The short version is probably trim the wage bill (which will happen naturally anyway as we ditch dead amortization and wages) and see how much of a hole in the boat BMD revenue plugs. A large proportion of the current losses are related to bad decisions made years ago. We paid big transfer fees and wages for players that did not contribute, or did not contribute enough, and have no meaningful sell-on value. That math doesn't work.
Maupay aside, Thelwell made a lot of positive decisions this past summer. It's probably why the Americans like him. The objective this summer has to be getting about ten goals in with near certainty, without taking a step backward in defense. If we do that, we're fine. We'll be comfortably up, we can keep buying young to replace expensive mistakes in the next two summers, and develop them into contributors. Then, suddenly, we end up with a squad full of assets in their prime on wages where we can sell them, rather than ones that are dead money, and the whole thing becomes self-sustaining. We quit rebuilding, and start reloading.
The Americans make out like bandits, and we become attractive to someone who can help us take the next step by investing wisely to chase the CL positions and silverware. That's the story we need to write at the moment, and it starts by solving the most pressing problem and another couple summers of smarter buys than the ones we made in the past.
