Weren't we rumored to be in for him before?
Striker options?
- Thread starter Messier1994
- Start date
Were rumoured to be in for every man and his dog these days
Ha that's fair. Just thought there was some chatter about having genuine interest but maybe I'm misremembering.
Watkins scores and creates, he is in a lower team, and his contract runs to 2025, so... why not. I don't think he will go for that much, especially in the last year of his contract. Still, having someone who is near the top in both scoring and assisting stats is exactly what we need. I'm not saying buy Watkins without looking at any other options, just saying when a player has already been proved themself in the league, it seems a safer bet than bringing in someone who may or may not adapt.
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We could do with a(nother) young and promising striker, or a veteran who can deputise for Hojlund. I don't think we bring in another striker to fully compete with him as I believe he is our main man for the future and rightly so.
If we can get one of the above to come in and give Hojlund a rest then great, but do it fairly cheap hopefully, and put the real money into fixing problem areas like Midfield, CB and Left Wing.
Edit: would have said and GK but hell will freeze over before we address that.
If we can get one of the above to come in and give Hojlund a rest then great, but do it fairly cheap hopefully, and put the real money into fixing problem areas like Midfield, CB and Left Wing.
Edit: would have said and GK but hell will freeze over before we address that.
Homesick Harry
Benjamin Sesco £40m allows us to play 4312 0r 352 plus he can play deeper or as a wide striker, this is a no brainer we’ve scouted him already, young quick two footed and would form a deadly partnership with Rasmus for the next decade.
That’s not how it works. You don’t buy a prospect for £60m in a team playing with a lone striker to then bringing in another prospect to compete with him, that’s neither good squad planning nor responsible talent development.
We need an experienced striker with a good premier league record, at a reasonable price, in the 27+ age group to share the load with Højlund in the next 3-4 years. When the latter starts hitting 15-20 league goals consistently is when we can look to add another prospect.
If we can turn his head then I don’t think Villa can demand that much come the summer with only 1 year left on his deal. We got Mount for £55m so something in the same ballpark would get it done (striker being more expensive than midfielder offset by age difference).
Unless you got him mixed up with Toney who only has year on his contract come summer Watkins contract actually runs until 2028.
Fair, didn’t realize he signed an extension at the beginning of this season, I was advocating for signing him last summer so remembered that his previous contract ran until 25.
Any chance we could pry En-Nesyri from Sevilla? Fits the profile as a perfect sub Striker. Brilliant in the air, perfect for PL ball and a true finisher. Isn’t too young that he’d displace hojlunds spot, and not too old in that he’d decline rapidly.
Miss the days when we had a fair few strikers to choose from off the bench.
Miss the days when we had a fair few strikers to choose from off the bench.
Sounds like Ivan Toney? - Price being reasonable, not sure about that because they were asking or at least making a statement that if X is worth then Toney is worth at least 100m euro (£85m). Now, I believe that is a way to try to get as much as possible since Brentford cant turn down a bid of £40m if he decides that he wants to leave because he will have 1 year left of his contract this summer. And Im sure he wont sign a new contract, he has been playing for small clubs his whole carrier and next contract will decide if how much money he will have saved after his carrier because he turns 28 this year and this is his last longer contract with a high salary (if he has quit gambling - if he still gambles, no contract can save his economy). So I am sure he will try to get a move to a bigger club this summer (also sure that Brentford can not afford to let him go for free next summer.
I have been saying for a long time that he would be a great addition for us and I hope we try to get him, the man is scoring against all teams and has a lot of strengths. He has scored 4 goals in 5 games after his suspension.
Season 19/20 - 39 games = 26 goals 7 assists (League One + cups)
Season 20/21 - 52 games = 33 goals 10 assists (Championship + cups)
Season 21/22 - 37 games = 14 goals 6 assists (Premier League + cups) - 12 PL goals in 33 games
Season 22/23 - 35 games = 21 goals 6 assists (Premier League + cups) - 20 PL goals in 33 games
Season 23/24 - 5 games 4 goals 0 assists (Premier League only so far)
So he has 36 goals, 9 assists in 71 PL games. 45G/A in is very good numbers even if he was playing for a any of the top 6 clubs, then knowing that he has played for team that has a very low budget and that even though that they have made it very good in the PL having in minde how cheap team they have.
He has also proved that he can finish with both foots, good in the air, strong when he drops down a couple of meter to act a target player, great technique, his movement both inside and outside the box is good and also smart taking runs behind the opponents defense. He is a very allround player that can be used in several ways upfront.
Also his goal scoring and overall involvements in their goals is even more impressive when you look at how many goals Brentford scored these 3 last PL seasons.
21/22 = 48 goals = 12G+ 5A = 35% - He missed 5 games so the % is probably even a bit higher
22/23 = 58 goals = 20G + 6A = 44% - He missed 5 games so the % is probably even a bit higher
23/24 = 9 goals = 4G + 0 = 44% - Only counting the 5 last games since his comeback
Total = 316 games = 160G + 46A = 65% - These numbers are from his whole carrier but no need to break them down because they are also from low divisions, i have tried to present the ones that are relevant.
So he has been directly involved in 40%+ (if we dont count those 5+5 games he missed) - That is very impressive numbers considering that we have only DIRECT connection to all their PL goals when he has been playing, he might even been involved in more goals where he maybe was the one setting up the goals but not was the one scoring or the last passer before someone got one assist.
Now, lets say that we could buy him for 50m euros (£43.5m) - how do we use him? I cant see ETH dropping the system he has been working on for 2 seasons and adapting the players that was at the club when he got here and all his transfers for 28 years old Ivan Toney, its not prime Messi or Ronaldo we would get exactly. So It would mean that Toney would have to either be our main striker and we drop Höjlund after his season in which he is starting to be striker of the highest qualities, he is still the top scorer in CL and has now 8 in his last 8 games. Dropping him for Toney would be to take a step back because I can only see Höjlund get better and better and making that position his for the next 10 years hopefully.
Now, would Ivan Toney join us to be sitting on the bench in 80% of our games and get like 10-20 min per game and starting in the smaller cups? Maybe if no other big club wants him, I dont believe that he will make fast decision if we are the only one coming for him and we tell him that he is here to be the back up for Höjlund. And that would be another issue because ETH has made it very clear that he wants his transfers before the preseason and like i said, if we are the only club i July, he will probably wait and hope that one the top 6 clubs maybe sells their main striker and offers him both the money and to be a starter on regular basis. Chelseas transfer strategy is unpredictable and they seem to be going for everyone, Tottenham might feel that Richarlison doesn't score enough or maybe Arsenal feels that Jesus is injured to often and that Toney could be their main man - Jesus wont like it because that was one of the reasons he joined them, to get more minutes. Villa and City could be involved of course, but City are not that interested really in pure strikers (Haaland is too good for them to turn him down, otherwise they wouldn't even buy him and they have Alvarez who is young and improving), Aston Villa have only Ollie Watkins for the central position upfront, the second best pure striker is a young talent, Jhon Durán, who is only 20 years old, and joined Villa last January (2023) in a transfer worth £16m + another £3m in add-ons, who they signed from Chicago Fire (MLS). His stats from the time in Villa are 2 goals in 295 minutes (26 matches), also scored 2 goals in all cups where he has been playing more, 488 min (9 matches). So he has directly been involved much in the PL and not impressed in the cups or qualifications for the Conference Cup.
So as you can tell, I am very bored so just spent some time putting downs some information and it seems to be hard for us to make him happy here, because I am sure we are not putting Höjlund at bench for him and we are not playing 2 striker anytime soon. But, if he is fine being back up to Höjlund and Brentford would let him go for £35-40m then it would be an easy decision.
The other one mentioned a lot is Benjamin Sesko, playing for RB Leipzig and the Slovenian national team. I wont be too long with his "presentation" - he has played 29 games (1204 minutes) and scored 10 goals in all competitions (6 goals in the bundesliga, 2 in the CL and 2 in the german cup), means he is scoring a goals every 121 minut, which is good numbers for him as he is not starting every game and is still very young, only 20 years old, born in May 2003 - so 4 months younger then Höjlund.
He joined RB Leipzig only last July, not even 8 months ago, for a transfer from RB Salzburg for £22m, after that he had good last season with RB Salzburg where he managed to get 18G+4A in 32 matches (league and cups) and was very attractive among many clubs (we were one the clubs, as we had him as back up if we felt that Höjlund would be too hard to get). He said that chose because their record of helping young players taking the last steps to become a world class striker (but to be honest, I think that none of all clubs that scouted him felt that he is a obvious choice and probably was RB Leipzig the only club with a concrete offer, RB Salzburg was first asking for £45-50m, then 35m, but it ended up in £22m).
He is a very tall player, 195cm, but I just read that he is not to impressive in the air, that he is lacking strength, not that fast and needs to work on his movement - but they were also saying that he reminded of a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who also was not to good in the air, did not score to many goals and was even sitting on the bench a lot during his first months in Ajax and then he scored the CL goal against Celta Vigo and the one were he dribbled past 23 defenders and the GK and that summer Juventus came knocking on the door and the rest is history). Now, to compare talents to big players is something newspapers does on a daily basis so It doesn't tell me much. I was trying to see his highlights, also YouTube can mislead you big times, and I was not too impressed. We have a big forward in Höjlund in the same age but who is already starting to dominate the Premier League so I would not pay the 50m euros (£42.5m), that is his release clause.
So, saw that someone also mentioned Lautaro Martinez, he is a world class striker who is under contract with Inter until 2026, but they are discussing a new long contract. He is born 1997, so he turns 27 years in August. Just to make a comparison value, Martinez is valued 110m euros while Sesko is 30m and Toney 35m. So you can understand how much we would have to pay for him, because on the page transfermarket, they value players but you can easy add 30-50% to that price.
He also seems to be very happy in Milano and is often quoted saying that he wants to sign a new long contract and that he would be happy to stay for the rest of his carrier. But, we know that the money you earn in Seria A is no where near what you would get playing for a big club in PL or clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern or PSG.
Some stats;
Seria A = 269 games = 125G + 45A = 63% direct goal involvement or a goal every 91 minutes (not counting assists).
He would be a dream signing for every club and PSG are much interested in bringing him to the club (+Osimhen) this summer to replace Mbappe and Neymar (who is already bulking in Saudi). Reports from Italy are saying that PSG is willing to offer 150m euro for each of them, so 300m combined - and the question is if Inter can afford to turn it down (Osimhen has already turned down Napolis contract proposal and is searching for a new club - also one that would be a huge signing for us, but wont happen).
We can put down Osimhens numbers in Seria A as well;
Seria A = 192 games = 98G + 27A = 65%
Value: 110m - Same as Martinez and is under contract for another 2 years (2026, same as Martinez)
Over and out, dont even know why I have been writing all this when no one will even read it
They are still quoting 80m for Toney as well
Brentford can Quote anything they want to be honest but it's nothing more than bluster like in case of Raya who they were only going to let go for 40 m but reality is if Clubs pursuing Toney aren't stupid and reign in their desperation Toney won't go for more than 60 m .
I had this conversation on another thread. I will be absolutely amazed if Tony goes for 60M. Like speechless.
80M in my opinion. 70M at a push + add ons. If he's 60M every club will be in for him.
No one really wanted Raya
I'll be very surprised if he goes for anything above 60m , with just a year on his Contract and this being his final and undoubtedly biggest ever contract he will try to maximise his wages I can see Clubs agreeing on that but then not going overboard on transfer fee Brentford simply don't have leverage to play hardball .
Valid point but how many Clubs do you see lining up for Toney in Summer .
Just to add Tottenham wanted Raya but didn't want to pay 40m .
True but it only takes one club to break ranks and offer the 80. Utd, Arsenal and Tottenham might offer 60M and not budge but if Chelsea then offer 80M he goes for 80 to one of the clubs mentioned. Somebody will break and drive the price up to what Brentford want.
That’s your opinion, when you have two developing number 9’s they can share the workload as they could potentially and you finally have a goal threat who offers different options from the bench then the squad improves and the club no longer scores 35 goals in 25 league games but starts hitting the 50 plus that nearly every other team in the top 8 have. An experienced striker will want to play every game, bring in Vlahovic or Toney and you stunt Rasmus growth, Sesco can also play as a 10, he’s clever and his buyout is nearer to £45m or €50m not £60m?
Did you watch the Madrid red bull game the other day, his movement pace and strength caused Madrid all sort of problems ?
What happens if Rasmus is injured and our so called experienced striker thinks he’s hit the jackpot like Martial, a 27-29 year old on his last contract probably of £200k per week just dialling it in, surely United and our fanbase have learnt from signing players like Falcao, Cavani, Ronaldo, Alexis Sanchez?
When you bring one of these players in how does this affect the rest of the squad why would you want that when young hungry strikers are out there like Sesko, Santiago Gimenez, Evan Ferguson.
Sesco might be at the club for 5 or 6 years so £9m per year plus £6m wages per year ?
Could see United offering C Eriksen plus another player plus £50-60m but personally I’d like a young striker
That's one of those deals that just makes total sense but won't happen. Swaps are quite rare.
I'd like to see it though.
United wont bother with Toney in summer fully confident in that .
Problem with Toney is wouldn't he want to start every week? and frankly whoever we buy has to be a number two behind Hojlund.
We basically need either a young striker that's a lot cheaper then Hojliund was, or a more vetran striker thats happy to be mostly coming off the bench/starting cup games.
We basically need either a young striker that's a lot cheaper then Hojliund was, or a more vetran striker thats happy to be mostly coming off the bench/starting cup games.
Spot on we made a concious decision to invest big on young Striker let's stay the course and not complicate things by repeating our Old mistakes .
Plenty
This area of the team will be the most important part of recruitment for the next 5 or 6 years so we have to get it right. The strikers position United are looking for is twofold - we need a left footed right winger to replace Antony, Sancho and Greenwood.
Mostly all United fans agree on the options for this position ; Pedro Neto, M Olise, N Williams, Takefusa Kubo
young, fast dynamic, creator and goal scorer preferably left footed, also lets consider that Omar Forson and to a lesser extent Shea Lacey coming through.
Now on to the other position the most difficult to recruit, we need another number 9, one who is versatile, fast and can play in multiple positions. City did not say to Julien Alvarez when they bought him, your not going to play more than 5 or 6 games because we just bought E Haaland is one year younger than you, no they said you can be part of our developing team , a key part either number 9, number 10 or a striker and you will contribute.
United must decide so we want an experienced Centre forward who is versatile and can play across the front 4 positions or do we want another young, ambitious emerging talent who will work harder than the experienced option. We clearly need another elite CF/Striker and we need to make one absolute decision no one over 30 should be signed. Experienced right now for United should be 26-29 and we need to look at all the options. Emerging should be aged 18-21, established option 22-2We as a club really need to do absolute due diligence on this player. So I’ve bracketed some options in the three categories. The club will be looking for a fire sale of Sancho, Greenwood, Pellistri, Antony and Martial will leave, we will set aside about £50m of a £200m budget for 2 new players plus what we sell from existing players, maybe another £75-100m so potentially £125-150m.
Emerging Prospects - Evan Ferguson(85m) age 19, Benjamin Sesco(45m) age 20, Mathys Tel(50m) age 18, Adam Hlozek (20m) age 21
Establishing Players - Luis Openda (50m) age 24, Dusan Vlahovic (60m) age 24, Santiola Gimenez(40m) age 22, Victor Boniface (35m) age 23, Joshua Zirkzee(30m) age 22
Experienced Players - Victor Osimhen (110m) age 25, Lautoro Martinez(75m) Age 26, Patrik Schick (25m) age 28, Ivan Toney (65m) age 28, Artem Dovbyk(35m) age 26, Serhou Guirassy(20) age 27
The market is flush this summer for us to pick up at least one talented striker, at United we should always try and buy the best so if Lautoro Martinez is available he would be perfect as a player that comes into the starting 11 but also can play as a 9 or a 10.
Personally for me the club is so woefully light in our attacking positions, which is why we simply don’t score enough goals. Substitutes are key in the modern game and United rely solely on Scott McTominay to get you a goal from the bench which is an absolute joke. If we can’t afford or can’t get Martinez, Toney or Osimhen, then we must buy two, one prospect and one experienced or emerging striker.
If we can’t get one of the above three then go buy B Sesco or S Gimenez and S Guirassy for a combined £60-65m?
Mostly all United fans agree on the options for this position ; Pedro Neto, M Olise, N Williams, Takefusa Kubo
young, fast dynamic, creator and goal scorer preferably left footed, also lets consider that Omar Forson and to a lesser extent Shea Lacey coming through.
Now on to the other position the most difficult to recruit, we need another number 9, one who is versatile, fast and can play in multiple positions. City did not say to Julien Alvarez when they bought him, your not going to play more than 5 or 6 games because we just bought E Haaland is one year younger than you, no they said you can be part of our developing team , a key part either number 9, number 10 or a striker and you will contribute.
United must decide so we want an experienced Centre forward who is versatile and can play across the front 4 positions or do we want another young, ambitious emerging talent who will work harder than the experienced option. We clearly need another elite CF/Striker and we need to make one absolute decision no one over 30 should be signed. Experienced right now for United should be 26-29 and we need to look at all the options. Emerging should be aged 18-21, established option 22-2We as a club really need to do absolute due diligence on this player. So I’ve bracketed some options in the three categories. The club will be looking for a fire sale of Sancho, Greenwood, Pellistri, Antony and Martial will leave, we will set aside about £50m of a £200m budget for 2 new players plus what we sell from existing players, maybe another £75-100m so potentially £125-150m.
Emerging Prospects - Evan Ferguson(85m) age 19, Benjamin Sesco(45m) age 20, Mathys Tel(50m) age 18, Adam Hlozek (20m) age 21
Establishing Players - Luis Openda (50m) age 24, Dusan Vlahovic (60m) age 24, Santiola Gimenez(40m) age 22, Victor Boniface (35m) age 23, Joshua Zirkzee(30m) age 22
Experienced Players - Victor Osimhen (110m) age 25, Lautoro Martinez(75m) Age 26, Patrik Schick (25m) age 28, Ivan Toney (65m) age 28, Artem Dovbyk(35m) age 26, Serhou Guirassy(20) age 27
The market is flush this summer for us to pick up at least one talented striker, at United we should always try and buy the best so if Lautoro Martinez is available he would be perfect as a player that comes into the starting 11 but also can play as a 9 or a 10.
Personally for me the club is so woefully light in our attacking positions, which is why we simply don’t score enough goals. Substitutes are key in the modern game and United rely solely on Scott McTominay to get you a goal from the bench which is an absolute joke. If we can’t afford or can’t get Martinez, Toney or Osimhen, then we must buy two, one prospect and one experienced or emerging striker.
If we can’t get one of the above three then go buy B Sesco or S Gimenez and S Guirassy for a combined £60-65m?
I hope your right as much as I like him we can get Sesco and Guissay together for less money and both can play across front other positions.
Those don't just grow on trees in 2024
Whoever fits that description (and I'm not sure there's anyone that does) would cost far more than anything you'd deem "reasonable"
It’s for the best ?
I believe so yes .
Wouldn't Viktor Gyökeres in Sporting CP be worth considering? 24 goals and 9 assists in all competitions this season (29 games). Valued at 45m euro according to transfermerkt.com
We are supposed to have a small-mid level transfer budget and many positions to fill. We can't blow 100m on Osimhen or Ferguson only to have Hojlund/the new guy sit on the bench.
In my opinion we should target three sort of players
a- young players that won't cost us a lot (Denkey, Santiago Gimenez, the Pisa giant Lucca, maybe Boniface or Zirkzee)
b- players heading toward their last year of contract (Taremi, Pavlidis, Jonathan David, maybe Toney)
c- players with a minimum fee clause (Guirassy)
Was quite impressed with Muniz today, very good with his back to goal, good physical abilities, holds the ball up well and seems technically sound, type of player who may be worth watching moving forward, might be a decent back up.
I think his contract goes to 2028.
Evan Fergusson I think would be a great partner for Hojlund - I think they'd (a) be like-for-like sharing a sole striker role and (b) develop a Cole-Yorkey telepathic partnership when playing two up top. Would love to see this
Evan Ferguson will be too expensive this summer. I don’t think we have the money to sign him.
With Hojlund as our main striker and our current issue with FFP, I don’t think we are in desperation to invest big money on striker unless if we sell Rashford for big money like 100m.
Sesko has 40m release clause. Dovbyk has 25m release clause. There are some good cheaper alternatives.
With Hojlund as our main striker and our current issue with FFP, I don’t think we are in desperation to invest big money on striker unless if we sell Rashford for big money like 100m.
Sesko has 40m release clause. Dovbyk has 25m release clause. There are some good cheaper alternatives.
Yes! I opened this thread specifically to add his name to the mix.
Rodrigo Muniz turns 23 in May and Fulham got him for 8M from his Brazilian club a few years ago. So he is at a good age, is getting experience in the league, and it wouldn't take a ridiculous offer for Fulham to double their money on the investment.
I have been impressed every time I see him. He leads the line very well and from my uneducated perspective it looks like he would fit ETH's role as the number 9 perfectly. A few weeks ago he was a 22 year old playing at Old Trafford going up against two experienced CBs that both have loads of caps for their respective national teams, and I think Muniz more than held his own. I'd say it was a wonderful display of a battling center forward who was running the channels and in behind with energy, but also did well at winning headers and holding the ball up to play in teammates.
So far this season he has 5G and 1A in 16 league games, so he isn't exactly lighting it up, but that could help in keeping his price reasonable! It looks like he had a small injury in November and he missed a bit of time, but since he came back in the squad in December he is now a regular starter for them.
I think the talent and potential is there for him to be an excellent center forward and considering the budgetary concerns we will apparently be under this summer we probably won't be able to compete for the obvious big money signings like Ivan Toney or Watkins from Villa etc. So this would be a great option to increase our striking depth and quality for a good price. I really want us to sign him!
We should really be looking at Latauro Martinez. Different kind of striker to Hojlund, could easily give them no to enough starts to keep both happy. More importantly though they could start games together given the right setup and I’d imagine work well together. No brainer