We should have planned well in advance. We finished 4th in two consecutive seasons. Chimichanga and Big Nips Papi had all summer to do something, and they've done jack shit - reactive not proactive. Signing Di Maria and Pogba on frees is not some monumental achievement, considering the desire of the latter to come here and being on an expiring contract, and the age of the latter and possible lack of competition for his signature. The fact is, we already knew in June/July that Pogba and Di Maria were coming, more or less. Bremer was wrapped up quickly because De Ligt fucked us - reactive, not proactive.
We needed to be more forceful with players like Fagiot and Arturd - leave or you won't see playing time. Do you want to jeopardize your WC chances? I guess the management @ JJ were just chilling and drinking espressos all summer.
In an ideal scenario, we would have brought in a quality LB and Zaniolo, while pushing hard for SMS to join us next summer. We can allocate a percentage of next seasons's budget to the current transfer session, because, as things stand, we might miss out on a top 4 finish (forget the Scudetto) and be eliminated in the group stages of the CL. The financial impact then will be devastating.