This one is a much tougher window to assess as the true impact will only be felt down the line.
Gray for 40m, Odobert for 30m, Solanke for 65m, Yang Min Hyuk for 15m. Obviously 3 of those players are 19 or younger so their potential impact won't be seen for a couple years.
So of course if these players do go on to be mustard, then it could be a great window when re-assessing in 2027. It
could be a 9/10.
But I am highly inclined to agree with
Aphex
that for here and now, this was not a good window, as we didn't strengthen the first team at all, outside of one position, didn't address much needed depth for LB, CB, or CM, and essentially have left the season up to Bergvall, Gray, Moore, and Odobert being high level first team contributors despite being 18 years old.
I don't think we were ever going to focus completely on first team acquisitions for 2 main reasons :
1 Several of them had only been with us for one season and ones with us for longer had looked fine
2 Our real problem was lack of depth last season - that's why we struggled after Chelsea match, as 4 of our first team were lost in one match followed by Bentancur in next game and the rotation players available last season were not up to much
So this window to avoid those problems :
A Get a striker who can score goals and act as a focal point for attacks and I think the plan was always a 2nd forward.
B Add depth to as many areas as possible
C Need to move on dead wood - we had a full squad but too many not producing
D Need loans for promising youngsters who might become Club Trained so we can get more players into the squad - always going to take a couple of seasons unless we go back to buying KWP, Edwards et al
E Improve our HG position which forces us to buy HG players as we ae too short of them
Forwards
Solanke ticks lots of boxes, used to be lethal and technically good at Chelsea youth but lost his way before Bournemouth. Good choice to get a technically good striker who ticks lots of boxes given the small market for strikers and very over priced.
Odobert with 2 seasons in top leagues in France and PL could be a very good signing (as was the relatively inexperienced VDV versus the favourite Todibo last summer). he might be a slower burner but doubt very much he's a flop.
Bonus from youth are Lankshear and Moore, even if they are more for the future, could still play a part in EL for example. Yang Min-Hyuk looks technically good but playing in South Korean league which might be more L1 is a real wild card to assess.
So quite a lot of changes in forwards to look forward to this season which some fans donlt seem to have twigged,
Midfield
Gray and Bergvall - how often have we complained about missing out on 'the next big thing' So this time we've signed 2 very highly rated youngsters who seem good enough to be starters new but could be even better next season
Gray came as much on the back of his performances as RB last season, but actually looked very accomplished as CB in preseason.
Bergvall on limited viewing looks a real breath of fresh air. IMO its an upgrade (hence selling the more experienced Skipp), to add to Maddison, Bentancur, Bissouma and Sarr.
Defence
Dragusin arriving in January added hugely to CB depth as does the versatile Gray at RB and CB, and the rehabilitation of Spence RB/LB means our defensive depth is hugely better than last season
We have a full squad (maximum for us under uefa rules is 22 players due to us being short of 3 Club Trained players) - and more players to move on than we can squeeze into our permitted squad. So we might sign another player, but we are struggling to unload the ones we have - but we have done well to move the players on that we have.
We now have far more flexibility in players to buy for next season as we (as of today) have 7 HG players in Gray, Maddison, Spence, Solanke, Johnson, Davies, Forster of whom the last 2 have contracts for one more year, leaving us with 4 and ideally we need not less than 4. So that's a tricky objective achieved.
The issue with too many fans is focusing on the 'here and now' rather than looking at the way to get a better squad over the next couple of seasons.
Yes I'd have liked a couple of other players - but, for example I'd go for a new back up GK rather than the flashy forward that many fans would like, purely because we need one even though its not a 'sexy' choice.
And Ange has definitely made the choice to go for younger players who, as he said, can more easy train them in the ways he wants them to play, rather than more experienced players.
Next summer I expect to see a focus on evaluating the more established players and moving some of those on, which may be more popular with some fans, but it will not for those reasons, but because its the (rationale) next step to build a better squad.
