The thing that concerns me most about the Europa League commitment is that we don’t even have a squad to compete in the EPL let alone the Europa either in squad size or talent...Jose will want to win the Europa so the better players will be flogged hard unless we recruit 5 or 6 players better than their equivalents in the current squad and what are the chances of that?[/QUOTE
]I'm not sure that that will be the case Harry. In the early rounds almost certainly 'fringe' players and promising youngsters will be used extensively, with our best players, being on the bench only to be used if absolutely necessary. There will probably be fixtures early on where it really won't be necessary to drag the likes of Kane Son and Lo Celso to the outer reaches of Europe.
The Europa league should provide opportunity for players such as Gedson, Sessegnon Bergwijn and Skipp to better establish themselves at the Club than is the case currently.
That will probably be the case until such time that the CL 'discards' move into the Europa League and the competition starts to heat up. If we do progress deep into the Europa however, so be it, the complications you mention will become more of an issue. That really won't be much different however from running deep into the FA Cup or CL, it becomes all about priorities, and the EL may by that stage look like a tournament we can win, which may be our best route back into the CL.
I do however agree with the need for overall squad strengthening. Last year we went for a high priced 'marquee' signing in Ndombele which unfortunately didn't work out. Maybe this time around the funds available should be directed more toward a broader strengthening of the overall depth and strength of the squad. I'm very interested to see what transpires in the closed season.