Lescott: the final piece in Hughes' jigsaw?

Much has been made about the potential arrival of Everton defender Joleon Lescott over the last couple of weeks. I think he'd prove another good signing, but perhaps is worth closer to our initial bid than the £30m being spoken of by the media. He'd be a definite improvement, though Richard Dunne's first couple of performances so far this season have been promising. I wonder if the potential arrival of the Everton man might be our final dalliance in the transfer market this summer.

Our opinions on which areas of the squad might need a final touch-up will differ, though i'm certain we'd all agree that overall we're looking reassuringly strong in most departments. The sides who occupy the four positions which we'll ultimately covet have the luxury of being able to replace a proven player with another, and for the first time since i've been supporting the club we seem to be amassing the two players for each position that should serve us well should our hopes of improvement come to fruition.

I expect that our strongest side will be tailored to who and where we happen to be playing, but generally i'd expect it to be as below, give or take suspensions, injuries, form or tweaks in formation that might be necessary when facing tougher or more direct opposition away from Eastlands...

.......................Given.....................
Zabaleta...Toure...Lescott...Bridge
SWP.....Ireland.....Barry.....Robinho
............Tevez......Adebayor..............

The side that could be deemed their replacements is also quite strong. Bellamy and Santa Cruz should prove like-for-like alternatives for the main front pairing. Whether Roque will get quite as much football as he'd have hoped on signing is doubtful, but Craig Bellamy perhaps might, being able to perform in three or four different roles. Martin Petrov looks up for the new season, if he continues to knuckle down then he could come into the side over Robinho on the left in certain games, particularly away from home. Vladimir Weiss, as early into his career as he is, from what i've seen has the attributes to be a viable backup to Shaun.

Nigel de Jong and Michael Johnson, fitness permitting with the latter, should push Stevie Ireland and Gareth Barry for the central roles, and Vincent Kompany, who did absolutely nothing wrong last season, should get enough games either in that position or at the back, with Nedum Onouha, Richard Dunne and Micah Richards also challenging for places.

Even with such a strong set of players, i still think there are a couple of areas we should be looking to strengthen before the end of the window, not necessarily major acquisitions, but improving on squad players who i'm not convinced are, if called upon, good enough to do a job. Signing a backup goalkeeper is perhaps a tricky affair. Bringing in a player who knows he's unlikely to see action must be a difficult. A top-class stopper is probably off limits, but i do think that we could've done better than Stuart Taylor. Shay Given should, touch wood, not suffer any serious knocks, he seems to keep himself fit, but i'd rather we had someone with more games under his belt at the highest level to come into the side in the event he's unavailable.

The other position would be a backup left-back. We have no-one besides Wayne Bridge with significant experience there. As i've spoken of before, i'm not sure about Bridge. He'll certainly be Hughes' first-choice, but i'd rather we had a more defensively-minded alternative, especially with our current left wing options. I'd like to see us sign another player in that position, and loan Ryan McGivern out rather than potentially have to call on him too early into his career. Were it my call i'd, assuming he does sign, be tempted to play Lescott at full-back, though i believe he prefers playing centrally, with Toure and Kompany in the centre. Again, it could be tough to attract a proven player who doesn't expect to play every, even most weeks.