We'll be hindered if we keep Maddison this summer, basically.
We need his transfer fee to build a new attack.
Nobody else left to sell for any sort of substantial fee... and people debate about whether he's a £20m player, or a £25m player, or £30m player... but there's a huge difference between £20m lump sum and £30m spread over a four year contract.
We also have the complication of needing to sign more homegrown players, so we can't just sign three attacking players from Germany... which makes selling Maddison all the more important, because English players cost money. Gunn and Reed are off, Watkins will probably go to Bristol City.... Matthews and Godfrey probably in, but we need several English players.
One player that I think would be a good signing is Scott Hogan. Has had a disappointing season at Aston Villa but he's only 25 and he's ambidextrous. Plus can play out wide and Farke likes versatility.
If Villa sneak up through the play-offs then they'll clearly being spending their Sky money on an upgrade, so may be worth a punt?
Another possibility is Sam Winnall? Did his cruciates this season so would be a risky one, but he knows where the net is.
Jack Marriott at Peterborough of course, and it would be nice if we could do a double deal with Marcus Maddison their winger / attacking midfielder thrown in.
Can't think of any others. Could take a punt on Jason Cummings who flopped at Forest but Farke may feel he can get firing?
This is one area where loan players isn't going to cut it..... Championship sides keep getting mooted with moves for people like Jerome Sinclair and Ashley Fletcher, but their CV's aren't any better than that of Carlton Morris.
There's Lewis Grabban who would probably fit in our system quite well but Bournemouth will want him to leave on a permanent this summer, and do we really want an expensive 30 year old who once refused to sit on the bench for us? A season long loan I wouldn't object to, but we're trying to move away from 3 year deals for 30 year olds. Plus Villa will probably want to keep him if they don't go up because one of the newly promoted sides or newly relegated sides will take a punt on Kodjia.... who Villa will want to sell to balance their books when parachute payments decrease.
By far the toughest position to recruit for.... would be lovely if there were a plethora of up and coming talent in League One but when you've got Danny Graham, Will Grigg, Eoin Doyle and Brett Pitman in the top 10 goalscorers you realise that there clearly isn't.
