After sales, we spent €42.5m last summer. For arguments sake, let’s say our budget will only be €30m next summer as a result of our CL exit (€12.5m less than last season).
With a budget of 30m + sales, I figure we will be left with 20.5m to spend on a midfielder or striker.
Sales :
Tiago - 7m (his loan option I believe)
Poulsen – 6m (Wouldn’t mind if we kept him tbh, but hasn’t proven he is worth his high wages)
Molinaro 4m (rumoured loan option)
Almiron – 3m
Paolucci – 2m
Zebina - 2m
Brazzo – 2m
= €26m
Acquisitions:
Mexex - 13m (definitely not 16m as the press are reporting as his contract expires in 2011)
Caceres - 10m
Candreva - 6.5m (his loan option I believe)
Criscito? - a few mil + Palladino (too expensive, but who else can we realistically sign? Kolarov is on his way to Inter it seems)
= €35.5
Who can we sign in attack for €20.5m? Pazzini, Cavani or Rossi probably, but we would be overpaying, imo. All of the remaining options from the poll in the other thread are beyond €20.5m, with the exception of Adriano which is a laughable suggestion.
If Benitez or Prandelli are our coach next season, I think they will opt for a midfielder who can play in their 4231 (probably a winger), and with €20.5m, they should be able to sign a pretty good 1.