The silly season is coming, so let's pretend we are managers. You have 80m € you can spend on 4 different players maximum. The goal is to be as effective as possible in improving the squad. We'll take transfermarkt website as our reference for player's value. You are allowed to sell one player, but the maximum of 4 players doesn't change. You can't sell players running out of contract, and you can sign players on a free if it is known that they are out of contract this summer. You can then if you want post your new starting 11.

We can then discuss and argue about who's the most realistic and who's the most effective, and then who's been the best manager ! Let's play.

Players Bought: Ilkay Gundogan (27.000.000)

Only player I really believe we need (to replace the aging Alonso). Other than that, the XI would remain the same.

Casillas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; di Maria, Modric, Gundogan; Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema

I'll start :

IN :

• Javi Martinez, 37m €. Beast DM, exactly what we're missing, would take Arteta's spot. He has had little game time under guardiola with Lahm moving to midfield, and reports say he is not very happy with his situation.

• Josip Drmic, 10m €. Young striker with 16 goals in 32 bundesliga games. Promising, seems talented and has a playstyle totally opposite to Giroud's. He would offer good variety and competition for our striker position.

• Alexis Sanchez, 30m €. Is said to be unhappy with neymar being ahead of him and to be part of the players who have been transferlisted by barcelona, can play on the wing or as a striker.

• Serge Aurier, 6,5m €. An arsenal fan, would fill the gap Sagna will leave when he goes this summer. Best RB in Ligue 1, physically very strong, only 21, can become the new Sagna.

OUT :

• Sagna leaves on a free.

• Nicklas Bentdner leaves on a free.

• Fabiansky leaves on a free.

• Podolski, 23m € It's a difficult decision but he is the only player I would be ok with selling (still sad). He hasn't signed a new contract recently. He is good at scoring but he doesn't bring a lot to the build up play and doesn't seem to fit with the Arsenal style. I would have sold Vermaelen instead, but with Sagna leaving I can't afford to sell another defender.

That's a net spend of 60,5m €, which leaves me a decent 19,5m € to use during the winter if needed.

I have a big issue with Fabiansky leaving, because that leaves us without a back up keeper. We'd have to use Martinez from the youth team. I really really want my four signings so I take the risk to pospone the keeper signing until january and bet on Szczesny not getting injured until then.

New team :

on the bench : Martinez (youth GK), Arteta, Vermaelen, Monreal, Drmic, Oxlade Chamberlain, Cazorla

@dynastian it's hard to improve your team i'll admit that. Good choice with gundogan, he would be great alongside Modric and Di Maria. I think you can also improve at the striker position. Benzema is great but there are even better strikers, and when you are RM, almost every player would come to you.I actually forgot Wilshere, shame on me. I put him on the bench ahead of Arteta.

@KingHenry

Benzema is often overlooked in our squad. He may not be the goalscorer that Suarez or Gomez or Aguero is, but his short-passing is just about as good as it can get for a poacher. That's why he's so important. He knocks on these quick and clever passes for Ronaldo and Bale, and that's what helps us maintain our play.

The only ones better than him in that particular style would be Aguero, Suarez, and Zlatan. Zlatan is aging, and his ego is bigger than Ronaldo's (that takes some beating), Aguero probably won't leave City with the wages he's getting, and Suarez is a likely option but I'd prefer Benzema because Benz is happy with scoring 30 goals a season as long as he wins. Suarez would probably drool at the opportunity of hitting the 40 mark in a major league, and that would hinder Ronaldo and Bale. Just my two cents though.

Forgot to ask........ I'm surprised you didn't replace Giroud. With service as good as Ozil and Ramsey, I think you can do with a better striker as well. Giroud doesn't make any decent runs, and is quite sloppy with his finishing.

@dynastian I went for drmic and alexis sanchez for depth and variety. Both Drmic and Sanchez can play across the front 3. Sanchez was playing striker next to di natale in udinese if I'm correct, and Drmic can also play on the wings. We've done well with only Giroud at the start of the season, what hurt us were injuries and the fact that he had to play all our games. I think he's good enough, not amazing, but good enough, to be part of a rotation for arsenal. Sanchez can be tried at CF, and Drmic (only 21) could become a very good striker. If you add Sanogo to that you get something very healthy.

I prioritized DM because that's a position where Arteta really isn't good enough. When he's good he's good, but when he has a bad game, Chelsea and Liverpool happen. So I went for the best of the best in Martinez.

I could start Sanchez as CF and play cazorla on the LW. In my mind, Drmic will turn out good and eventually take Giroud's spot.

@KingHenry

Sanchez was given a free role at Udinese. Similar to what Messi has now. He started off as their RM in a 4-4-2 formation, but got given the go to be free behind Di Natale. That was his breakthrough season, and Barca bought him immediately after.

@dynastian Right. He's never played as a lone striker but he could be tried there. About your striker thing, it depends if you think Benzema + morata is enough. Imo real madrid could use suarez or cavani or falcao and they can definitely get one of these. About suarez, he can be a great team player. Sturridge is a good striker, but in my opinion, Suarez is making him look even better. I think Ronaldo - Suarez - Bale would be terrifying/electrifying. But I get your point. Why change something that works so well.

@KingHenry

Morata also fits the bill very well. He's the same type of striker as Benzema, except he has a better knack for a goal. He just needs to get a run of form together, and he'll be a great striker in the future, and one that fits our style perfectly.

• Shane Long (6.200.000)- Javi Martinez (32.000.000)- Seamus Coleman (8.800.000)- Kiko Casilla (3.500.000)Well thats about it to be honest a backup striker, backup goalkeeper, good holding midfielder and a replacement for Sagna.

@dephased giroud would start right ? With shane long for depth ? Also glad we agree on javi martinez. I also never heard of kiko casilla. Is he any good ? What gk would you compare him with ?

IN:

• Felipe, 13M, has become a very good left back, consistent, strong in attack as well as in defense, has been linked with chelsea for days now
• Courtois, free, has stepped up as a goalkeeper and will be one the best. Cech has been sloppy this season, and I courtois would be ready to take the #1 spot, as Cech would play in the cups (pretty much like the Lopez/Casillas situation)
• Costa, 30M, it seems that Costa is on his way to SB, and would replace perfectly didier's spot left vacant for 2 years.
• Lukaku, free, now experienced, strong and unstoppable when in form, fighting with Costa for #1
• if other players are needed, players from the U21 team are amazing, they could do the job
  => - 43M

OUT:

• Torres, Ba, Eto'o: 20 + 8 + 0= 28M, Chelsea needs an all fresh striking force, and 2 strikers in Costa and Romelu would be enough for me
• Cole, free, sadly the legend is gone
• Mikel, 10M, very good bus parker, but he hardly plays for Chelsea and will find some game time somewhere else
• Moses, 10M, same as Mikel
  => + 48M

I would play Oscar alongside Matic in a deeper position, bossing the midfield, tackling in defense like he can do and bursting forward when needed
Hazard in #10 spot, I think he is way better there, he can express his magic more, and is more unpredictable than when he is stuck on the touchline
Schurrle starting, can become one of the best if he gets consistent, can make the difference and is clinical in front of goal
Azpi back at the right defensive position, his natural position, as Iva, as much as I love him, offers nothing up front

@KingHenry

Kiko Casilla is Espanyol's GK. He's pretty good (better than Szczesny, for sure), but likes to do the spectacular (e.g. save Ronaldo's free-kicks with his feet like a dumbass). But his reflexes are very good, and the three games Madrid have won 1-0 against Espanyol this season, Casilla has kept the score that low by denying Ronaldo over and over and over again. He's a solid keeper.

OUT:
Mascherano - 15m
Puyol - free
Valdes - free
Pinto - free

IN:
Hummels - 26m
ter Stergen - 20m
David Luiz - 26m

@chucksea Maybe I should have been clearer but calling players back from loans doesn't count as a transfer. So you're allowed to have 2 more transfers. However the rule is that you can only sell one player to add to the 80m. I like felipe luis, I didn't know him until this season and having watched him play in the CL I can say he has what it takes to start for a top 4 PL team. I like ivanovic but he's 30 and Felipe Luis is already 28 so he'd be a short term replacement. Do you think Oscar could play as a CM ? I always thought he was made to become a CAM. Also do you think after selling Mikel you have enough depth in your midfield ? That would leave you with Ramires, Lampard (still go it ?), Matic who are typical CMs. I agree that moses isn't good enough, and that a striker cleansing would be good. But would you get rid of all three ? Isn't it safer to at least keep torres ?

@dynastian I like to think that Szczesny is a great keeper. He had a very solid season and he's only 24. If he's only "pretty good" he could be good back up/competition.

@tdot2barca You have one remaining transfer if you want to use the 15m you got from mascherano. Would David Luiz be your back up for Hummels/Pique ? Also you wouldn't have a back up keeper for ter stegen if both pinto and valdes leave. Do you have a good GK in your youth teams ?

@KingHenry

I was thinking about promoting the B-team keeper (Oieur), but instead I would use those funds to purchase Lloris (16m) from Spurs and have him and ter Stergen compete for first choice goal-keeper. As for the defenders, I would be rotating them and favoring the most in-form CB, which will create competition for first spot.

@tdot2barca Ter Stegen/Lloris would be one of the greatest GK pairing in europe. But do you think they would both stay in the long term in this situation ? And people often say that what makes a good defence is stability, and that rotation in the back 4, especially in the CB pairing is not as beneficial as it is in the attack. What pairing do you think would eventually settle as the most effective ?

I don't think we need any in attacking, assuming Aguero and Jovetic remain fit for a majority of next season, that should be enough. And Lopes probably being eased into the team.

In defense, what we need is a RB, CB and DM cover. In an ideal world, I would like someone like Clyne/Trippier for RB, Benatia/Vertonghen for CB and Pogba for DM. What it looks like is that Sagna for RB, Mangala for CB and Fernando for DM are almost done.

Leaving would be Barry and Lescott on a free. Richards for around 8-10 million. And Scott Sinclair from wherever the hell he is.

i can't be bothered going to transfermarkt In Shaw approx 20millionCosta approx 32 milionPaulinho approx 20million Coutois recalled from loan,Lukaku recalled from loanZouma recalled from loanOut Cole Lamps Terry Cech Eto'o maybe???Torres, Ba Marin, Romeu, Mikel, Hilario, Lineup CoutoisAzpilicueta Cahill Zouma/Kalas Shaw Oscar MaticSchurrle Willian Hazard CostaSubs Schwarzer Zouma/Kalas Ivanovic/Ake Salah Paulinho LukakuRotation will apply