Which striker should we sign this summer?

croadyman said:
Yeah makes so much sense on a free, however there must be reason for lack of interest
Click to expand...
Seems the general consensus is that he is really not all that good and would struggle in the Premier League, he also gave an interview last month in which he stated he is not a fan of the Premier league and sees his future in La Liga with his dream move being Barcelona. Barcelona are partial to scooping up free players even if it is just to try and blag a fee for them 12 months later.
 
If you watch the video with David and Gary Neville, he said «I think I can adapt to every league… I grew up watching a lot of La Liga. I wouldnt say that it would be my preferred league, but the one I enjoyed watching the most. One day, I would like to play there, but will it happen? I dont know».

I think this will be a classic Man United situation. If David goes on a free to Crystal Palace or West Ham and put in the same performances as he has done consistently at Lille for 5 years, we would suddenly throw 60-70 million offers for him
 
Wallez said:
If you watch the video with David and Gary Neville, he said «I think I can adapt to every league… I grew up watching a lot of La Liga. I wouldnt say that it would be my preferred league, but the one I enjoyed watching the most. One day, I would like to play there, but will it happen? I dont know».

I think this will be a classic Man United situation. If David goes on a free to Crystal Palace or West Ham and put in the same performances as he has done consistently at Lille for 5 years, we would suddenly throw 60-70 million offers for him
Click to expand...
Or we just go for another player?
 
Wallez said:
If you watch the video with David and Gary Neville, he said «I think I can adapt to every league… I grew up watching a lot of La Liga. I wouldnt say that it would be my preferred league, but the one I enjoyed watching the most. One day, I would like to play there, but will it happen? I dont know».

I think this will be a classic Man United situation. If David goes on a free to Crystal Palace or West Ham and put in the same performances as he has done consistently at Lille for 5 years, we would suddenly throw 60-70 million offers for him
Click to expand...
He may not be 100% going to La Liga but he has been very clear he is not entertaining any offers from clubs that are not in the Champions League and I am confident those 2 are not finishing in the top 5 this season.
 
How some of the usual suspects compare

T64R1Sr.png
 
Raoul said:
How some of the usual suspects compare

T64R1Sr.png
Click to expand...
Didn't realise Gyokeres had such aerial ability, Sesko and Shick also highly impressive too. Unfortunately we don't seem to be interested in any of them.
 
croadyman said:
Didn't realise Gyokeres had such aerial ability, Sesko and Shick also highly impressive too. Unfortunately we don't seem to be interested in any of them.
Click to expand...
Osihmen scored a banging header the other night. He’s decent in the air also but he’s also very good on the floor.
 
DJ_21 said:
Osihmen scored a banging header the other night. He’s decent in the air also but he’s also very good on the floor.
Click to expand...
Have moved on from him as looks like he wants to take the big money in Saudi already
 
croadyman said:
Have moved on from him as looks like he wants to take the big money in Saudi already
Click to expand...
Where do we go from here then? Got a feeling it will be Delap but that will show we’ve learnt nothing. Won’t do much more than Hojlund. We need a striker who’ll bang goals in.
 
DJ_21 said:
Where do we go from here then? Got a feeling it will be Delap but that will show we’ve learnt nothing. Won’t do much more than Hojlund. We need a striker who’ll bang goals in.
Click to expand...
The million dollar question. On the basis Gyokeres is off to Arsenal and Osimhen is off to retire in a bath of blood money there is no stand out candidate remaining. The other names that are realistically available all cost a whole lot more than Delap will and bring no greater guarantee of goal scoring success. I think it is why we are prioritizing Cunha as he brings goals and will also improve creativity and chance creation for whoever is in front of him and I would imagine we will look to use any additional funds from player sales to sign an attacking RWB and maybe another midfielder to raise the overall performance of the team.
 
croadyman said:
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
If it's a CF, I guess Delap is very likely. I still lowkey hope that Osimhen has a change of mind and makes himself available. If not, I would go with Delap and get an experienced striker (Vardy, Welbeck, etc.) so we can monitor the situations of Sesko and Ekitike until summer 2026. David is just another Zirkzee type of 9.5.
 
Ornstein is reliable but who knows how things stand with Osimhen.
I would not rule him out yet.
 
aeh1991 said:
If it's a CF, I guess Delap is very likely. I still lowkey hope that Osimhen has a change of mind and makes himself available. If not, I would go with Delap and get an experienced striker (Vardy, Welbeck, etc.) so we can monitor the situations of Sesko and Ekitike until summer 2026. David is just another Zirkzee type of 9.5.
Click to expand...
Pity we can't lure Martinez from Inter as he's proven, outside of that there is the Galatasaray duo of dyed hair Morata or Icardi maybe attainable.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
TLDR version:
Name/xG/npxG

Premier League:
Isak 19.33/16.0 (expensive £100m+?)
Watkins 17.30/13.0 (older)
Wissa 16.47/14.9 (older)
Mateta 14.12/10.5 (possible but older)
Delap 11.59/7.4 (young and cheap)

La Liga:
Barry 14.89/11.2 (certainly more than £30m release clause ~£34m but I can’t find a great source)

Bundesliga
Ekitike 21.02/17.7 (probably the best at market but maybe too expensive?)
Sêsko 10.33/7.8 (unique physcial profile but still a gamble and costly)

Ligue 1
Emegha 15.69/15.2 (might move to Chelsea don’t think they’d sell but he’s superb physically)
Biereth 10.68/8.4 (Probably the best penalty box striker in the top 5 leagues apart from Haaland)

The I actually Want to Learn a Bit About Strikers of Europe Version:

Essentially of those xG listed previously I think the shortlisted are players that could reasonably move in the summer.

For the PL Isak is the stand out. He’s simply the best striker on the market right now but his price would be prohibitive. He’s the final puzzle piece type transfer and the kind of player perfect for Arsenal at their stage of squad building. The rest of these Watkins, Wissa and Mateta represent alternatives to Delap but obviously are older and so the upside and value is questionable despite there being more current ability. I can’t imagine their fees being stupidly north of £40m let’s say but I can understand the club hesitating to buy. Watkins would appear to be an easy enough deal to make and he suits a pressing forward role. But his age is a concern. Mateta is probably the best blend of experience and current ability whilst being a reasonably affordable player though. His stats, physical profile and age make him probably the best affordable PL striker at market.

In La Liga there is a potential one, Barry is the closest as he’s got a good physical and technical level well above most other forwards especially of his build. I think, for the right fee, he could be gettable and he’s got everything a modern forward needs. He’s adapted once already since his summer move, so in my view there is smaller risk of failure. I think he’s someone with another year of development in Spain would turn into a really dominant forward in La Liga and become £50m+ sort of player as he’s very comfortable in central and wide areas with and without the ball. I think if he’s going to be bought for a reasonable fee it would need to be this summer.

Serie A I just don’t think any of those strikers are suited to the PL for what we want. The physicality just isn’t in my opinion there. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good strikers I just don’t see any of them as sensible gambles relative to Delap hence the omission.

The Bundesliga has two good candidates Ekitike, who I really like and think could be the next Isak. He profiles well for a modern forward but would likely command a fee around £50m maybe higher which I’m sure will put a lot of clubs off. He’s absolutely a player who could explode and to be honest with how his season is going I can’t see him not moving in the summer. He has the potential to be a player we’ll be screaming why didn’t we take the gamble? One of the things I look for in a forward is do they get off shots in a game and he averages around 4 per match, which trust me is good! He leads npxg in a Germany too ahead of Kane and personally think he’s one of the few players I would prefer to Delap that wouldn’t cost an absolute fortune (a la Isak).

The alternative to him is Šeško who has a unique physical and technical profile and ball striking ability which means I’d be amazed if he doesn’t become a top CF somewhere. I just think the ship has sailed for us as he has better options in the summer and would probably be around £60m+ to sign.

Finally there is Ligue 1 and this is where I think we could find some value. Emegha and Biereth are two really exciting players. Emegha is an absolute athlete whose ability to sprint at high intensity and speed is already world class. His npxG is outstanding and if Chelsea don’t take advantage of him being at Strasbourg I think a lot of clubs will be interested in him. He’s incredibly selfish mind, but as a striker does it matter? For upwards of £30m he seems tailor made for the PL. As for Biereth, he’s probably the best penalty box striker at U23 level in the world. He’s a perfect example of a player who has been successful across multiple leagues with steady progression.

If I had to rank them in order of who I’d want ideally:
  1. Isak
  2. Ekitike
  3. Emegha
  4. Biereth
  5. Sesko
  6. Delap
  7. Mateta
  8. Barry
  9. Watkins
  10. Wissa
Click to expand...
My top 10 (I know some are unaffordable).
 
Why the feck does anyone suggest Isak seriously? Not a cat's chance in hell we'd get him even if Newcastle wanted to sell.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
The Bundesliga has two good candidates Ekitike, who I really like and think could be the next Isak. He profiles well for a modern forward but would likely command a fee around £50m maybe higher which I’m sure will put a lot of clubs off. He’s absolutely a player who could explode and to be honest with how his season is going I can’t see him not moving in the summer
Click to expand...
Actually a lot of people expect Ekitike to move in the summer as he is outgrowing Frankfurt and definitely attracts interests from bigger clubs. But he won't move for 50m, he is a bigger talent and has a longer contract than Marmoush, so you can be sure that Frankfurt won't sell him cheaper.
 
stefan92 said:
Actually a lot of people expect Ekitike to move in the summer as he is outgrowing Frankfurt and definitely attracts interests from bigger clubs. But he won't move for 50m, he is a bigger talent and has a longer contract than Marmoush, so you can be sure that Frankfurt won't sell him cheaper.
Click to expand...
Yeah I haven’t kept abreast of his situation I just vaguely remember seeing a ~£55m bid online somewhere.

I’d imagine high £50s would be demanded.

I think he’s outstanding.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
Yeah I haven’t kept abreast of his situation I just vaguely remember seeing a ~£55m bid online somewhere.

I’d imagine high £50s would be demanded.

I think he’s outstanding.
Click to expand...
We don't seem interested like most striker targets, instead we have all our eggs in the inexperienced Delap basket which is worrying to say the least
 
croadyman said:
We don't seem interested like most striker targets, instead we have all our eggs in the inexperienced Delap basket which is worrying to say the least
Click to expand...
Delap will do just fine.

For context:

PlayerClubSeasonDate of BirthAge (Start of Season)PL Goals
Robbie FowlerLiverpool1994–959 Apr 197519y 4m25
Robbie FowlerLiverpool1995–969 Apr 197520y 4m28
Michael OwenLiverpool1997–9814 Dec 197917y 7m18
Nicolas AnelkaArsenal1998–9914 Mar 197919y 4m17
Michael OwenLiverpool1998–9914 Dec 197918y 7m18
Michael OwenLiverpool1999–0014 Dec 197919y 7m11
Wayne RooneyManchester United2004–0524 Oct 198518y 9m11
Wayne RooneyManchester United2005–0624 Oct 198519y 9m16
Wayne RooneyManchester United2006–0724 Oct 198520y 9m14
Romelu LukakuWest Brom (loan)2012–1313 May 199319y 2m17
Romelu LukakuEverton (loan)2013–1413 May 199320y 2m15
Harry KaneTottenham2014–1528 Jul 199321y 0m21
Kelechi IheanachoManchester City2015–163 Oct 199619y 10m14
Anthony MartialManchester United2015–165 Dec 199519y 8m11
Gabriel JesusManchester City2017–183 Apr 199720y 4m13
Marcus RashfordManchester United2018–1931 Oct 199720y 9m10
Liam DelapIpswich Town2024–258 Feb 200321y 6m12

This is all U23 strikers since the PL began to have scored 10+ goals in a season.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
Delap will do just fine.

For context:

PlayerClubSeasonDate of BirthAge (Start of Season)PL Goals
Robbie FowlerLiverpool1994–959 Apr 197519y 4m25
Robbie FowlerLiverpool1995–969 Apr 197520y 4m28
Michael OwenLiverpool1997–9814 Dec 197917y 7m18
Nicolas AnelkaArsenal1998–9914 Mar 197919y 4m17
Michael OwenLiverpool1998–9914 Dec 197918y 7m18
Michael OwenLiverpool1999–0014 Dec 197919y 7m11
Wayne RooneyManchester United2004–0524 Oct 198518y 9m11
Wayne RooneyManchester United2005–0624 Oct 198519y 9m16
Wayne RooneyManchester United2006–0724 Oct 198520y 9m14
Romelu LukakuWest Brom (loan)2012–1313 May 199319y 2m17
Romelu LukakuEverton (loan)2013–1413 May 199320y 2m15
Harry KaneTottenham2014–1528 Jul 199321y 0m21
Kelechi IheanachoManchester City2015–163 Oct 199619y 10m14
Anthony MartialManchester United2015–165 Dec 199519y 8m11
Gabriel JesusManchester City2017–183 Apr 199720y 4m13
Marcus RashfordManchester United2018–1931 Oct 199720y 9m10
Liam DelapIpswich Town2024–258 Feb 200321y 6m12

This is all U23 strikers since the PL began to have scored 10+ goals in a season.
Click to expand...
How aren't you worried about the club not seeing any issue with signing someone so inexperienced to lead line.
 
croadyman said:
How aren't you worried about the club not seeing any issue with signing someone so inexperienced to lead line.
Click to expand...
I’m realistic about where we are as a club. I’d love a world class guaranteed striker but none of them are looking at United. They haven’t been looking at United since we signed Van Persie. It’s not our market.

Then when I look at the experienced ones and what they were doing at 21 I’m not desperate to have them over Delap who can probably do most of the things they can do, but at a younger age and for a good fee.

We don’t have the money to buy world class we don’t have the money to buy £50m+ gambles, and we probably don’t have the money to do a £40m+ deal as well as Cunha and adding elsewhere.

So I think £30m for Delap, who is one of a select few of his age to hit those figures, in one of the worst relegation sides around is a bargain with a big upside and while he is far from the perfect signings he’s someone Jason Wilcox knows very well and who for his age is far ahead of his peers in the Premier League at least.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
Yeah I haven’t kept abreast of his situation I just vaguely remember seeing a ~£55m bid online somewhere.

I’d imagine high £50s would be demanded.

I think he’s outstanding.
Click to expand...
The current situation is that Frankfurt do not want to sell and after Marmoush they do not need to. It is going to take an offer of at least 100M for them to consider it according to recent reports and the team most likely to go that high is Liverpool if they succeed in dumping Nunez.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
I’m realistic about where we are as a club. I’d love a world class guaranteed striker but none of them are looking at United. They haven’t been looking at United since we signed Van Persie. It’s not our market.

Then when I look at the experienced ones and what they were doing at 21 I’m not desperate to have them over Delap who can probably do most of the things they can do, but at a younger age and for a good fee.

We don’t have the money to buy world class we don’t have the money to buy £50m+ gambles, and we probably don’t have the money to do a £40m+ deal as well as Cunha and adding elsewhere.

So I think £30m for Delap, who is one of a select few of his age to hit those figures, in one of the worst relegation sides around is a bargain with a big upside and while he is far from the perfect signings he’s someone Jason Wilcox knows very well and who for his age is far ahead of his peers in the Premier League at least.
Click to expand...
I don't buy that Kane was unattainable despite what might have been suggested in the press, like I said in another thread we just blew our budget on 4 players.
 
Gandalf said:
The current situation is that Frankfurt do not want to sell and after Marmoush they do not need to. It is going to take an offer of at least 100M for them to consider it according to recent reports and the team most likely to go that high is Liverpool if they succeed in dumping Nunez.
Click to expand...
Especially as they 99% secured their CL qualification now. Which means they will allow him to play on the biggest stage next season. That's unusual for Frankfurt (actually it is going to be the first time they ever qualify for the CL via the Bundesliga - they were qualified once as EL winners).
 
croadyman said:
I don't buy that Kane was unattainable despite what might have been suggested in the press, like I said in another thread we just blew our budget on 4 players.
Click to expand...
I’m talking about the present/future window.

But I also don’t think Levy would sell Kane to United with any other offer on the table.

If we could have bought Kane, we’d have bought him.
 
You really have to hope we try for Gyökeres. Even if there's going to be tough competition, there's a more than decent chance we can get it done. I can't remember a striker at our club since RvP that didn't have some serious question marks hanging over them due to age (Cavani, Zlatan, Ronaldo) experience (Martial, Højlund, Rashford), profile (Zirkzee) or trajectory/injury when they joined (Falcao, Alexis). The closest was maybe Lukaku but he never showed the consistency Gyökeres has shown the last 2 years or passed the eye test in the same way.

Delap would be another one whereas with Cunha and Gyökeres I feel we’d finally be getting players who are ask close to guaranteed to work out as we can get. If they do work out, that can finally give us some momentum to push on and put us on a sustained upwards trajectory which gives us space to develop as a team.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
Delap will do just fine.

For context:

PlayerClubSeasonDate of BirthAge (Start of Season)PL Goals
Robbie FowlerLiverpool1994–959 Apr 197519y 4m25
Robbie FowlerLiverpool1995–969 Apr 197520y 4m28
Michael OwenLiverpool1997–9814 Dec 197917y 7m18
Nicolas AnelkaArsenal1998–9914 Mar 197919y 4m17
Michael OwenLiverpool1998–9914 Dec 197918y 7m18
Michael OwenLiverpool1999–0014 Dec 197919y 7m11
Wayne RooneyManchester United2004–0524 Oct 198518y 9m11
Wayne RooneyManchester United2005–0624 Oct 198519y 9m16
Wayne RooneyManchester United2006–0724 Oct 198520y 9m14
Romelu LukakuWest Brom (loan)2012–1313 May 199319y 2m17
Romelu LukakuEverton (loan)2013–1413 May 199320y 2m15
Harry KaneTottenham2014–1528 Jul 199321y 0m21
Kelechi IheanachoManchester City2015–163 Oct 199619y 10m14
Anthony MartialManchester United2015–165 Dec 199519y 8m11
Gabriel JesusManchester City2017–183 Apr 199720y 4m13
Marcus RashfordManchester United2018–1931 Oct 199720y 9m10
Liam DelapIpswich Town2024–258 Feb 200321y 6m12

This is all U23 strikers since the PL began to have scored 10+ goals in a season.
Click to expand...

Hojlund would also be on that list.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.