Hello Rank Squad! With pre-season firmly in full swing and the transfer merry-go-round showing no signs of stopping, we wanted to take a look at some of the big question marks ahead of the new season getting underway. We start at Manchester United, where the addition of Lisandro Martinez at CB has posed a dilemma – will it be club captain Harry Maguire or Champions League legend Raphael Varane who starts next to their new man?
Then we shift to Bayern Munich, who have similar personnel dramas after the addition of Matthijs de Ligt – how does everyone fit in, in Julian Nagelsmann’s system? Finally, we turn to Barcelona, whose plethora of attacking riches has just been massively added to with Robert Lewandowski joining their ranks. Xavi’s front three in their first league game is anyone’s guess for now!
Things We Love discusses some of the big names who are said to be on the move but haven’t actually secured their new homes yet, and the anticipation of where the big switches will come in August; as well as discussing Paulo Dybala’s switch from Juventus to Roma, and the excitement surrounding having a player of Dybala’s quality in a system that will actually suit him.
Finally, Melon of the Week is awarded to a man struggling to get into his (or his team’s) new groove in pre-season so far, and then in the Gibberish Rankings we each pick the three albums we would listen to for the rest of our lives, if we were forced to renounce all others. It’s Ranks!