Aarons for me has got Spurs written all over him. They need an upgrade at right-back, have been linked with him constantly for the last 18 months. Young, English. It would amaze me if he didn't end up there this summer. Would like to see Buendia go to Atletico and Godfrey to Germany like the rumours suggest. Can't think of anything worse than Buendia ending up at Villa or Leeds, particularly as he's far too good for that. I don't think Cantwell is good enough for a top 6 club. Someone like West Ham or Leicester is a more likely move for me. But yeah, it would really surprise me if any of those 4 are here next season. To be honest, Buendia's the only one who I think we'll really feel his loss. Cantwell's had a superb season overall, but he's not the sort of player who stamps his authority on games. Byram will be the best right back in the Championship next season anyway, so while Aarons will obviously be a loss I don't think it's one we'll massively feel. Godfrey, in all honesty, hasn't covered himself in glory this season. It will be disappointing to see him go but out of the 4 players I've mentioned I think he'll be the easiest to replace. Someone I know who used to work at Colney was telling me recently how highly the club rate Akin Famewo, a centre back in our under 23s, who's very much in Godfrey's mould. Lewis and Pukki I actually think will stay.
Leitner is obviously off (heard some training ground stories recently from a reliable source about him, sounds like he's a bit of a nutcase to be honest and getting him out of the dressing room is a good thing). I'm praying to God that Drmic will be off. Just hasn't worked out for him, partly because we've given him no service but mainly because he's f*cking terrible. Yet for some reason Farke seems to favour him, which worries me when we have a Pukki who smashed the Championship last time and Adam Idah who's obviously young and very promising as our other striking options. Alex Neil's downfall after we got relegated was loyalty to certain players who didn't deserve it. We've seen that a bit this season, really hope it isn't something we see from Farke this coming year. It's a bit harsh as well, but I'd be looking to sell one of Klose or Hanley. With those 2 and Zimmermann we have too many centre backs at the club who are good in the air but are slow and pretty immobile. That's not necessarily a problem if you have someone with mobility next to them, hence why the Zimbo/Godfrey partnership was so successful in our promotion, but we can't be partnering Hanley/Zimbo/Klose together consistently next season, and as, in my opinion, Zimmermann's our best centre back out of the 3, I'd be looking to sell one of Hanley/Klose, probably Klose. A shame but I think it's necessary.
All in all I'm quite looking forward to 6 weeks time, and quite excited to see what we look like. I really like the signings we've made so far; Sorenson looks like the defensive midfield missing link, in that it's someone who can break up play and defend like Tettey, but can actually pass the ball and has technical ability like Trybull. Placheta also looks exciting. A big step up for him obviously but I'm quietly think he looks a great signing. Sinani looks good too, and clearly someone we've been after for a while. I think it's important to remember, now that we're debt free, have Premier League money and will probably get close to £100m in player sales. This is probably the healthiest position the club has ever been in. Everyone knows how much we love yo-yoing. Even if it takes a couple of seasons we'll be back up soon enough, and when we go up we'll be in our best ever position to kick on. So yeah, plenty to be optimistic about for me, as dire as this season has been.
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