15 Jun 2026 09:44:05
To be honest, it's nice to have that first big move done and dusted. We all knew Cucurella was leaving, good that it's sorted early and for a decent enough price too.

There have been a few reports that Alonso is keen to keep hold of Fernandez, and the club won't budge on his valuation, I think it's 60-70% likely he stays.

The news now shifts to replacing Cucurella, Hall and Grimaldo seem to be the favourites at the moment. Hall, I'd really like but don't see it materialising. I've said on here recently, for me, Grimaldo ticks a ton of boxes. But is there an answer within the squad?

You want your best players on the pitch, with that in mind, can anyone see James successfully bombing up and down the pitch from RWB? I can see why there would be concerns about his body holding out. It might make more sense for James to invert into the midfield pivot, in turn, pushing Fernandez into one of the 10's. That would leave Hato becoming the LCB from a LB position, and/or Barco deputising as a more progressive LB/LWB. Now, this all sounds very Maresca like, with FB's inverting into a pivot, but, if Fernandez stays, it's a way of getting him and James into Alonso's system and on the pitch as much as possible, without impacting other key players like Palmer, Estavao or Joao Pedro.

1.) 15 Jun 2026
15 Jun 2026 10:06:04
Personally for me, I think we need to find out what formation he will play. I think he played a back 4 at Madrid.
But I do think he will be flexible and it will change in game.

2.) 15 Jun 2026
15 Jun 2026 10:16:50
I think Enzo will be leaving along with Badiashile, Tosin, Disasi, Delap/Jackson, Guiu, Jorgensen and maybe Garnacho.
When I watched Bl under Alonso, it always seemed to be a back three, but I have no idea about his preferred shape at Rm.

It sounds to me that, like most good coaches, he can be flexible.

Throughout last season, we were generally passive with and without the ball, and a change to a more aggressive/progressive style of football is what I'm looking for.
I hate seeing my team outworked.

3.) 15 Jun 2026
15 Jun 2026 10:37:21
He tended to start with a back four at Real, but ultimately, in possession it still ended up as a compact 3-2-5, with the pivot and two 10s making a box midfield.

I don't think it really matters if it starts as a four or three at the back, it just comes down to how the team manoeuvres into that in possession setup.



But the type of lb signing we make will give us a great indication as to whether he wants to start with a four and traditional fb's or a three and wb's. Definitely going to be an interesting bit of the market to see develop.

4.) 15 Jun 2026
15 Jun 2026 13:06:51
Quenda shouldn't be forgotten in all of this either. He could easily play the same wb role as Frimpong did for Leverkusen, just from the left, rather than the right.