Recently I thought, maybe we could go for one RCB in the mould of Todibo/Diomande and give Kambwala a chance to develop, instead of buying a second young CB. Depends on how he does for the rest of this season, but from what I've seen, he has impressed me so far. Maybe we could go for an attacking LB like Theo Hernandez instead and use Shaw more often as a ball-playing, short LCB, rotating with Licha or let him compete with Theo. We could also try a system with 3 CBs with Theo as LWB and Frimpong as RWB (who would be another addition). Just a thought.
Agree with giving Kambwala a chance. The reason we buy these kids so young is that we see them as top talents and can potentially save ourselves £50m down the line, so we need to give them the proper platform and opportunity to achieve that. I see Varane and Lindelof both going and Maguire sticking around so perhaps a really considered loan move like Amad had where he’s in the right environment could be the right move for him next season.
Theo would be an amazing signing but certainly wont be cheap. Unfortunately given we have Shaw there I’d be surprised we’d go for him.
Id like us to keep a close eye on Jorrel Hato at Ajax who seems to be having a similar trajectory as De Ligt. Already starting CB at 17 years old, called up to the Netherlands senior team, recently became the youngest ever Ajax captain, left-footed, can cover both CB and LB, and physically is everything you want from a modern CB. If he is available this summer he’s a must but I expect him to stay at Ajax at least another season.
If that is the case, going for someone like Theo this summer and having Shaw cover LCB more formally for a season before going for Hato next year could make sense. We could then be looking at a pretty interesting CB line up of Martinez, Todibo (or whichever RCB we go for), Hato and Kambwala in 2025/26.