Good post. Do you think Donk would stay should se sign Palhinha, assuming he’s primarily there as cover for DM and CB?
I don't think Bruno would be upset to see him stay he is an experienced international going into his prime years and as you say offers versatility but I do think the club will look to move him on this summer if they can get a fee somewhere in the 15-25mil region due to squad management.
I think the club has to be careful with how it manages the squad they can't have too many players on high wages not getting game time in their prime as they will have a negative impact on the dressing room as they won't be happy and it will have a impact on their valuation. It is better to be succession planning with younger players who can step up to replace the starters once a big offer comes in which was the original plan for Dendoncker but it never happened.
I think the club will look to split the positions up into centre back, fullback, centre mid, wing & attacker and look to apply a sort of rule of 5 per section with 3 first team ready players backed up by two young lower salary but high potential players rather than have someone like Donk on a high wage as 4th choice as it gives you more depth and options with less upset about playing time and also more wages dedicated to get higher caliber starters as their two wages won't equal that 1 high wage.
For example based around Bruno's 442 (Won't count Coady due to this but I expect him to be on the bench during games we used this but start in games with a 5)
Centre back starter quality 3
NEW RCB, NEW LCB, Kilman(both) (Boly may be one of these)
Young high potential 2
Mosquera(RCB) & Toti(LCB)
- Fullback starter quality 3
Semedo(RB), Jonny(both), Ait-Nouri(LB)
- Young high potential 2
Hoever(RB) & Bueno/Giles(LB)
- Centre Midfield starter quality 3
NEW, NEW, Moutinho (Palhihna & Nunes?)
- Young high potential 2
NEW & Cundle (Possibly Nico or Almeida)
- Winger starter quality 3
Neto, Podence, NEW (Perhaps Rafa Silva or Guedes)
- Young high potential 2
MGW & Chiquinho (Pedrinho if MGW leaves)
- Attacker (CF & ST) starter quality 3
NEW ST, Jimenez(both), Hwang(CF) (Seferovic sounds most likely)
- Young high quality 2
NEW CF & Silva(ST) (Possibly Ramos or they ignore the rule here and move for Minamino due to the Japan link he offers)
I might be totally wrong but if they are trying to manage the wage cap whilst still trying to give Bruno the most competitive squad they can that is how I would go about doing it.