A lesson learned?

With the transfer window looming, let’s hope we have learned the lessons of our failure last season to supplement our squad. While our rivals brought in the likes of David Brooks, Joe Rothwell, Jeremy Sarmiento and Kieffer Moore, we felt we were strong enough to get promotion without any additional help. Well, we know how that ended.
This season, the two obvious gaps in our squad are at centre-forward and attacking midfield. These are expensive holes to fill at any time of year, but more so in January, when quality players are hard to find. That said, the 49’ers have done a remarkable job in the transfer market since they arrived and we now enjoy the most balanced squad since 2020, with plenty of money recouped from Orta’s wild spending spree.
The language coming from Farke has been cautious. ‘I don’t expect a busy January,’ he said. With injuries beginning to bite, and players tiring, is he keeping his cards deliberately close to his chest, or is he just telling it like it is?
On the one hand, we are in the autos with a favourable run of fixtures ahead of us; by the end of this year, we could be well ahead of third place. However, Leicester were well ahead of the pack last season until we pegged them back and they barely scraped over the line. There is no certainty of promotion until the maths say so.
We are certainly in a strong position to attract players. We are not restricted by PSR and we have money to spend. A number of names have been suggested but the 49’ers have a happy knack of surprising everybody with their astute dealings in the transfer market. Ao Tanaka is testament to their acumen. That said, they took their eyes off the ball last January. The risk of doing that again, and a possible third season in the Championship, must surely compel them to make significant recruitments this time around.