u/Cbarre83

Hi All

I'm just looking over our current squad, and taking out those who will most likely leave when their contract expires shortly, this is what we're left with (and when their contract expires if known) ....

GK

Pope (2027)

Defenders

Botman (2030)

Thiaw (2029)

Burn (2027)

Livramento (2028)

Hall (2029)

A.Murphy (2028)

Mids

Bruno (2028)

Tonali (2028)

Joelinton (2028)

Ramsey (2030)

Miley (2029)

Willock (2027)

Forwards

Woltemade (2031)

Wissa (2029)

Osula (2029)

Gordon (2030)

Barnes (2028)

Elanga (2030)

J.Murphy (2027)

Neave (tbc)

I've assumed Schar will go, but who knows? The fact he wasnt given a send off on the weekend may indicate they'll give him a 1yr extension). Im also guessing Neave will go out on loan (if he cant make a fist of it in the Championship/League One/Scotland for a whole season, he probably wont make it....) so wont be getting game time with us next season.

I may be in the minority, but i really hope we dont get European football (its highly unlikely anyway) due to having a thin squad and needing a season of consolidation. Im not one who wants us to replace every player, and I find it unlikely we will end up selling many beyond Gordon and maybe 1 other (due to long contracts and/or our pricetag being too high), but we have a lot of spots to fill to cover any injuries.

At the bare minimum, we need a new goalie, another CB (unless they are hugely confident Schar will come back 100% which i am doubtful of) and at least 1 more RB/LB but maybe 2. I'd love to see some more investment in our Mids and Fwds (and if we sell someone like Tonali, maybe it will allow us to bring in 2 players in his place), but the defence and GK are where im most concerned.

Im happy to give Wissa, Woltemade, Elanga and Osula another year to see how they pan out. Jacob Murphy wont get us much cash, so i dont see us selling him. Willock is really the only one who MAY get sold/want to leave for more opportunities, but i think Eddie likes him. The only issue is his contract ending next summer, so we really need to either extend his contract now (another 1-2 years), or sell while we can.

Should be an interesting summer - hopefully Eddie has more support re: scouting and signing players this time around.