If we're not going to get Middleton back, it's going to be tricky finding a similar player who can add pace going forward, can hit a free kick and gives us a big impact option when coming off the bench. I'd love to be able to bring him in ahead of the European games as I think he could make a big difference, but at the moment that seems to be looking unlikely.
Looking at how our squad's shaping up so far I'd say we look stronger at the back with Muller and Devine now here, but at the other end we've lost Middleton, Conway and Melamed who all proved to be important with scoring or providing goals at various points of last season. From looking at that, and also watching the Preston game, my main worry for next season would be that we're still going to find it a struggle to score goals without some good attacking additions.