According to sources, both media and otherwise, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s shopping list this summer is:

A striker, a goalscoring midfielder, a right winger, and a left back.

This is a very interesting claim, which you can bet on at 888sport promo code so let’s take a look at it:

The striker is obviously desperately needed. Alfredo Morelos, regardless of his future, is all we have there, and while Gio’s genius defied the Colombian’s absence last season, we really need a backup or second unit. Norway’s Erik Botheim has been strongly linked, and this is a position that we need sorted for sure. We just don’t have enough there.

Goalscoring midfielder. This is basically an AM, an attacking midfielder. Now, technically we have four of these – Ianis Hagi, Joe Aribo, Alex Lowry and Scott Arfield. But one of them isn’t available till the autumn, one of them is in demand, one of them is only just breaking through and one of them is really only a fringe player these days. So yes, a good midfielder with a creative edge and goals in him is a very useful addition.

Right winger. This goes without saying. We literally haven’t had one since Danny Candeias, and even he was an isolated example and wasn’t actually that great. But he was at least one regardless. Since then? Nothing. Unless you count Diallo who didn’t work out. No, this is critical, and we do wish we’d been Andreas Skov Olsen’s preferred choice because he’s a player. No, Gio needs one of these urgently. A good one.

Left back. This is where things start to get interesting. We already have two top class iterations of this position, but both are subject to alteration. Calvin Bassey is in the sights of big PL bids down south, with high stock, and Borna is interesting a lot of European sides, not to mention one or two PL outfits too. So the suggestion we need a new LB isn’t miles wrong and we’ve been linked with Stoke’s Tymon and Hibs’ Doig.

So the position we’re going to finish on is goalie. This hasn’t been included in these reports but clearly the stopper is a big deal with only certainty over Jon McLaughlin. The other two may both leave and we’d be very short. Goalkeeping is very unsettled at best.

In simple terms, a lot of overhauling is needed, a lot of new talent sought, but there are claims no budget will be available for Gio until we know if we’ve made the UCL or not. That might not be far from the truth, because it’s a jackpot if we do.

But then, how do we ensure getting there without making fresh signings?

Tricky one.

Thankfully we aren’t the ones dealing with it!