Dont really mind if we get thiago or not. He surely has some redflags (injuries, leaving barcelona in the first place), which would justify in my opinion if the board stays back, but would be a decent addition. If not that leaves Eriksen as the only other "worldclass" midfield option... and Im not too fond of him - I really dont get what everybody else sees in him. I mean he surely is a good player, but far too expensive and doesnt exactly look like a midfield great (in my opinion) - hes just very good. Pjancic has the same problems.
I do believe that a midfield of Rakitic-Busquets-Coutinho is - besides the previously mentioned players -
not upgradable (not a fan of Savic as well
). For me that means you have to add depth via buying world class talents and let them suprise you aka Frenkie de Jong and Arthur (no half ass solutions like Gomes please). The thing I like about those two is that they look physically ready to compete at the highest level (in bleak comparison to Alena, whos just not there yet - and maybe never will). Are they mentally ready? Thats the big question mark, but for me its worth the gamble looking at the other options. Inconsistency shouldnt be a problem either, because Rakitic is still alright and Paulinho is a nice roleplayer to have.
2 of Arthur, de Jong and Thiago (in the summer) should be affordable while also fixing the other problems the squad has (1 centerback, 1 attacker).
The centerback position is pretty easy to strenghten (get Lenglet), that leaves the far bigger problem: we need 1 more good attacking option. Suarez needs competition (same thing as with Rakitic/the midfield situation really). The only(!) affordable worldclass option fell through (aka Griezmann), so who are potential targets? Ideally a goalscoring/inverted winger:
1) Martial? Not sure about him though he showed plenty of promise in monaco. Wouldnt mind him behind Suarez. Just 22years old, a change of scene would do him wonders I think.
2) Malcolm?! Would be my preference. I personally see something special in him and we made really good experiences with Ligue 1 players. Dont know if hes already off to Bayern(?), I hope not. Dont like that hes left footed, but Dembele should be flexibe enough to compensate for that.
3) Any other options? Cant really think of any.
Sooo long story short (aka my ideal squad):
Ter Stegen+2Backup keeper
Roerto/Semedo - Pique/Lenglet Umtiti/4th choice defender - Alba/Dinge
De Jong/Rakitic - Busquets/Paulinho - Coutinho/Arthur
Dembele - Messi - Suarez/Malcolm
-->21 players with honorable mentions to Denis, Alcacer and Alena. Rest (Gomes, Rafinha etc) should be gone.