Pirlo, Sneijder, Pato, Dzeko, Villa, Ribery have all been linked to us. Frankly, I've always liked Sneijder and would love to have him. He'd also be the cheapest of the lot. Pirlo might be cheaper, but do we want another 30 year old whose never played in the premiership? Sneijder is still quite young and is as good, IMO, if not better than Pirlo. Pato and Ribery would be extremely expensive, we can afford that, but I don't see why we should revert to being big spenders again, there's no need for it.
I haven't seen much of Dzeko, but with Drogba, Anelka, Di Santo and Sturridge, I don't see the point of getting him. He's wanted by other clubs, too, which means inflated prices.
I think our problem is we don't have much on our bench when we need it. ManU have great depth, and that's why they're champions. I think another midfielder like Sneijder (who'd probably be a starter, or close to it) would do us good. Especially since it'd push the oldies to perform and stay fit. I hope we don't start selling, and with Turnbull, Sturridge, and Zhirkov, we've bought quite astutely, IMO.
Sneijder and we're done. I'm seeing:
Cech (Turbull)
Bosingwa - Carvalho - Terry - Cole (Belleti/Alex/Ivanovic/Zhirkov/Ferreira)
Essien (Mikel)
Lampard - Sneijder (Ballack/Deco)
Cole - Malouda (Kalou/Zhirkov)
Drogba (Anelka)
Even without Sneijder, that's a good squad. Several of those people in parenthesis are good enough to be starters, and it's good that many of them are versatile enough to play in several positions. That's why I don't want us to sell, any sale would need to be replaced. I especially don't want to see Carvalho leave, and he's been reported as leaving for the last few seasons. Terry won't leave, that's clear, and I can't see Cole leaving. Wouldn't be too bothered about Deco, and I hope this 'we want to sell Kalou' rumor is bogus. I'm hoping to see guys like Di Santo, Sturridge, Mancienne, Stoch etc. getting some time, because we haven't had anyone step up from our youth program and that ain't good.
Yep, we got a good squad, I'm excited about this new season, can't wait. I hope Ancelotti won't change things around too much, and if he does, for the better.
EDIT: Wow, I completely forgot about Pizarro and Sheva. Anyone think they'll step up?