I went for 1-5 million quid, and really, I expect it to be somewhere closer to the higher end of those two figures, but not much more than that. Thing is, we've already banked a considerable fee from Townsend's sale that we haven't yet spent (as
@Gutter Boy points out), and then there are somewhat considerable fees that can be raised from squad players like Chadli and Mason should we move choose to move them on, plus less considerable but still useful fees (probably in the 1-5m range) for fringe players like Yedlin and Fazio that can add to the amount available to spend. So, overall, I think we'll probably see spending hit 40-45 million quid this summer, if my guess is right - however, I think net spending will remain fairly low.
Which is fine for me, as long as the right player isn't passed up because we decided to play little games over the price, drag it to the last day or ignore him because he was too expensive despite Poch indicating that he'd like to see him brought in. If Poch wants a player, give him that player; like Son, like Toby, like our encouraging late moves for Berahino, if the player's right, recouping the price can come later and sealing the deal should be the first priority. Poch, at least, seems like the sort of manager Levy trusts, so that shouldn't be an issue, and I hope it won't be.
And, as I've mentioned before, I personally think Poch has little desire to buttress low net spend figures and rely on inferior youth products *just* to make a point (as Wenger did for many years) - yes, developing young players is one of his strengths, and yes, that usually leads to lower net spends than those at clubs where the likes of Mourinho are put in charge, buuut... as he's shown at Southampton with Wanyama, Osvaldo, Ramirez and others besides, if the money's available and he thinks he needs to buy, he won't hesitate for a moment in spending large sums on expensive players of varying ages and temperaments. And to me, that's a very good thing.
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