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Before bringing in Barry this was our squad for next season:

( Bold just means I'm happy to go with them)



Two things to note:

1. It's basically the team we finished last season with. DCL, Doucoure, Harrison and Young all contributed a lot of minutes and have left but I don't think our first XI has been weakened. If we had to sell to buy then clearly Branthwaite would have been sacrificed, so his new contract is massive. Signals that perhaps we no longer need to sell our most saleable asset every summer.

We're also in a strong position that players like Pickford, N'Diaye, McNeil, Tarkowski, Garner all seem happy and settled. So we're not worried about having to hang on to players we need. I really like the fact we don't have to take one step back before making big signings.

2. There are NO squad fillers on big wages. Patterson is probably the only player that Moyes might want to get rid of but wouldn't be able to find a team willing to pay a decent fee/cover wages. For so long we've had to rebuild while carrying deadweight. Now, we have a decent first XI and that's pretty much the whole squad.

So while Moyes has expressed a bit of frustration about how much work there is to do, it's an incredible opportunity for him. The Barry signing shows it - boom, we've upgraded centre forward. I assume the funds are there to do that in 2, possibly 3 other positions.

New RW, New RB, New CM

We can take a bit of a punt on some younger players to fill the squad out.

Back up RW, Back up LB, Back up no.10

Utilise loan slots and free transfers and I reckon we have the budget. We certainly have scope on the wage bill.

But on paper we have a first XI that should be comfortably 12-15th, and then trusting Moyes transfer judgment to go top 10. A couple more like Barry and we're looking good.

I saw that Elanga would be Newcastle's 3rd highest signings. Interesting to compare us to them. I think Eddie Howe has done very well buying in the £40-£60m range, in terms of players being hits.

Their front 3 of: Gordon (£40m), Isak (£58m), Elanga (£55m)
Midfield three of: Joelinton (£38m), Guimaraes (£35m), Tonali (£55m)

I think we'll be spending half that. Barry is ~£30m, rumours of McAtee or Fellows are ~£25.

The Bournemouth/Brighton model would be to spend even less than that and then sell them on. Newcastle may decide to cash in on Isak but they're not going to make too much money on player trading - they're already paying as much as Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea etc. I'm fascinated to see whether we can find a bit of a middle ground between the PL teams that find the odd diamond in the rough, versus Champions League challengers. Can we just be the team that consistently finishes top 8, laying foundations to have European runs without having to gamble on that income being permanent.

The circumstances are perfect for Moyes: take over a team that's been battling relegation but has a solid first XI and now money to spend on improving it. Shouldn't take much to be expecting a top half finish and everyone is realistic enough to know that the likes of Newcastle and Villa are way ahead of us.