Self explanatory I've gone with a 6 because I think they've done OK, nothing special and definitely not nothing at all.
I also went with 6. If we are hamstrung by FFP i don’t believe the players we bought (apart from Tonali) were priorities. Hall I can just about get on board with as hopefully he’ll dislodge Burn Barnes was an odd one considering we have Gordon unless the plan is to move Gordon to the right in which case I’d then bump the windows to a 7 maybe an 8.
Tonali fantastic signing, massive step up on longstaff, Barnes good signing, Livramento etc. But failing to sign a proper LB and a back up CB is fail. Cannot complain too much because we need to stay inside FFP. 7/10 because of FFP constraints. Tonali and Barnes are good signings.
8/10 Hall will come in as a good left back during the season Tonali looks class Barnes has got goals in him, and I suspect we'll see Gordon on the right before too long to accommodate both. Livramento is a great player to have availalble as cover / for the future. Minteh looks like a great player for next season based on the immediate impact he's had at Feyenoord Wood, Fraser, Darlow, Lewis, Clark, M.Longstaff all out the door Would still like CB cover and to move on some of the others.
Nine for me: We filled a gaping hole in midfield with a young, very talented, future Italy Captain. Upgraded the wings with Barnes coming in for ASM (still maintain Murphy/Miggy would have been a better trade) Two very good young full backs in Livarmento and Hall that should be fantastic options for years (10+) to come. Some exciting young players like Minteh and Heffernan for the youth teams possibly more on the way. Managed to shift Fraser, Lewis, Darlow, Chris Wood on, Hayden they had an offer agreed, not the clubs fault it fell through, Hendrick attracting interest as well. Lots of the youth players getting decent loans, e.g. Minteh, Kuol (Eredevise) and Ashby (Swansea). Will be bumped up to a 10 for me is we manage to sign a CB to come in in front of Lascelles and Dummett and possibly Burn.
5 for me. Upgrading the subs bench is not the right approach, because the first eleven isn't strong enough. We needed Diaby, didn't get him. Need a right sided centre back, but have run out of money. Spent on Hall who's an excellent prospect, but one for the future. Meanwhile, we've got Livramento at £40m+ to stand in for Trippier in cup matches.
Attack - good, Barnes is proven and adds to an already very good attack. Midfield - very good, Tonali is gonna be a big success Defence - wtf? Spending big on a player who plays in the same position as our player of the year last year, and an 18 year old full back who's played 9 games. No CD which we needed. A 6 overall.
7. Decent window. One good signing at CB or right sided forward away from being a 9. Tonali - looks excellent. A real top quality addition to our starting 11. Barnes - would have preferred a 'gamble' on Diaby, but looked sharp and fast against Villa. Should add some goals, so hopefully will prove a good addition. Livramento - very highly rated and with Trippier to learn from (and getting on in years), great that we've got him in now. Hopefully that major injury is fully behind him and he'll prove an excellent signing. Hall - again, very highly rated and an nufc supporter. Looks to be quite skillful from the clips and Chelsea fans seemed almost unanimously disappointed. So again, plenty of reasons to be hopeful that he'll be a good signing. Minteh - has made a good early impression over at Feyenoord apparently, so that bodes well. Disappointed that we couldn't also sign players that would push Almiron and Schar onto the bench, but there we go - ffp was invented to stop such ambitious investment. These are positions that will probably be strengthened over the next transfer window or two.
9 - we've signed players who have strengthened our squad (not just our team) without getting held to ransom and spending stupid money. We're playing in Europe this year and we needed depth. Yes Trippier was our top player last season - so what happens if we injure him by playing him twice a week all season? Or who are you going to rest him against? In the PL? Or play Krafth against AC Milan?
Each to their own, the priority for me was in qualifying for the CL to have a first eleven capable of competing. We've played Dan Burn for 270 minutes out of 270 so far. Almiron is also untouchable. Lascelles started warming up the other day..... LB, RW, RCB were needed. I know it's hardly supermarket sweep, but we focused too much on tomorrow and not enough on today, which is why I'll stick with 5 (unless someone comes in to genuinely impact the first XI before tomorrow).
I think Hall will become our LB this season and Minteh is lined up to take Almiron's spot next season assuming he continues as he started in the Eredivisie. We defo need a CB to compete with Schar and take over in a season.
I can't remotely see it as a 9, as the glaring weaknesses of LB and CD were ignored. So we're heading into the Champions League with Dan Burn at LB.
I actually think we need a CDM, someone who can genuinely break up play. Rodri best possible example. All the best teams have them. So, realistically, to compete we're still at least 4 short - LB (Hall may work), CDM, RW and RCB. Then factor in the subs of the calibre of Murphy, Longstaff, Lascelles, Dubravka, etc. Looooooooooooooooong way to go.
