Roma

Gladiators for cheap

Roma has dropped to 6th in Serie A. The only reason they’re on this list is because I love Rome and wish for them to move back up the standings (they did come in 2nd just a year ago, and only dropped out of the CL to Arsenal on penalties).
That’s it. How? Is hard to say when one of your favorite teams always sells its best players to Inter. Chivu, Mancini, etc., etc., etc. What’s frustrating is that this is a talented club, but depend a lot on Totti and he’s become injury prone.
As it stands:
Vučinić --- Baptista
Totti
Aquilani – De Rossi – ???
Riise --- Mexes -- Juan -- Cicinho

On defense go get Andrea Esposito from Lecce to replace an aging and less effective Juan. See if you can pry De Silvestri from arch-rival Lazio to move off Cicinho.
In midfield they need a winger of some sort to send in crosses. Aquilani & De Rossi are best served as a great central midfield pairing, so spending a little extra on a youngster like Balázs Dzsudzsák (Hungary) of PSV Eindhoven would be worth their while, unless Stijn Schaars wants to come over from AZ instead – which isn’t likely considering Bayern have been rumored to want him, and he might want to follow his old coach.
That leaves the strike force: Totti playing in a central role just off the strikers, and the notion to go after an aging but effective forward like Toni, who Munich no longer really need. This is how Roma typically do it – which is why I know they won’t go after De Silvestri – by buying players that major teams don’t want on their squads anymore. Unfortunately they still can’t afford Real Madrid’s more expensive rejects, and so the options are more limited. They could pursue Royston Drenthe, though, and make him a left winger, since he’ll never play defense anyways, instead of the Dutch league options. With that they add to their youth, and purchase someone they can actually afford.
Really they should also then buy Freddie Adu. Marketing tools are useful, and he’s moved from the U.S. to Portugal to France. Why not Italy next? He’s ready to perform in an attacking role, he’s creative, he’s young, and Rome is a great city. He’s also cheap, and could learn a lot from Totti and be a right wing.
So we’re left with this 4-3-3:

Vučinić --- Totti --- Adu
Drenthe --- De Rossi – Aquilani
Riise --- Mexes --- Esposito -- Cicinho
Doni

Bench: Panucci, Juan, Motta (unless they sell Mexes, then start him), Pizarro, Baptista, Brighi, Menez

In: Adu, Drenthe, Esposito for about €20m
Out: Mexes or Juan, Perrotta or Taddei. Make back about €10m.
Total: €10m (unless they pull something crazy and buy Michael Owen on the cheap – but they won’t pay his salary demands)

AC Milan

The AC Milan story (or: the Aftermath of selling your best player)

6 months ago Manchester City offered £100 million for Kaká. Instead, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite swore up and down that he didn’t want to leave Milan until last week when they sold him for just less than £60 million. Deep loyalties cost Milan £40M, which they probably could have used.
Oh well.
Now that that saga is over, AC Milan must find a way to improve, since arch-rival Inter isn’t going to diminish this off-season. Maybe next year, but Mourinho is still in charge there, and he only quits (or gets fired) when the team has no shot to win the domestic title.
Milan is old. They’ve been old for a while, and it won them a Champions League two years ago. They haven’t won anything domestically in a long time, and that points to fatigue over the course of a long season with extended cup runs. The defense has a new central defender (allowed to play this year now that they have non-European Union signing room) in Thiago Silva. That’s one. They’re trying to buy Aly Cissokho from Porto for €15M, but he has teeth problems that apparently somehow effect the rest of his game.
How are Milan so cheap? They bought Ronaldo when he was old. They brought in Ronaldinho on the cheap and he proved to be… old, slow & uncreative, but still good at partying & dancing. They hold onto a very refined midfield of Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Ambrosini, and (probably) Beckham. They signed Flamini last year probably because he came in on a free. Senderos came and went on a loan. Time has passed Milan by, and they cannot improve with players like this. They will remain really, really, good, but is that enough for a fabled team?
Start by partnering Silva with Mexes from Roma. Make sure you get Cissokho. Then go get an offensive and younger replacement for Gattuso, who is likely to spiral into repeat injuries at this stage of his career and his aggressive style of play: Wesley Sneijder – you may have heard of him because he dominated Euro 2008 for Holland. And the Dutch have a history in Milan. Could repeating it be so damaging? In fact, replace Seedorf with Van der Vaart and they may improve more (but they won’t have that sort of spending power left). Then, put Flamini in the lineup more, and pair Pato with Dzeko or Adebayor. Either one is going to cost €30M (or close to it) so just do it. You got 68m euros for your star, and now you’ve bought 4 players with the money. Sell Seedorf to a German club and use the money to help buy Van der Vaart and you’ve got half a new team that is over 5 years younger across the board and experience left to make a difference.

4-3-1-2
Pato --- Edin Dzeko
Seedorf
Sneijder --- Pirlo --- Flamini
Cissokho --- Silva --- Mexes--- Bonera
Abbiati

Buy: Dzeko (€25m), Sneijder (€20m), Mexes (€8m), Cissokho (€15m) = voila! €68m

Sold: Kaka (€68m)

Total: €0.00 net

Then next year they have to replace Seedorf for sure, and probably buy a new ‘keeper. The thought of replacing Pirlo somehow should begin, as well. I don't know if this team overtakes Inter, but it gives it a run for its money.

Liverpool

How to walk alone in first place in the Premier League before it’s too late

Torres --- Villa
Babel --- Mascherano --- Xabi Alonso --- Gerrard
Arbeloa --- Agger --- Carragher --- Glen Johnson
Reina

Bench: Aurelio, Skrtel, Dossena, Insua, Riera, Benayoun, Lucas, Kuyt, N’Gog

Buy: completed - Glen Johnson (£18.5M), TBD – David Villa (~£40M) or some other Spanish striker, because the manager only buys Spaniards (unless he goes Dutch again, in which case Huntelaar is available). But really, perhaps it’s time to bring Owen home on the cheap, at least as a quality backup.
Or, forget Villa, put Babel in front, and go buy David Silva (~£30M) to play on the wing. This would actually help the squad just as much given Babel’s talent & potential. David Villa is also not as young as Silva, even though he has a cosmic bond with Torres already.

Sell: extra parts: Benitez has a huge squad, too many of whom play very little. On record he has 5 goalkeepers. FIVE! At this point he should sell at least two. Then he has 14 defenders. FOURTEEN! But 7 of them are 21 or younger, so he should just keep many out on loan or decide who is going to be a quality Premier League player. Sell at least 3, for goodness sake. If he had done that last year maybe he’d have already had Gareth Barry who is off to play in… well, for nothing. After that I count another 14 midfielders. FOURTEEN! 7 Forwards later (SEVEN!) we have 40 members of Liverpool Football Club. Many are young and should be off on loan, but many are not, and this team just needs a few more high level performers. Sell some lambs and buy some sheep. You are LIVERPOOL! (and you need to win the EPL before ManU & Chelsea recover from their upcoming “down” year).

What will happen: Glen Johnson has used up all the budget (£10M after Crouch), which means more extra parts will be bought, sold, and keep Liverpool spinning their wheels. Why oh why did they buy Robbie Keane again last year only to sell him for half-price six months later?

Honestly, look at the bench – only Kuyt is of high-class quality. Benayoun is good, Riera & Skrtel are serviceable along with Aurelio, and Insua, Lucas & N’Gog are possibilities for the future. But I just don’t see stars coming off the bench. I don’t see the cohesiveness (possibly because Rafa is constantly shifting line-ups) that make up a combative champion. Then again, Liverpool came in 2nd and has advanced to the quarterfinals in the CL for years running, along with a trophy and another final. They are good, and defeated ManU soundly in the last month, and still came up short.
Torres, Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, Mascherano & Carragher are strength after strength in the middle of the field. It’s time to get a winger. He should be able to get enough back from lesser players to buy one more stud. With debts and expenses too high that’s all they’re going to get, which is too bad.

Arsenal

Why Arsenal remains stuck in 4th Gear

Arsene Wenger is a brilliant coach. 5 years ago his team went undefeated in the league. 3 years ago he made the Champions League finals. Last year he came in 4th. Again. Didn’t put forth his strongest players in the FA Cup semifinal against Chelsea, not that it would’ve mattered. Adebayor has been begging to be sold for 365 days – publically – at least. He needs someone to protect Fabregas in central midfield, or just go all out and have a central defender with guts (read: NOT Senderos). That’s pretty much it. Sure, they could use a class striker, but if Eduardo is truly healthy and no one decides to studs up his ankle and snap both bones in two again, they have a good backup to Van Persie (if he can stay healthy) and Bendtner who is all of 21 years old.
We’ll come to the defense later, but first up front’s where Arsene needs to bend off his 4-4-2 and go to a 4-3-1-2, with the right and left wingers pressing forward and Arshavin playing just off the strikers creating hell for the defense. Either that or make him the left frontman in a 4-3-3. But Arshavin is not a winger, he’s just darn good. Similarly: Walcott. He’s almost 21 now. Nasri is brilliant at 22. Fabregas is all of 22 as well. Denilson? 21. Heck, even Aaron Ramsey is just 19. If they do go 4 wide at midfield and just play off each other they’ll have fun and (if they shoot) score a lot.
4 –man-midfield attack:
van Persie --- Bendtner
Arshavin --- Fabregas --- Nasri --- Walcott
or
the 4-3-3:
Arshavin --- van Persie --- Bendtner
Nasri --- Fabregas --- Walcott

Then again, I don’t really like Bendtner all that much, but he’s effective, young, and doesn’t complain all the time like Adebayor.
On to the defense. Oh, the defense. Maligned all year long, I don’t care what the stats say (and 37 goals against puts them in the “4th best” category since the top 3 gave up only 24-27 goals) but they have to improve at the back to move up the table.
They have two studs in the fullback positions: Clichy on the left and Eboue on the right, except Eboue is oft-injured or forgets to get back. Toure just isn’t all that solid, and Djourou is young. Younger still is Gibbs; I don’t know, maybe he won’t make another mistake like against Manchester, and if that’s the case then bully for him. But Gallas is pretty useless at this stage, as is Silvestre. Maybe Senderos comes back mature, it’s doubtful. They’ll try to buy Brede Hangeland to toughen up the middle.
Almunia will do, but he’s not special. One hopes Fabianski will be – time will tell.
Surprise: Arsenal should buy Gattuso. I don’t care if he’s “old” – he’s gritty, determined, intelligent, and always taking away possession. If he’s available, buy him and let Denilson learn and sub for both. He may not pass as pretty as Xabi Alonso but have you seen who Arsenal can put out on the pitch offensively? They don’t need it. Even Barcelona put a defensive holding midfielder in there so there fullbacks can rush up the pitch.

We’re going to go with an advanced winger 4-4-2 and play Gattuso a little deeper (this is Wenger, after all):

van Persie --- Walcott
Arshavin --- Fabregas --- Gattuso --- Nasri
Clichy --- Hangeland --- Toure --- Eboue
Almunia

Bench: Sagna, Gibbs, Djourou, Denilson, Ramsey, Eduardo, Bendtner

Please sell: Adebayor, Silvestre and headcase Gallas (really, how did Arsene make him captain?)

Buy: Hangeland, Gattuso

Total: if they sell Adebayor they’ll break even or profit.

Inter

How Inter can win against the rest of the continent

Don’t sell Maicon. Don’t sell Ibrahimovic. Use Carvalho to attack from the central defense. Let Deco run wild from an attacking central midfield position. Play Santon at one wing back, and Maicon the other. Let Materazzi be on the bench. Let Zanetti, Chivu, Samuel & Cordoba figure out the middle two positions and stay healthy in their aging years.
In midfield, sell Viera, move to a 4-1-3-2, with Cambiasso as holding, Deco in attack, Mancini on one wing and Muntari on the other. Or sell Mancini, who they only bought from Roma to hurt the competition (and it worked, they dropped to 6th in Serie A) and go spend some money on Robben. I know, I know, maybe the Special One doesn’t want to work with him again, but I don’t imagine why not. I never heard of problems between the two, and they won 2 EPL titles together. Besides, he’s less likely to get hurt in Italy, unless falling over from a puff of wind hurts nowadays. It would continue the tradition of excellent Dutch players playing in Italy, also. Stankovic will get playing time – Mourinho will make sure of it, but he needs more creativity from midfield in attack, and that’s Deco in a nutshell. Ideally he’d go buy someone younger like David Silva or go get Essien, but that’s not going to happen.
Up front you have Ibrahimovic & Balotelli. The others are old. Develop Obinna, or maybe buy a real striker out there. Who? Well, again, the Dutch thing: Huntelaar is available. So is Ruud van Nistelrooy, actually, who would be a good transition player for Balotelli & Obinna to learn from.
For the love of all that is good, sell Quaresma while you still can and not lose your pants too, you’ve already lost your shirt.

Sell: One or two of your 10 (aging) defenders. I’d guess Samuel or Cordoba gets you something. Viera because he’s just too elderly a statesman because of injuries.
Out: Figo & Crespo. It’s not like you can sell 35+ year old attackers with 3 goals combined last year.

In: Deco & Carvalho from Chelsea (€12M combined). Robben (€25M, formerly of Chelsea via Real Madrid). Huntelaar (€18M, Chelsea probably would have bought him if Real Madrid didn’t throw money at every problem. At least Chelsea had a use for the players they bought instead of sitting them on the bench for Real Madrid’s Champions League squad because they could only choose one UEFA cup player) because what’s wrong with another guy that scores goals? Honestly, though, they should buy RVN or Luca Toni for cheaper here.

Total outlay: €45 million. You might be able to get €10M back from selling Viera & Samuel. Add another €10M for Quaresma (I mean, they paid twice as much for him, and I think they’d hope to get this much back for him), and it’s only a €25M expense for a team that can put up a slightly more creative challenge against the best of the best in the CL. Remember, they only lost on away goals to Manchester United. Mourinho is a brilliant (albeit boring) manager. Winning another Serie A might mean a lot in the long run of the history books, but winning the European trophy is what they need now before Juventus and Milan grow strong again. And they will. Cycles always swing.

Squad: 4-1-3-2

Ibrahimovic --- Huntelaar
Robben --- Deco --- Muntari
Cambiasso
Santon --- Zanetti --- Carvalho--- Maicon
Júlio César

Subs: Maxwell, Chivu, Cordoba, Stankovic, Mancini, Balotelli, Obinna

Bayern Munich

Reuniting Bayern Munich with silverware

Bayern has money. They always have and they always will. Given that they should spend some more like they did two years ago. Toni & Klose got old after their domestic double of 2007-08, while Ribery has proven his value in titanium. Now they have to keep their superstar happy and buy around him, or sell him and buy replacement parts. No matter what, here’s some thoughts on how to build around him as a right winger (based on the incoming parts, though, this 4-4-2 will look a lot like a 4-2-2 wide-2, or maybe a shifting 4-3-3 like Barcelona plays):

In: Already: F Mario Gomez (Stuttgart) for €30M, F Ivica Olic (Hamburg) on a free.

More: Midfielders Van der Vaart & Sneijeder from Real Madrid (probably a cut rate of €40M for both could work), Werder Bremen’s German national central defender Mertesacker could be bought for €15-20M, probably (*ok, they have Lucio and don’t need him, but at this point they might as well just become Galactico-lite), and right-back Dario Srna from Shaktar Donetsk for another €14M, replacing (for no good reason, possibly, except that THEY DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING and got crushed 5-1 by Barcelona in this year’s Champions League quarterfinals.

Out: Toni

Maybe: and if Ribery still hates life after the team changes their whole makeup to be this strong, then sell him for crazy money (€70M?), buy AZ Alkmaar's Stijn Schaars for €14M to play right wing, and save the rest for the winter window in case of injuries. Or buy Peter Cech. Whatever.
Total outlay: €100 million. Or for just €44M (€56M less) if they are forced to sell Ribery.

Squad: 4-4-2
Olic --- Gomez
Ribery --- Sneijder --- Van der Vaart --- Schweinsteiger
Lahm --- Lucio --- Mertesacker --- Srna
Rensing

Subs: Demichelis, Van Buyten, Ze Roberto (if he sticks around), Van Bommel, Klose
Younger, faster, more skilled, better. More expensive, yes, but better.

They’ll win the title, maybe the cup, and lose no earlier than the quarterfinals of the Champions League. And they can always sell players later. It’s not like they’re going to get better by playing for Bayern Munich. You saw what they did to poor Lukas Podolski, right?
Germans, Dutch, Croatians become the core of the team. They still have a Brazilian, but he plays defense, so that doesn’t really count. Ribery is the French flair of the team. If they want to make the semis or by some miracle go after the actual CL trophy, they can’t lose him.
Oh, and Sneijder is pretty good. He was Holland’s engine at Euro 2008. I don’t know if he’d leave Spain for Germany, though. Nothing personal, but I wouldn’t. I like Munich, but I loved Madrid.

Real Madrid

What Real Madrid has done: the apocalypse of football as we know it

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away there was a team that thought spending money could buy them countless trophies and eternal glory.
They failed miserably.
Now they’re trying again, and they’re off to a good, expensive start. Not to say the purchases weren’t justified, but Real Madrid probably could have put up academies across the globe, put every child through school, and handpicked the best of the generation to all play for them for less than they just paid for the last two winners of the Balloon D’Or.
They have a coach who has proven he can win with a limited budget and hardworking players. Unfortunately he has inherited one that has neither, possibly. If he can get his midfield to get back and cut off passes and get in front of shooters and play for deadly counterattacks, he will win.
If the new coach can get the players to pass, pass, pass, go for the jugular, he will win.
If the new coach can be given time for chemisty to develop among all the new players, he will win.
If the defense isn’t terrible, he might just win. And it still may not be enough to overtake Barcelona (unless they supply a loss of form after a remarkable treble and become disinterested).
Casillas is as likely to be sold as Raul. But Raul better be on the bench when Real buys David Villa, just like in real life when the Spanish national team plays (and wins Euro championships). Higuain better be alongside Villa, because he’s young, good, not cheap, and did I mention he’s already proven he can score goals, too?
The midfield is already bought and paid for. Now they just have to be asked to backtrack now and then, because they’re going to lose balls, and they don’t pass as well as the Camp Nou twins, so the ball is either going to be distributed by Kaka to Robben (or Ribery, if they fancy the greener grass on the other side of the very expensive marble wall) and Ronaldo and the forward lines for amazing runs and crosses, or turnovers. One hopes that galacticos wouldn’t be capable of being dispossessed, but it happens occasionally.
Given all that, the Diarra brothers should be interchangeable as the holding midfielder, because they’re going to be running the full 90 minutes each match, so having a twin with the same superpowers is going to prove useful.
The back four is terrible, with no chemistry, and seemingly little communication. Yes, I know they scored 83 goals (Atletico was 3rd w/80, and then a sharp drop to Valencia w/68), but they were 7th in Goals Against with 52. Except for Numancia, the bottom 5 in La Liga gave up between 56-58. Osasuna in 15th gave up 47. Therefore Real Madrid needs to improve on defense. Hopefully the new coach has tactics, practice, and prayers lined up for this to occur.
The problem is their two best defenders, which isn’t saying much, are wingbacks. Sergio Ramos is capable of playing anywhere, and is fantastic going forward, but the other best available defenders are fullbacks also. So best to move him inside and become a deadly distributor from there while bringing in Maicon from Inter and telling Drenthe to get his act together and play some defense. Goodness knows he knows how to dribble forward. Have him watch some more video of Evra and Ashley Cole. Somethings got to work. If not, sell him and buy Clichy or some other left-back.

Out: RVN, Van der Vaart, Heinze, possibly Huntelaar? Anyone else they wasted money on sitting on their bench last year? Hopefully this time they can not wait until mid-season and buy a cup-tied player by selling early.
In: Already: Kaka & Cristiano Ronaldo (£80M+£59M = £139M = €163.5M)
Up Next: David Villa. They need another striker since they’re going to give up on RVN for some reason (besides being old). They’re not going to buy Fernando Torres, or Kun Aguero, or Eto’o. Although I would have to say Ibrahimovic would be perfect for this one-way (forward) team, if they can’t get their #1 (well, their third #1) man. Then again, Benzema would be the best buy for the long run, but Real Madrid doesn’t have a long run. They must win right now, this year.
Maybe: 1) Sell Robben (€25M, loss of €11M) after buying Ribery (€70M, possibly, b/c its Real Madrid money).
2) Buy Maicon from Inter and shift Ramos to one of the central defense positions. Pepe & Metzelder are either hurt, lazy, or crazy, but they were also expensive and you’re not going to pry Terry away from Chelsea. Or Vidic away from ManU, unless they have €30M to spend on that…
3) Try to buy Clichy from Arsenal? Again, RM would have to put forth a big offer because Arsenal is nearly as big a club, and they don’t just give players away. Unless they wait a year, and then they sell Henry and Viera on the cheap (relatively, compared to the prior year asking prices), of course.
Total outlay: I’m just going to say £200 million (€235M) after sales. Who knows? It’s all nuts when Real Madrid is involved. Honestly I was shocked when they bought Robben when they already had Robinho. It’s like a child that buys more and more toys only gets bored and forgets they’re all the same anyways.
Squad: 4-1-3-2 (and with these guys, it’s more like a 4-1-1-4)
Villa --- Higuan
Robben ---Kaka --- Ronaldo
Diarra (either one)
Drenthe --- Pepe --- Ramos --- Maicon
Casillas
Subs: Metzelder, Guti, the other Diarra, Sneijder, Raul
More: Gago, Saviola, Torres, Huntelaar(?)

These Galacticos are going to go forward, and forward, and forward. And Casillas is going to scream after a month of 4-3 matches because none of these guys have shown the work rate to actually get back and defend. Even Ramos, a player of beauty moving forward, fails a lot on the defensive end.
Still, I’d watch these guys if they develop a chemistry together and buy each other Cristal every night (because they can afford it) and play unselfishly. I hate the possibility, but Real Madrid has made the right (though expensive) moves so far. I just don’t know if they can overtake Barcelona (who also have money to make some subtle changes, too, lest one forgets).

Chelsea

How Chelsea can become champions again

First off, they were FA Cup winners, came in 3rd in the EPL, arguably should have been in (and possibly won) the Champions League, and are full of depth, if not a bloated salary scale. Nevertheless, they have lost the coach that came in, took over with the ingredients he had, and won. He won a lot, mind you.
Guus is gone now and Carlo is a brilliant replacement. He has shown signs that he want s a change of personnel, though, and we’ll start from the back.
Cech is fantastic. Still a top 5 ‘keeper in the world, I don’t even know why I mention his name.
Assuming Ancelotti elects to play four at the back, there is really no reason to make any changes here. Ashley Cole, John Terry, Alex & Bosingwa are excellent. There is depth, even after their sale of Carvalho. If for some reason they decide that Douglas Maicon (Inter) is important then they should sell off Bosingwa. But he’s young, shows promise, and isn’t really worth giving up on. Then again, it’s Chelsea, and they have money, and want the best right now, not later. Best to replace Carvalho with a strong bench player who doesn’t require a starting role – like Alex did 2 seasons ago.
The midfield is still a delightful mess of overabundance. My mom has a lot of pretty things in her home, but when you put them all together it’s just not right. That’s what Chelsea’s midfield always reminds me of. Essien & Lampard must remain your core central midfield. Obi Mikel is a fantastic young holding midfielder. Joe Cole & Malouda make for excellent wingers, and Malouda came on strong in his second season in the Premier league. Just as Drogba did. So they have a solid 4 across the mid. If healthy. Which is a problem since Cole & Essien had major knee injuries this season. The problem is their quality of depth, then – it is not lacking, but clashing, because little of it is on the wings. Yes, it is great to have the captain of Germany on the bench, but he doesn’t want to sit! Same for Deco. Too much winning personality just doesn’t work. I don’t know why, sometimes, since there are so many matches to play, but players want to play every match, or close to it, and this squad has too much talent playing the same position to allow that to happen.
Best is to bring in another winger. Kalou has not shown any crossing ability, so he’ll have to remain up front as a speedy back-up. This is where they should be going crazy hard after Ribery, or paying a little more than ManU for Valencia. It’s also where losing out on Robinho last year proved to be devastating. He was the necessary left foot to replace Robben (who they made out on, mind you, at £36 million). Ribery is a star. He’s hard-working. He’s unassuming. He is not glitz or glamour, just like the rest of the team. But he’s obviously special, and that is what Chelsea need. Malouda off the bench, and Ribery & Cole can play either side well.
After that you have two of the most impressive physical specimens who are extremely skilled up front. Drogba & Anelka, year 2.5. I think they’ll work well together. And if not, just put Kalou in and let him run around at high velocity and play off each other.

Out: Deco, Carvalho. £13 total.

In: Ribery (or Valencia if they don’t want to spend “crazy” money, per Bayern’s wishes). £50 million
Maybe: Sell Bosingwa (£12M, loss of £4M) after buying Maicon (£25M, possibly)
Total outlay: £50 million. I don’t know if they have this in their kitty. Going after Ribery keeps it under £40M, possibly

Squad: 4-4-2
. Drogba --- Anelka
. Ribery --- Essien --- Lampard --- Cole
. Cole --- Terry --- Alex --- Bosingwa
. Cech
Subs: Belletti, Ferreira, Obi Mikel, Kalou, Malouda

This team can play for and win the title. The’re a little more streamlined. They’ll need to make some changes for the future (Drogba needs to be appeased and be happy or sold, at some point, bringing in Aguero, Pato, or Benzema) as they continue to age, and one hopes that their luck/health return. Coming in 3rd after a terrible start and the losses of Joe Cole and Essien shows just what a fantastic squad they’ve got.