IMO we can get all Locatelli, Saul, SMS this year.
- Locatelli is easy, maybe already done. Good DM with potential, tenacious, can ping the ball with both feet and with accuracy. Max's favorite type of DM.
- SMS can be a vital piece. Our squad is not comfortable playing the ball out of the back, so a solution like LW Mandzukic can help a lot. Ping the long ball, use height, technical advantage against the fullback to control, and start the attack from there. SMS can do that role much better than Mandzukic. Lotito will be difficult but maybe there's a chance this year. Lazio's squad was built for CL and Serie A, their core is there for a long time but they can't win shit. Now the circle is closed with Inzaghi leaving and fail to get a CL spot, they'll need money to rebuild. Their next coach may play with 2 mid and SMS only does his best in 3, so let's see.
- Saul is flopping hard for Atletico Madrid this year, similar to Bentancur with us. Simeone plays him in various positions, and his performance is only average at best. Later he is benched, at some point he questions himself, and his family talks about the need for a solution at the end of this season. Furthermore, Atletico Madrid needs to reduce salary (cut by about 25%) because of LaLiga's new salary cap, so there is a good chance they will sell Saul. Simeone rates Bentancur highly and he is on a low salary (2M) so maybe we can arrange a deal, like Bentancur + 15-20M for Saul, win-win situation. Saul can be a beast box-to-box for us, can do it all, and great ball-winning ability.
Now estimate:
- Locatelli: 35M , 4M salary for 5 years ---> ~15M a year.
- SMS: 70M, 7M salary for 4 years -----> 32M a year.
- Saul: 60M, 8m salary for 4 years-----> 27M a year.
Total: 74M a year, still less than 84M a year we paid for Ronaldo alone
