What if the rumours about Routledge are true and he goes? Sounds ridiculous to me but if someone was stupid enough to offer £8 million ish anyone with half a brain would snap their hand off once they had sorted a replacement. If they didn't sort a replacement if Barton then gets injured we are a bit screwed. Even if Routledge doesn't go Routledge is not all that. An OK ish sub. Larsson would be an upgrade here.
We need squad players we don't have strength in depth. Larsson seems a bargain at £1.5 million. You need two decent players for each position ideally.
No arguments about how good Barton is at the moment. Barton is 100% number one choice on the right, he's in some of the best form of his life, very much a big part of the reason we are doing well at the moment and i personally would be trying to extend his contract asap. 60k a week may not fit well into their wage structure. But we can't afford to be without him on the pitch and replacing him with someone better for less would be near impossible.
I would snap their hands of for 1 million.