3 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

Michy as back up is just as bad as Werner you would be better having Armando Broja on the bench.

Never heard of him, but I agree all the same. A dead parrot would probably be preferable to all of them.

5 hours ago, Old Shaggy said:

Not posted here for a while, but I'll add my tuppence worth.

There are IMHO only 3 truly world class strikers out there at the moment. Haaland, Kane and Mbappe. If we can't get one of them, (two of them are highly unlikely), then we should stick with what we've got.

As a club aiming to compete at the very top in all competitions, we should be buying the very best. If we don't manage to get one of those 3 top strikers it's likely we will carry on languishing as one of the second tier clubs, not just in Europe, but in the Premier League too.

Surely Lewandowski and Benzema belong on that list. Arguably Lukaku is up there too at the moment.

19 minutes ago, True Blue23 said:

Surely Lewandowski and Benzema belong on that list. Arguably Lukaku is up there too at the moment.

Lewandowski is by far the best Striker over the last 3 years, his numbers are bonkers...

55 minutes ago, True Blue23 said:

Surely Lewandowski and Benzema belong on that list. Arguably Lukaku is up there too at the moment.

Yep, forgot about Lewa. However, the chance of hum leaving Bayern to come to us is pretty much Zero.

Lukaku is a level below and not what we need.

3 hours ago, Snedger said:

Never heard of him, but I agree all the same. A dead parrot would probably be preferable to all of them.

Was a bit harsh on Werner because at least he puts a shift in closing down.

Am reminded of something a recent coach top once said, (may have been Ancelotti) a player needs three qualities, technical ability, 'coachable' ability and athletic ability.

Bats does not have the 'coachable' ability for me.

6 hours ago, enigma said:

Are we really going back over old ground here? Lukaku, Aguero, f**king hell. I suppose that at least Lukaku is still in his prime, but why do we do this to ourselves. We had the players or the chance to sign them, then we come back years later interested in buying them. Annoys me. We need to be smarter with our recruitment. So much wasted money over the years spent on mediocre players.

I’m not advocating us signing old players (I’d honestly prefer a younger striker if anything) but to play devil’s advocate we signed Thiago Silva in the summer and it worked out for us. 

Papers all over 85 million for Torinos Andrea Belotti, very like Werner, but more robust, excellent striker as well.

14 hours ago, Old Shaggy said:

Not posted here for a while, but I'll add my tuppence worth.

There are IMHO only 3 truly world class strikers out there at the moment. Haaland, Kane and Mbappe. If we can't get one of them, (two of them are highly unlikely), then we should stick with what we've got.

As a club aiming to compete at the very top in all competitions, we should be buying the very best. If we don't manage to get one of those 3 top strikers it's likely we will carry on languishing as one of the second tier clubs, not just in Europe, but in the Premier League too.

Surely a certain Poland striker is one of, if not the, very best too.

6 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Surely a certain Poland striker is one of, if not the, very best too.

See my last reply.

On 03/04/2021 at 02:34, Ballack & Blu said:

Papers all over 85 million for Torinos Andrea Belotti, very like Werner, but more robust, excellent striker as well.

Belotti is a good striker no doubt about it, he's playing for a much lower team than he deserves and yet he still puts up decent numbers.

We might be able to get him for a lower price since his contract expires next year.

If we don't get Haaland and Lukaku is too expensive, another look at Luka Jovic?. I know it didn't work out at Real Madrid but its Real Madrid.

No point in buying a striker until we sort out our style of play. Slow, pointless and aimless possession based football isn't what fast dynamic strikers thrive on

If he can recover from his injury then my pick would be Dybala assuming we can't afford Haaland or Lukaku. Say we stick with a false 9 players like Kai and Werner could do with another diminutive fwd who can actually create moments of magic. Depay is another one who would be for free and therefore the benefits outweigh the costs. 

A strong targetman would be ideal but if none are available we could do with a real fox in the box like Aguero but as he is getting older players like Dybala or Depay who are 27 in their prime could be a decent shout instead again assuming they could adjust to the prem.

Some of the numbers being banded around for Haaland are ridiculous. Honestly can’t see any club being able to pay it apart from City. Especially can’t see Chelsea paying it with Marina is charge of the £. 

Edited April 4, 20215 yr by JM7

15 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

No point in buying a striker until we sort out our style of play. Slow, pointless and aimless possession based football isn't what fast dynamic strikers thrive on

Unless we find a Drogba like player, or at the least a nasty bar steward like Costa, no point in buying a striker at all as they will just end up useless and a waste of money like Mutu, Kezman, Werner, Batman etc etc

On 04/04/2021 at 06:43, The Rising Sun said:

No point in buying a striker until we sort out our style of play. Slow, pointless and aimless possession based football isn't what fast dynamic strikers thrive on

It is going to be difficult to settle on a style of play when managers only last 1-2 seasons here. But I agree based on our current attacking approach Tammy or Giroud may as well be used. Giroud did pretty well in a similar set up under Sarri didn't he?

Haven’t seen a lot of him admittedly but haalands replacement at rb Salzburg is a player called Daka. His numbers this season (I know it’s not a strong league) are frightening, 5 assists and 23 goals in 19 appearances. He’s 22 years old as well 

I’d personally be going all out for Lukaku if we can’t get Haaland. I’d truly believe he’d still be here banging goals in if he’d chosen us instead of Man Utd a few years back and we ended up with Morata. It’s always going to be made of fun of when you sign an ex player for a load of money but I don’t think that should put us off. At the minute he’s in the top 5 strikers in the world and he’s in his prime, knows the club and knows the league.

Lukaku, Aguero on a free, creative MF, jobs ok

20 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

I’d personally be going all out for Lukaku if we can’t get Haaland. I’d truly believe he’d still be here banging goals in if he’d chosen us instead of Man Utd a few years back and we ended up with Morata. It’s always going to be made of fun of when you sign an ex player for a load of money but I don’t think that should put us off. At the minute he’s in the top 5 strikers in the world and he’s in his prime, knows the club and knows the league.

I don't know why would Lukaku want to change his club at this moment, he's winning the Serie A with Conte (that didn't take long) that appreciates him and is secured for CL football next season...

51 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

I don't know why would Lukaku want to change his club at this moment, he's winning the Serie A with Conte (that didn't take long) that appreciates him and is secured for CL football next season...

Yup. I'm sure he's getting paid a bomb too.

Haaland or Lukaku for me. 

We have pacy forwards, poachers, and false 9 types aready here. What we dont have is brute force. 

Obviously Haaland is the flavour of the month, but I would be very happy with Lukaku, who looks such a more polished player now. Touch and link up play is much improved, and the fact he is top assist maker as well as top scorer for Inter shows the improvement in his all round game. 

If neither of those 2 are available, then I would work with Tammy. Aguero is not a good idea for 2nd or 3rd choice, poor injury record in the last couple of seasons, not the best trainer by all accounts, and will want huge wages.  

Who ever plays up top, we need to be better at spotting runs and executing through balls. David Luiz and Fabregas wouldve had a field day last night, and i do think we miss that sort of passing range from midfield and centre back, which is going to hurt any striker that likes to run in behind, like Haaland, Lukaku, Werner. 

Conte is quoting over a £100m for Lukaku I thought he would be about £60m. 

Now Conte may not have much to do with it as it is the club's owners yet once again looks like we are going to be shafted.

Lukaku is still a battering ram a slightly improved one though still awkward at times. If it really is £100m we might as well step up and buy the troll. 

 

Edited April 8, 20215 yr by strider6004

I’m more concerned about the midfield than our attacking line. Get a proper DM to go to a midfield of 3, and with a creative forward midfielder (Mount) and Kante or Kova, and we have enough quality up front if they get served on a regular basis.

Would be annoying if we end up bringing back Lukaku for the crazy fee being quoted. It was a mistake to let him go in the first place.