I think we were bringing in someone anyway. Just couldn’t quite land the perfect deal this summer so waited till next summer. Thiago arriving and Wijnaldum staying left that open to us as an option because it freed Fabinho up to he 4th choice CB as there was less requirement for him to be in midfield.
Now what happens next summer after what’s gone on would be the question.
My expectation is we bring in a CB in during Jan instead of waiting till the summer even if it does mean paying a little more now, something we weren’t prepared to do in the summer. But we will have multiple options so won’t be taken to the cleaners, Lewis/Tsimikas LB style maneovering.
Then next summer one of a few things might happen;
Gomez or VvD may not be ready to come back (god I hope they are) in which case we start next season with Gomez/VvD (whichever one is back), Matip, New Guy and Fabinho as our options.
Gomez and VvD are back and along with Matip and the new guy we are set. Fabinho moves into midfield perhaps to replace Wijnaldum (almost certainly going) or Milner (possibly going).
New guy bombs so despite VvD and Gomez coming back we probably still need Matip and Fabinho in defence and possibly a new midfielder (don’t really believe this one could happen with our recruitment team).
New guy is fine, Gomez and VvD are back but we decide it’s time to let Matip move on due to his injury issues so either Fabinho or Williams is our fourth choice. Means we might need a new CM.
Or some combination of the above.