He's better than Elanga, we need depth across the midfield and forward line.
The centre-forward market...
- Thread starter Rozay
- Start date
Take it you mean as in before end of window,should get him on loan then sign permanently in the summer
Tielemans lack of mobility scares me, but I think we can find a backup to Casemiro cheap. Just have to risk buying a South American like Ajax did with Edson Alvarez, or be clever like Brentford grabbing Norgaard off of Fiorentina’s bench. Jefferson Lerma is on a free but seems to have dropped a level, or I would have said he’d be okay. But there are always solid DMs around who can be bought for 15M.
He's another left forward and it's the only position where we don't need reinforcements bar left back.
If we bring in someone cheaper like Thuram, Dembele or Zaha on a free or a young #9 like Sesko, with an eye to Kane or a big striker in 2024 and Havertz goes to Germany and lights it up, could he be the next Salah/De Bruyne, failing at Chelsea when he was still quite young and then going to another Prem team?
He's probably a 10 and not a 9, but Ten Hag uses our 9 fairly deep and we could have him to link up as a healthier Martial and then sign a goalscorer.
It's probably a no, but he was good as a false 9 the couple of times I saw him at Leverkusen, and he is at 10 in 23 for Germany the last 2 years and guys his size often take time to mature. On the other hand, Germany looked 10 times better with a Weghorst level #9 in Fullkrug so it's probably not on and he might go to say Dortmund to replace Reus as their long-term 9 if they're not convinced by Brandt and think Reyna is a wide man.
I think we've seen enough to know that he would suit the system nicely with his pressing and link play, but tough to see him doubling his scoring rate in the Prem, though considering Chelsea 9s like Lukaku have struggled and he's 23 it's certainly possible.
He's probably a 10 and not a 9, but Ten Hag uses our 9 fairly deep and we could have him to link up as a healthier Martial and then sign a goalscorer.
It's probably a no, but he was good as a false 9 the couple of times I saw him at Leverkusen, and he is at 10 in 23 for Germany the last 2 years and guys his size often take time to mature. On the other hand, Germany looked 10 times better with a Weghorst level #9 in Fullkrug so it's probably not on and he might go to say Dortmund to replace Reus as their long-term 9 if they're not convinced by Brandt and think Reyna is a wide man.
I think we've seen enough to know that he would suit the system nicely with his pressing and link play, but tough to see him doubling his scoring rate in the Prem, though considering Chelsea 9s like Lukaku have struggled and he's 23 it's certainly possible.
Think Erik ideally wants two different profiles of strikers. One who is strong and pacy like Osimhen and another who is more of a playmaker who holds it up like Kane.
Obviously we cannot sign both but IF we can get one then need to bring in someone that won't cost the earth but offers similar attributes as the one we don't get.
Obviously we cannot sign both but IF we can get one then need to bring in someone that won't cost the earth but offers similar attributes as the one we don't get.
More I think about it and watch his highlights, the more I think it's Goncalo Ramos. Just looks like he can score goals while doing all the back to goal link up stuff that doomed Cristiano and has made Martial and Weghorst look decent fits in the system. Very good goal record as a youth and now as a pro. Kane can too, of course, but papers say he might stay now.
People are against Zaha because he flopped here, but if Ten Hag is only given 100M and wants to spend it on one of De Jong/Caicedo/Rice/Enzo, then at gunpoint I think I’d take Zaha over Thuram or Dembele. He can turn players like Martial does when back to goal and he’s more of a pure threat than Martial. 31 in 82 for Palace the last 3 years and that includes lots of LW games.
Don’t think Ten Hag will care about him flopping here damn near a decade ago. Also Thuram’s dad says he wants to play for Barca and they need a backup for Lewandowski and need free transfers, so we might be looking at guys who would cost 10-20M and be fliers. Is there a better option than Zaha if that’s the budget?
Think a very wise approach would be to try and get both Benzema and Sesko in the summer and move Martial on. Benzema is out of contract and the perfect age profile for a Sesko succession plan too.
Benzema with no transfer fee and Sesko for 60m would be a good summer’s work in the CF department. Get the best striker now, and the best of tomorrow all at once.
Benzema with no transfer fee and Sesko for 60m would be a good summer’s work in the CF department. Get the best striker now, and the best of tomorrow all at once.
I’ve said this a few times that I’d take Zaha on a free as he’s versatile, consistent, pacey, holds the ball up well, links play well and plays for the team. If we were to get one of Kane or Osimhen and Zaha then moved Martial on as even though he’s a perfect fit he’s always injured.
Be greedy let's get Benzema & Osimhen
That would make far less sense.
Isn't Benz just going to be resigned?
In another thread I posited going after Toney and Sesko instead of just spunking the budget on one big name striker. Think Toney would be great for us and wouldn't be so high profile that we'd have an issue rotating Sesko in as the Greenwood replacement
Still think Toney could be made an example of when you see how many betting charges
Yeah obviously it's all contingent on what the outcome of that is.
What's your gut feeling on the outcome
I always feel that Zaha is more a moment kind of player rather than system player. Our manager has his own system and I'm not sure if he fits into the manager's system.
Yeah actually you are right Benzema only makes sense if we get a prospect striker like Ramos
That's fair, though I'm not sure he's really had the chance to play in a system since he matured into a proper goal scorer (31 in 82 over the last 3 years is pretty decent considering there's games played at LW and Palace lack real top half of the table level passing apart from Eze, Olise and Andersen). Vieira is doing a good job, but they still just play on the counter a lot and he hasn't actually found a clear lineup. Their talented CBs and overall work ethic and moments from Zaha, Olise and Eze are pretty much the sum of the team.
I'm smarting to get convinced we're just going to buy Ramos, but because it's a free it's conceivable. Zaha and Thuram seem like the only even mildly likely free transfer options, and I doubt we're going to loan in a striker for the entire year. Goes from highly unlikely to genuinely plausible if:
-We don't have more than 100M to spend
-De Jong decides he wants to join us
-Either Martial gets hurt some more or Weghorst doesn't score enough goals and looks like a 1 in 3 (starts) at best type striker.
-Thuram picks Barcelona/Barcelona picks Thuram over him as their free backup for Lewandowski and look to sell Ferran Torres to get some cash in to not go bankrupt/pay their players/bring in Bernardo Silva or Zubimendi or whoever.