That's the whole thing, I am not writing anyone off but the amount of money splashed on all these players this summer could have gotten us a player that lifts the team to the next level without any arguments or judgments. The players we have bought are all with a big question mark that is yet to be answered. The complaints that most are presenting are that of the likes of Peluso, Isla, Martinez, etc. that were bought under the same conditions (lots of money, big question mark, depth) and in the end suffered to find a place in the team and finally gave us a hard time getting rid of them.
Out of those players that we bought that worked out are Vidal and Asamoah. Lichtsteiner was already established, Pirlo was already a legend, Pogba is like Coman, no one said a word about but these players did not cost money. Barzagli too, there was no gamble there, he made mistakes, was bought for peanuts and succeded.
Pereyra, Morata and Romulo cost a lot but we don't know what their destiny is. How much are we going to pay for these players fees? How much are they gaining all together in wages? Are they enough to buy an established player with his rocket high wages? And mind you, it looks like Marotta's mission does not stop at these three, he is going for a fourth and maybe fifth player of the same category.
The thing here is that this summer we have been getting rid of most of these transitional, old players, like Quag, Vuci, Peluso, Padoin, and not all are of the same quality of course, as Vucinic was a very good signing, Quag also had his uses, even Peluso at one point. Most of these players have helped us to improve gradually and their departures left gaps to fill. We cannot possibly start a season with only 2 forwards, one RB, 4CMs, etc.. the latter area was especially crucial for us in the past few years and if we go by the last season it was a good indicator that our midfield was a bit thin and needs more depth, but not mere bench players that any coach would hesitate to use. Of course we could have splashed on Sanchez, but season is long, injuries are frequent and it won' help our ambitions if the next guy standing in line is nothing short of useless. Pereyra is a good signing, Morata is talented youngster, Romulo had a wonderful season and was often the player that would stand out, along with Iturbe and Jorginho. Our first team needs one great signing I admit that, but not at the expense of losing balance and options in other areas. All of these are fairly young, and in case they flop they'll still have decent resale value.
As it looks now Evra and Asamoah will rotate at LWB; Pereyra will be replacement for either Vidal or Pogba; Marchisio for Pirlo; Morata, Gio, Tevez and Llorente will compete for 2 places up front; Romulo and Licht on the right side, etc... Would it be worth of losing these newly arrived players and holding onto Isla, Quag, Vucinic, Padoin, only to get one signing like Sanchez? Can't see it that way, sorry. Most importantly Sanchez wouldn't have even been possible without offloading these older guys on high salaries and then you'd still have an issue of replacing them adequately.
The bottom line is, we rejuvenated our team, brought in some useful players whose role will be more than a gap fillers, as any of Morata, Pereyra or Romulo can step in and make important contribution throughout the season, reduced our salary expenditures, etc... and there is still a month left.