We will finish in 3rd. You read it here first...
Potential striker signings (who aren't named Højlund)
- Thread starter sullydnl
- Start date
We will finish in 3rd. You read it here first...
So you want to get a top striker and stunt his growth? He is learning under Edi and CR7. The hopes is that by the time 23/24 season starts he will then be our #9. So that's another year and a half...
I wouldn't be surprised to see Haller replacing Cavani if Ten Hag becomes the new manager. Wouldn't cost too much (€30m???), target man, knows what Ten Hag wants him to do and his numbers are great this season in the Champions League. Knows the league even though he was poor in it for West Ham.
Others, I guess Isak, DCL, Schick and Toney will be looked at if they want a skillful, hardworking Cavani replacement with a good first touch. Vlahovic if Juve falls through. Alternatively they could look at a false 9 in Fernandes to drag CD's out of position. David or Richarlison for tricky, technical outside to in support strikers but we already have that with Greenwood, Rashford & Martial.
I would prefer a 24 year old Cavani at Napoli. My guess is we will bid £75m for Kane and not get him and stick with Ronaldo, Greenwood and Martial.
Others, I guess Isak, DCL, Schick and Toney will be looked at if they want a skillful, hardworking Cavani replacement with a good first touch. Vlahovic if Juve falls through. Alternatively they could look at a false 9 in Fernandes to drag CD's out of position. David or Richarlison for tricky, technical outside to in support strikers but we already have that with Greenwood, Rashford & Martial.
I would prefer a 24 year old Cavani at Napoli. My guess is we will bid £75m for Kane and not get him and stick with Ronaldo, Greenwood and Martial.
I'd have more faith in having a striker that doesn't score many goals if Rashford, Bruno and Sancho weren't having such poor seasons, Liverpool get away with it because of the high scoring consistent output of Salah and Mane. I looked up Osimhen, he's certainly a bulldozer, fast and good in the air, his touch is a bit Lukaku for my tastes but he's certainly different to any option we have. Abraham is doing well at Roma I know but they only just paid £34M for him which is maximum of what he's worth imo and they'd want double that from us. Gouiri is very much my type of player but his qualities look very much the same as Mason's. I think I'd probably favour Schick from the options we are discussing, Isak might be viable if our wide forwards started putting up big numbers.
Just sign Jonathan David
Id like him too. He looks confident, 2 footed, physical, mobile. He’d be a good player to play off. Wouldn’t cost the world
Ben Brereton. Has a past United connection as well.
Yup. Would be low risk, and I think he could manage. Certainly doesn't look too intimidated against the big teams and that finish in the last match...
Jonathan David looks like a stud. It really depends on what system we want to play though.
Low risk?? Kop twerker Thomas Frankunt will do his best to scupper any deal and he's contracted til 2025. We'd be paying out of our arses..Yup. Would be low risk, and I think he could manage. Certainly doesn't look too intimidated against the big teams and that finish in the last match...
Understandable, but I want to think that this season is an outlier. Especially with better coaching they should be better than what they've shown during the first half of the season. Even with Rangnick it looks like that Rashford and Bruno are finding their feet again. And I doubt that Sancho isn't going to get better.
I don't think Osimhen is as bad as Lukaku is in that regard. He seems to have more in his locker and I think he works harder. Obviously if Roma would want an absurd amount of money for Abraham, then there would be no point, but I wouldn't be surprised, if we were a bit desperate come summer should all 3 of Cavani, Ronaldo and Martial decide to leave. My problem with Schick is his allround play, he doesn't really offer anything else other than his goalscoring ability by the looks of it, but considering that he might just come in as an option and not as the undisputed expected starter, that could suffice. Haven't really seen all that much of Isak recently, so no clue how he's done or how he would fit in.
Was more referring to the risk of him performing for us, rather than the challenge of us signing him.
Currently we couldn't trust the club to sign a petition, let alone a footballer.
Napoli paid £75 million for him he'd be expensive as anyone we are looking to sign
I'm aware. I'm not saying he is likely.
I'd probably back Tuchel to right the ship over us. They're a solid team and just need one of their front 3 players to get hot.
4th looks on though.
He's an interesting player. I'm Canadian so watch him closely and for the national team. He bangs in goals but with a real minimalism. Moves well in the box. Kinda stocky but fast. Looks quite average a lot of the time but he pops up in good spots. Not sure he's best as a lone #9. Good presser. No idea who will sign him. Wouldn't be shocked if PSG move for him if they're not moving Messi central when Mbappe goes and they want a worker between Messi and Neymar.
Knowing our taste for free signings over 34, Suarez will be on his way
people have been saying chelsea are a top team for a few years now. I'm not convinced on tuchel. Chelsea got hot at the right time and won Champions League. That doesn't mean they are the same level as the other two top teams. I still think we have better players. Just a matter of getting them to play as a team and we are starting to see that. We came back from 10 points behind Chelsea two years ago. Assuming we win our games in hand we are only 3 points behind them now...
Haller will follow Ten hag.
They're 24 goals ahead of us on goal difference. Chelsea are 11/1 at Bet365 to miss the top 4 and 1.44/1. Odds are it's Chelsea 3rd and then United and 1 of the 2 North London teams in a proper fight for 4th. At gunpoint I'd probably bet on Conte screaming his team over the line with some 1-0 wins.
Definitely a system player. In the right system he could be genuinely world class, similar to Firmino in his prime, but if he makes the wrong career move then he will struggle more than others.
Firmino was a quality #10 who became a false 9, which we see lots of (Olmo and Cesc for Spain for example, Havertz his last year at Leverkusen when he was great). David reminds me more of say Robbie Keane but a better version.
I could see Chelsea signing him to pair with Lukaku and just using Mount as a 10, to get Lukaku a partner since he thrived with that at Inter. Their wingers have mostly struggled and looked worse than at previous teams (Pulisic and Ziyech).
Having a good first half playing a sort of false 9 type role or a 10 tonight as Canada is playing a 3-4-3 but the RWB (Buchanan, created the first goal with his excellent dribbling, probably has more "natural talent" than David and I think some team like Brentford has missed one in him going to Brugge from MLS) is very high up so basically Larin is very high on the right up top and David is behind him and central.
Anyways, nice 1-2 from David and he's taking up good possessions in the space between the DMs and the CBs, usual good defensive work (he doesn't even stand upright gawking when the other team has it near our corner flag, he actually cares about his positioning and moves to get into good spots in case the ball comes back or we get a counter).
Disgustingly good goal from David. Suarez-ian.
I'm confident in Sancho finding his footing at the club, but I'm concerned that Rashford still isn't showing maturity or team play, and Bruno's carelessness really needs to be reined in.
Osimhen looks more mobile I'd agree and he seems better in the air, but that touch? I dunno man, and then there's the fact Napoli paid €70M for him!
Where did Napoli get that kind of money? Schick's technical quality is good imo and he can link up but Isak is definitely more rounded in this department.I looked up some videos on Jonathan David as well, he's got that bodybuilder upper body, looks an interesting prospect, raw though. There's a rumour that we are looking at that winger from Porto, if there's any truth 8n that I'd worry we are thinking of going into next season with Ronaldo and Mason as our 2 strikers.
That commentary.
Our commentary has not caught up to the quality of the players this cycle
Only seen him play twice but gave me Louis Saha vibes.
Well that is a loose comparison and while there are obvious physical similarities I really do not see much similar in their style of play.
If I was going to compare him to any previous Utd forward it would probably be Dublin and that is more because of what Dion achieved at other clubs because of the injuries he had in his time with us.
Physical similarities aside, the touch, the movement and he seems to be good with both feet. Saha favoured his left but was quite good with his right too.
Not necessary.
Saha was as quick as feck as well and more of an out and out striker in my opinion.
I think Toney is more of a 'hold up bring team players in type player' and good in the air and can finish.
If we imagine that Ten Hag is our manager and his current use of Haller is an insight into the sort of forward he'd like then someone like DCL might become more of an option. It's a case of horses for courses after all and a mobile target man who has that key knack of generating high npxG may fit, even if he isn't the type of striker I'd generally prefer. And I'd suspect a 24 year old English player would appeal to the club generally as a profile to sign.
How so? Ronaldo will be 37 and is clearly waning and our only other option is Mason who's looked much more comfortable playing as a wide forward.
I think Masons future will be through the middle but agree that Ronaldo although exceptional for a 36 year old isnt what he was... I fully expect him to leave in the winter window next year (is it just before or after the world cup)
So i do think we will be in the market if a striker becomes available - just not sure who there might be - Lewandowski on a free / pre contract to rotate with Mason? after the world cup?
1-0 win and 4-0 win is still 3 points.
Osimhen looks more mobile I'd agree and he seems better in the air, but that touch? I dunno man, and then there's the fact Napoli paid €70M for him!
Napoli has a sustainable business model with a wage bill carefully limited, their spendings don’t exceed their normal incomes ( tv rights + commercial). Whenever they sell players (Higuain for 90M or Jorginho for 50M) it gives them a buffer to invest in new players and extend their top players beyond the normal salary cap (Mertens, Insigne and Koulibaly), but they won’t make crasy deals to keep players, not even for Insigne who is leaving now.
Osimhen was bought 12 months after selling Jorginho. And the 70 was actually 55 + players.
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I'm not sure with Mason, the more I watch him play and listen to his interviews the more I think he's going to be a Salah or Sterling type wide forward goal scorer than a central striker.
Lewandowski isn't out of contract until summer 2023, right? I think that's too late, but in fairness I don't see a clear and obvious route for us to go with striker, unlike midfield.
Interesting stuff, cheers, it's always fascinating when you see how these "second tier" big clubs who are top 4 contenders astutely manage their business and structure things so concisely.
Changed my mind... You're right.