered in literally every department with some room for our promising youngsters to get some minutes. I think this refreshed team would be considerably better than last year's team and should pretty comfortably be the 3rd best squad in the Prem without breaking the bank and should set us up going forward to keep developing.
It gives Walker-Peters the chance to go out and prove that he's ready for a big role in the Premier League (see: Rose @ Sunderland, Walker @ Villa) and gives Aurier the chance to prove that he should be our RB of the future with some real competition. Atal looks like a really promising player, but I lean toward Aarons who is much younger and homegrown.
Sessegnon provides a lot of squad versatility. But since I see him mostly getting minutes early as an attacker, I think it makes sense to keep hold of Davies who offers positional versatility (CB cover in a 3CB). Same goes for Dier, who I think he'll keep and possibly give some minutes at CB.
Trippier has contributed so much over the last few years, but it feels like the right time to move him on while his value is still decent. I kinda waffled on Lamela, but when he was fit, he was extremely effective and really mirrors Pochettino's fighting personality. I think if we wanted to bring in Lo Celso without selling Eriksen (which I doubt, cuz $), Lamela would have to be sold. For Wanyama, I just don't see him getting enough minutes in DCM in this squad, and I think a 15 mil move to a solid Top 10 side might make sense for both sides. A little bummed out about how Josh and CCV have kinda played out with Spurs, but it just doesn't feel like Poch rates them.
25-MAN SQUAD:
GK: Lloris / Gazzaniga / Whiteman
RB: Aurier / AARONS or ATAL (25-30 mil)
LB: Rose / Davies / SESSEGNON (25)
CB1: Alderweireld / Foyth / Carter-Vickers
CB2: Vertonghen / Sanchez / Dier
CM1: Winks / Sissoko
CM2: NDOMBELE (60) / Dier / Skipp
AM1: Eriksen / Lamela
AM2: Dele / SESSEGNON (25) / Edwards
AM3: Sonny / Lucas
ST: Kane / Son / Parrott
IN: Atal (or Aarons) 25 / Sessegnon 25 / Ndombele 60 / Clarke 8 (with loan back) / Saliba 30 (with loan back) / Rekeem Harper (free with loan back) = 148 mil pounds
OUT: Wanyama (15), Trippier (25), Onomah (tear) (5), Janssen (7),GKN (3), CCV (8), Llorente (free) = 63 million
NET SPEND: 88 million
OUT ON LOAN: Saliba (back to St Ettienne)
Clarke (back to Leeds)
KWP (Crystal Palace)
Harper (back to WBA)
Luke Amos (QPR)