He played 2k minutes+ in his two seasons at Juventus, 2 league titles, 2 Coppa Italias, started the 14/15 CL final and played 85 minutes and scored in it, also in the CL team of the season that year. Always contributed well at both Juventus and Real Madrid. Granted he's never been a 20-30 goal a season striker. We've tried to give him a different role and it hasn't worked.
He can play a very valuable part of a team though if he's used to his strengths and right mentally. Even during his time in England he's still managed to win more domestic trophies than Kane and Lukaku put together
.
Out of a possible 3,420 league minutes, he played 1,319 (39%) in his first season and 1,455 (43%) in his second season. In that second season he shared the spot with Mandzukic who played 2,050 (60%), and to some extent Dybala who played 2,464 (72%). He was a backup target man with good cup form.
The situation he got himself in at Juve was almost exactly the same as it is now. He wasn't good enough in his 1st season to nail down that top spot and generally underwhelmed as a target man, so they brought in an experienced, reliable player who could be a real targetman in the 2nd season to at first challenge him, and ultimately to replace him. In your case it was Giroud and he was needed 6 months in, in their case it was good ol' Mario.
I'm not criticising Chelsea for taking a chance on him. For me he had more potential than Lukaku, if he was able to overcome that major mental deficiency. That was a really big question that many people, particularly
@Raoul, had decided he'd already answered based on his role as a back-up striker at Real Madrid, despite the fact that the mental challenge is totally different. It was possible he would carry on his form from that one season in special circumstances, but in my view it was more likely he'd revert back to his form before then. It was open to debate at least.
I don't understand how it's still being debated now. What he's doing at Chelsea now is so similar to what he was doing in every season except 16/17, that it makes no sense to describe this as anything other than his norm. He might well kick on at a next club, but that can't be characterised as returning to form - that's him making a step up that so far he hasn't been able to do anywhere since becoming a professional.
Tbf you did call it. You were spot on about him from day one. I remember you and
@Raoul having a load of back and forth about him. Wasn’t there a bet involved at some point?!
Probably the only prediction thread I've made about a player that worked out! 1 in 20 is a lot better than 0 in 19 so I'll take it...
He didn't agree to the bet in the end, sadly! He's a man with strong opinions but he's not silly enough to risk money on those views...