Milner, Ox, Naby and Arthur out.
Hendo, Fab, Thiago - old guard
Curtis, Stefan and Harvey - new kids on the block
We need two ‘perfect’ additions.
If one of them can make an immediate impact we should be good.
If both do we should be able to challenge for everything again.
Like we did with
Jota before Divock left
Diaz before Sadio left
Cody before Bobby left
i hope we will bring in a third midfielder in January to prepare for the departure of two of the old guard in summer 2024.
Tchouameni and Bellingham 
Let’s just raid Brighton for Caicedo and McAllister
Hendo, Fab and Thiago should never start a game together again. Two of them together should be only on very rare occasions.
That’s how the summer should be approached and that’s how we‘ll know if the transfer window was a success.
Oltimer + Youngster + New Signing
That should be the formula for most games next season.
I’d be more inclinded to go with 2 new signings and either Jones or Bajcetic(if both can continue with their good performances this season).
Hendo,Fab and Thiago are very expensive back ups to have but they are either injured or don’t have enough energy for our midfield anymore.I’d only be playing them when they are well rested and even then id still keep it to 2 of them at most with a much more mobile player to keep control .
Ultimately it will depend on the level of the players we bring in. Ideally at least one of them will be ready to go pretty much from the start, but there is still the possibility of a bedding in period.
Still not convinced that we will sign three new midfielders but if so that means we’re not messing around.
Trying not to write anyone off (except of Elliott because he is no midfielder 
) we could start the season something like
PL
MacAllister Thuram Henderson
EL
Thiago Bajcetic Kone
LC/FAC
Jones Fabinho notElliot🙈
We at least have to get 2 for the 3 that have left.
Kone in the “second” XI?
Nah.
No football club is ever going work like that.
Goalies yes but you’ll never get second 11’s for cup games and Elliott really will be getting time in the Europa League even if it’s further forward.
I am of the mind that we need three. Especially for the fees touted around for Thuram and Kone. Midfield is a tough position and there’s a good chance whoever we sign don’t hit the ground running. If we sign three, maybe one will be an instant starter while other two take their time to settle in.
Also, if we’ve listed them both as targets then there’s a good chance we’d go back for the other one after a year or two anyway, once Hendo or Fabinho’s times are finally done with this club. Why wait till their fee rises to 80m from the current 30-40m?
If we don’t sign all three, then I really hope we’re signing a first-team level RB/RCB and moving Trent permanently in a position where he doesn’t have to run back in panic to absolute no effect anyway.
If either one of Fabinho and Henderson is a regular in the starting XI next season, then this season and its lessons will have served for nothing.
And Thiago.
And Elliott.
Right. Just wanted to point out the options.
Not every shitty old player from last season will be a bench warmer next season. Some might even flourish under the new situation and with the right partners by their side.
Not every new signing moves into the starting11 rightaway. Especially if we’re signing three - that reduces the pressure of having to do so if someone is not ready. Some players need time to adapt. And there’s injuries also.
Not every bright young player will be able to continue with his fast progress. It’s a normal thing. Curtis can write a book about it. So don’t wonder if a fully fit Bajcetic finds himself out of matchday squad on many occasions.
If we were to bring in 3 i think either Fabinho or Thiago should be sold or more likely Elliott and Carvalho out on loan.
I have a good friend who’s a die-hard Red, a level-headed bloke, the one with you can talk with about anything but he’ll always go out of his way to mention Kuyt in a negative light. Does it remind you of someone? 
From my current point of view, the new midfield trio should be “two new guys, please-let-them-be-rather-good-injury-resistant-and-hit-the-ground-running-fast, + Jones, please-let-him-continue-his-progress-and-be-injury-free-forever”. I’ll be physically sick if I ever see Fabinho and Henderson starting matches for us other than domestic cups or Europa League.
Hendo yes. Fab it depends entirely on who’s in front of him. He looked much improved with energetic players like Curtis in front of him
This x 100. No doubt that Fabinho has regressed a fair bit but a midfield of Fab / Gini / Henderson or Ox(prime pre Roma) did win us the league.
What we are missing is the energy that the likes of Gini and hendo/ox used to offer. Both hendo/ox have regressed and Thiago never was the midfielder who had the energy that Gini brought to play (he wasn’t meant to be).
Fab does need to be upgraded on as a priority but playing him with two mobile midfielders further should in theory let us work for 70% of the games.
We’ve failed with Keita and Ox(post Roma). Hopefully we have learnt those lessons and we get one premier league top player in Mac. And two other midfielders that will let hendo transition into the Milly role as well as provide enough cover.
Midfielders - Bajcetic / Fabinho / Mac / Morton Thiago / Jones / Henderson + 2 more.
Elliot isn’t a midfielder yet. He might transition to be one in the future but he’s not as of now. Neither is Carvalho the midfielder we want him to be.
We need energy, sure, but we need quality also.
There have been many games and periods in games this season when even our possession game wasn’t good enough. Klopp mentioned many times about giving the ball away cheaply, etc. It’s actually one little weakness we had even in our best days. How to behave when being in the lead. Find the right balance between our intensity, but also controlling it better to save energy (but obviously also not stop playing).
There’s a reason why for years we’ve been trying to get at least one player of that style (which is not completely different to what we do, we’re not playing bloody Isco or Ozil in CM). Why some of our best young talents are such. Part of the reason why Trent’s been moved infield more recently. And in the end, now, why we’re going for a player like Mac. It’s all absolutely natural and logical, the better you become as a side. Some things worked our better, some didn’t so much. But the intent was right. And we are not going away from our principles.
It’s too lazy, false sense of security and actually counter-productive to look at our team/midfield and say “just add 2-3 workhorses, that’ll do it”. Our game is about pressing, yes, but it’s also about quality on the ball. And it goes together, it’s bloody connected. The better we press, the more of the ball we have and in dangerous areas and our defence has less to do in quantity. The better we keep the ball, we can press smarter and break teams down, who mostly defend deep against us.
Did Alonso (and I’m not comparing him to Mac, but just to give one of numerous examples) slow down our play in a negative way when he was signed in 2004? That was something completely different to what we had in years before he joined. And the difference in style, how we build from deep, was immediate and clear. And yes, players like that are quality because they can both speed up or slow down a tempo. You cannot go 200mp/h all the time, it’s impossible even for the best or most radical pressing sides. The “pause” that Lijnders says. Something the world’s best midfielders have. There’s the saying the ball is always faster than the player.
Both will be important if we want to return to being a protagonist side that is fighting for and winning things.
If brining in a homegrown player is on the agenda, then there are few chances.
I have a feeling james ward-prowse is the one we end up with. Not a huge fan of the idea of him coming, but i could live with it if he’s the third one in.