attacking winger wilf cant be the only outlet,Ayew has worked well but not enough goals,so a striker god knows were from,right back early 20s not late 20s early 30s,with all the injurys its hard to work out

A couple of loans is all i can see coming. I think the board are taking Roy for granted, they know that while he is here he will keep us in this division so they dont have to spend any money

I agree with your players in/out, but I think we need more players than that, as my maths has it that we have only 20 senior outfield players in the squad plus three goalkeepers, with the rest being youth players. Given Schlupp is out long-term, Ward and Townsend are struggling and Wickham and Bentenke are rarely off the treatment table, and of course the Camarassa issue, that leaves us with 14 outfield players who have been available more often than not and who Roy will play. We have no backup wingers or fullbacks and Ayew has rarely had adequate backup this season either.

For me we desperately need at least two additions (net), probably need three, while four/five could really see us push on.

To be ninth with a squad this small and with so many injuries is pretty unbelievable and if you look at the stats we may be in trouble if we don't address it. To think otherwise is very optimistic to me.

Great response - full agreement.

Dwight McNeil and Ollie Watkins (quoted as potential replacements) are not good enough to replace Zaha. And certainly not for the money their teams would be asking. They would cost 20+ million. Watkins has been on fire this season but that is because he's been playing as a center forward. Zaha does not play in that position. As a left winger, Watkins has been decent, but not extraordinary.

And to replace Zaha, you need that- extraordinary.

Within 15 million, I think the following players would emulate him:

Ryan Fraser (contract ending in the summer with Bournemouth)- could offer him a bigger contract than there, being that he comes for free. A player his calibre (second best assister last tear in the PL, decent this year- 1 goal or asist every 200 minutes) would surely cost more than 15 million, so a 4 year contract with 4 million extra per year than his lousy 27k per week at Bournemouth would really be a good business

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Demarai Gray- would be about 20 million, but given his age it could be recouped. A gamble that he steps up, but I've seen enough of his skills to be pretty sure that he will be ale to lead a team in the future.

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Diego Rossi- 15 million, the best winger from the MLS, just 21 yo. Forget Almiron, this guy is miles better.

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Jose Callejon- contract ending in the summer with Napoli. Does not score much, but has been the best assist provider in the Serie if we take the last 3 seasons overall. A little on the old side at 32 but he has the physical capacity of a 25 year old. Very fit, very hard working. Not really used to playing on the left, as he's more like a right winger, but I"ve seen him play successfully on the left too. Club would really be buyjng an all-rounder, player good at everything. He can play right back, central midfielder, striker, everything. He will run his socks off and recover dozens of balls every match. Crowd would love him. He's like a version of James Milner (who would be another shreud signing for the summer, as his contract is up with Liverpool)

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Idrissi- 24 yo from Alkmaar,would cost 10 million

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Elyounoussi from Celtic/Southampton- would cost 10 million, Celtic has an option of 7-8 million I think. He really got just like 700 minutes in the PL for Southampton after they paid like 15 million to get him from Basel (he was great in the Champions League). He just didn't fit in Southampton, but he is a great player.

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Cristian Tello- would cost around 10 million, from Betis. Very strong, very fot,schooled at FC Barcelona. Very much the type of player Wilf is

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Ivan Cavaleiro- should have gone for him in the summer as Wolves offered him as a loan with a 10 million option to buy. Fulham took him and he's doing very well in the Championship- their best player- at just 25 yo. Not old at all, just in his height.

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Orsic from Dinamo Zagreb- has anyone watched Champions League matches this season? This player was right up there with the best. It's not a 1 season wonder either, he's been amazing for Dinamo Zagreb for a few years and is by now a Croatia national team starter next to Perisic and Rebic in attack. Dinamo foesn't sell cheap, but he has little left on his contract, so 10 million should seal it.

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Darwin Machis from La Liga's Granada- 5 million

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Gody Gakpo- he would cost more cause he's just 20 yo, but that means he is a better prospect- about 10 million.

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Andre Schurrle- 7 million. He was with Fulham last year and they got relegated, but Schurrle actually did his job he scored like 6 goals from left wing position in 18 matches (1 in 3). He is now with Spartak Moscow, but the Russian team is mid-table and they will not pay his buy-option of 7 million that Borussia Dortmund has placed. Schurrle is 29, he can still be great for a few more years, but no higher dale than those 7 million you'd pay for him.

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Viktor Fischer- the former prodigy Danish kid is now with FC Copenhagen and would be available for just 5 million.

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Kevin Bua is having a wonderful season in the Swiss league (and that's a good league if you ask me, at least Championship level, with Champions League clubs like Basel and Young Boys)- about 5 million

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Peter Olayinka- 7-8 million from Slavia Prague, very tall, very strong, but also hard-working.

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Denis Bouanga- 10 million, from Ligue 1, one of the most underrated wingers there

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Naim Sliti- 8 million, has just left the Ligue 1 for the Arab money, they paid like 5 million for him,they could let him go for about 8

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Konoplyanka- I don't know how many people watch national team matches, but this guy rocked it against Serbia and Portugal in the Euro qualifiers- has like 5-6 goals and assists in 2 matches against those powerhouses. He has been especially good at international level, kind of average at Schalke, but he wasn't given enough playing time. Went to home country at Shakhtar this seasons and I've been very impressed with him in the Champions League. Seen him against Manchester City and Atalanta and he was very good, running up and down the pitch and recovering a lot, but also creating. Considering that Shakhtar paid just 1,5 million for him and they also have the Brazilians Taison, Marlos and some very young (and expensive) players in those attacking positions, I think they would let him go for 5 million.

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Leonardo from the UAE Golf League is another player who by 27 has never been given a chance in a top league even though he's amazing. The fact that he only has a Brazilian passport and no national team matches may be the cause, but he deserves it. He scored and assisted 32 times in 2800 minutes from left wing position in the Serbian League for Partizan before going to the Arab leagues.

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Kouassi from the Chinese league is a similar player to Leonardo as he only has Ivorian citizenship, but would be amazing and almost as good as Wilf. He'd cost about 5 million.

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There could be others of course, but numbers would rise beyond 15 million. For example, the Brazilian Bruno Henrique whonplayed the Club World Cup final against Liverpool earlier this month is very good, but his club wants in excess of 15 million for him.

Zaha should stay until the summer and then one or two of the above players be brought in (one older and cheaper- even free like Callejon or Fraser if club can offer them good salaries- and one younger and more expensive but with a higher re-sale value- like Demarai Gray or Gakpo or Diego Rossi or Idrissi, even Cavaleiro)