Real Sociedad

Two games in to the new La Liga season, Real Sociedad have agreed to sell Alexander Isak to Newcastle for a club record fee. It's quite early, but with a 1-0 win against a poor Cadiz side and a 4-1 defeat to Barcelona, it's been a mixed start. I don't know how much of their struggles to score are down to as slow, predictable brand of football, versus how defensive the rest of the league is. I view La Liga as by far the most defensive league of the top five, and it's not particularly close. In short, this will be a squad overview as the transfer window's coming to a close, and a look into what I'd do with the Isak money.

Squad as it stands

GK: Alex Remiro (27), Andoni Zubiaurre (25)

CB Robin Le Normand (25), Aritz Elustondo (28), Igor Zubeldia (25), Jon Pacheco (21)

LB Aihen Munoz (25), Diego Rico (29)

RB Andoni Gorosabel (26), Alex Sola (23)

DM Martin Zubimendi (23), Asier Illaramendi (32)

CM Mikel Merino (26), Ander Guevara (25), Beñat Turrientes (20)

AM David Silva (36), Robert Navarro (20)

RW Brais Mendez (25), Take Kubo (21)

LW Mikel Oyarzabal (25), Ander Barrenetxea (20)

CF Mohamed Ali Cho (18), Carlos Fernandez (26)

Fernandez and Sola are currently out with hamstring injuries. Oyarzabal is recovering from a torn ACL. Cho is only 18 and just joined. Brais and Kubo are new recruits as well. Illarramendi has had fitness issues for most of his career. The first couple games have seen CB's playing at RB. The team on the whole only scored 40 goals last season, leading to a goal difference of 3, which is nowhere near good enough. Isak and Oyarzabal scored 15 of those 40 goals, with 6 of those coming from penalties (Januzaj and Portu, both no longer at the club, scored 3 combined pens as well).

B team prospects

Jon Karrikaburu (19), striker

Urko Gonzalez (21), CB

Jon Ander Olasagasti (22), CM

Ander Martin (21), RW

Jonathan Gomez (18), LB

Based on Transfermarkt value, Karrikaburu is by far the most exciting. The B team was relegated from Segunda last season, but that's expected, given many of the guys who could've been on that team are in the first team.

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Striker Shortlist

Jonathan Burkardt (22), Mainz

Marko Arnautovic (33), Bologna

Memphis Depay (29), Barcelona

Armando Broja (20), Chelsea

Raul de Tomas (27), Espanyol

Duvan Zapata (31), Atalanta

Neal Maupay (26), Brighton

Enes Ünal (25), Getafe

I'll give a short summary of each of the targets. Burkardt and Arnautovic were brought to my attention via the similar players tab on fbref. Both offer something different are in different stages of their careers.

• Arnautovic is a hothead with all the talent in the world, but it's a case of nobody being able to harness that ability, hence why he's played in China, gotten relegated with Stoke, and is now languishing in midtable with a boring Bologna side.

• Burkardt, on the other hand, is shorter than Arnautovic and Isak, but he's a typical Bundesliga pressing forward. The question I'd have is how would he fit in a more technical league and in a relatively possession based side.

Memphis is an unrealistic target, given he wants money and Champions League football. I do think he's a better for for this type of system than Isak was, given his better ball-striking and creativity. Plus, he's in his prime as opposed to Isak, who's still growing.

Broja is an interesting one. I think he may be too expensive, but if striker is the only position the club addresses, they could splash a decent chunk of money. League wise I think his time at Southampton would better prepare him than say Burkardt, but at the same time that system wasn't possession-based either, so that could be a case of growing pains at this level.

R.D.T. is on here because he's theoretically in his prime and appears to be leaving Espanyol. I view him as more of a poacher, but he's played for Madrid, so some level of talent is obviously there. He's played in the league for years and it's his native tongue, so adapting shouldn't be an issue.

Similarly, Duvan is Colombian, at the tail end of what one would expect to be his "prime", and Atalanta are undergoing changes. On the other hand, however, he seems to be integral still to what Gasperini is doing, so it's possible he'd stay in Bergamo. It would depend on wages and if he wants to play in Spain. Fit wise, he's a better player than Isak at this point, so if the club wants to compete right away it would be an upgrade.

Neal Maupay resembles Memphis to me, at least a bit. More of a windup merchant and less talented, but both headcases nonetheless. I don't think this will happen for a second, but it would be interesting. I don't question his work rate in the slightest, but for the years he's been at Brighton finishing has been an issue, much like at La Real. Stylistically, Brighton play neat football, so that would be a seamless transition. UPDATE: He's gone to Everton.

Another option I'll add after the fact, having heard links to him, is Enes Ünal. He's at Getafe, a club that will end up mid-table at best, and I imagine he'd prefer to play for a Europa League team with a more aesthetically pleasing style of play. He scored 14 non-penalty goals in a frankly anemic team last season, so in theory putting him in a better footballing side should see him reach similar numbers.

Lastly, I can't forget Griezmann. He came through at La Real and had some good years in San Sebastian before moving to Atleti the first time. The questions there are does he want to come back, can the club afford to bring him in, and will he be able to return to his best? If the wages can be sorted, and he'd be offered a big role in the team, it would boil down to him regaining his form and staying fit.

I'm sure I'm missing a number of potential targets, but I enjoyed giving a few options and what I think the strengths and weaknesses would be if they were to join La Real. The likely pick of these is R.D.T. (second choice being Ünal); Spanish, plays in the league, looking to leave Espanyol, in his prime, should be about 30m euros max. Griezmann is a bad idea because he's a second striker, and that isn't what the club needs, especially when replacing Isak. Duvan will stay in Bergamo, while Maupay will stay at Brighton or move to another English club, as will Broja. Burkardt would be awesome, but I just don't see it happening. More of an FM move than an IRL one.

In addition to Ünal joining the list as a target, Sorloth has returned on loan from Leipzig. Not that either would happen, but bringing in a target man eliminates the need for Broja/Duvan. Like I said in the previous paragraph, the two choices are R.D.T. and Ünal.

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Other players in positions I'd target

Alvaro Odriozola (26), RB

Bring him back. You only have one trusted RB, given Sola played 2 games last season, and Odriozola has barely played for Madrid. It could be a loan, or a sale. Doesn't matter. You have money from the Isak deal.

This is just me, and I don't think it'll happen, but in my opinion the club needs another player to cover/compete for a starting role at DM/CB. Igor Zubeldia is listed as a CB these days, but he can also play DM, so I guess the specifics depend on how Alguacil views the player. Also, something tells me Odriozola won't be coming back, nor will a right back be coming through the door, which means Elustondo will spend more time in that position. There's the kid Danilo from Palmeiras I've mentioned before, though he might set his sights higher when he moves to Europe. I've seen the English folks on twitter talking about Harry Winks, and I actually think he'd be interesting at La Real as a rotational option. He could be a lone six, technically, so if Zubimendi is out and Illarra continues to have his fitness issues, he could slide right in. Also, along with Guevara, Winks could play the Merino role if he were to get injured or suspended.

I have to list Jason Denayer here in the CB list, given he's still a free agent. Zagadou as well; I'm a huge fan of him, and his upside is through the roof, but his fitness issues find him club-less at this point. Attila Szalai and Victor Nelsson are always options from Turkey, though I won't pretend to have kept up with them out there. A left-footed CB would be nice to have at La Real, so I've bolded those. Jorge Cuenca fits the bill, and maybe he could come in on loan (with option?) from Villarreal instead of returning to Getafe. John Brooks is another free agent, on the older end of things, but he has his positives as a CB and would provide depth. Not sure how he'd fit culturally, given the language and drastic playing style differences.

I'd also consider bringing in either a backup keeper or someone to compete with Remiro. Ryan was a weird choice last season as the backup, and he's gone now, so unless this Zubiaurre guy is trusted, someone should probably be brought in. Wall of text incoming.

There aren't many free agents, but those include a Turkish guy called Berke Özer (23) from Fenerbahce, La Liga veteran Roberto (36), the infamous Karius (29), Luca Zidane (24), a guy called Noam Baumann (26) who last played at Lugano, and an Egyptian named Gabaski (33). One of those could make do, or go for a keeper with an expiring deal in 2023. Those are more promising and include Oblak (unrealistic), Bayindir (24), Safonov (23), Destanoglu (21), Meret (25), De Gea (wages?), David Soria (29), Bundesliga duo Hradecky (32) and Sommer (33), as well as Barcelona pair Pena (23) and Tenas (21). One of the last two could be quite interesting as a loan or longer term option. I haven't seen much of the Turkish guys I listed, but they'd be worth looking at. I really like Safonov. that would be my pick of all the players mentioned. I do like the veteran German-based guys, as that's a position that's completely exposed in the Bundesliga, so their numbers look worse than they would in La Liga.

Overall, I don't blame the club for selling Isak. His numbers haven't been good enough, and his consistency is questionable. However, I have no doubt he'll thrive in a more physical league with more space, especially in the counter-attacking system Eddie Howe has going at Newcastle. Think of Morata or Diego Costa for Simeone at Atleti. La Real have a decent squad as is, but to actually push for a top four spot or potentially win the Europa League, I believe they need to improve at right back or center back, as well as obviously up front, and I don't know if they'll do that before the window shuts. Sorloth is questionable as a striker, and it's not like he was amazing the first loan spell with La Real. In fact, he underperformed in terms of xG (and xA, for that matter). If R.D.T. comes in, which is not a foregone conclusion quite yet, I think those two plus Cho and even Fernandez should be enough, but 3 unproven/not good enough strikers will continue to see La Real struggle to score. As I also mentioned, depth wise a better backup keeper would help, and I don't see the club signing one of those, either. It's a season in which top four is achievable, and it'll be a shame if a decent club like Real Sociedad fail to reach that goal due to not having quality depth.