The HBIC Summer Shopping List
(All values quoted from Transfermarkt, unless stated otherwise)
HASTE!!! - Last summer we sorted out Vertonghen and Sigurdsson quickly, but dawdled elsewhere. This summer we need to sort out one striker and a creative midfielder by the mid-July.
Strikers, for the love of Cthulhu, strikers!!! - We've been short in this area all season, and this needs to be sorted. We've been linked to numerous players - Christian Benteke (£12m-18m, depending on which paper and if he scored that weekend), Roberto Soldado (quoted as available for £7m, as Valencia are broke), Loic Remy has an £8m release clause ready to activate, and every transfer window needs a Leandro Daimao story (£19.5m) We need to be signing two of these players, simple as that.
A creative midfielder - We've lacked a player who can unlock stubborn defences and be the metronome of our attacking threat. We've been linked with a few Joan Moutinho (available for £20m, according to Porto), Christian Eriksen (£14m), and need to sort this out.
A left back - Andre doesn't seem to rate Benny, Naughton has been poor, and Rose's may stay or may go (an £8m bid from Sunderland has been bandied about this morning) - judging by the rumours going around, Andre agrees as we've been liked with Fabio Countrao (available for £15m), Leighton Baines (£12m is a figure the papers are agreeing on) and Bruno Martins Indi (£4m), plus Not606ers like Luke Shaw (£4m)
Competition at right back - Walker's been iffy this season, and Naughton has been preferred at right back. We've been repeatedly linked to Sebastien Corchia (£2.6m, although competition with Roma and Arsenal will push that value up), Daryl Janmaat (£3.1m) as well as right back/centre back Stefan de Vrij (£4.4m), whilst a few on here are talking up Micah Richards (£14m)
Back-up goalkeeper - Lloris has the number one jersey sewn up, Gomes is likely off in the summer, and Friedel can't be around forever (...can he?), yet this is an area we haven't been linked to anyone and, frankly, Jordan Archer isn't ready yet. For the sake of a name, I'll say Jack Butland (£4.4m), although he says he'll only move for first team football, so I'll just chuck in a few names because they're good on FM13 but aren;t ter Stegen, Courtois, Leno or Koval: Lukas Zima (£175k), Ali Ahamada (£3.5m), Zacharie Boucher (£750k), Stefanos Kapino (£1.3m), Nicola Liali (£1.3m), Francesco bardi (£3.5m), Jan Oblak (£2.1m).
Youngsters to get a chance - Andros Townsend certainly deserves more games, whilst Tom Carroll, Adam Smith and Harry Kane should be regulars in the COC this season to give them experience (and there's a sentence I wasn't expecting to use when I woke up this morning...)
To go - Gomes, Gallas, Naughton, Bentley, Adebayor.