59 minutes ago, Zeta said:

I don't like this at all. Way too much money. Old player. Attitude problems. Helping out Barcelona. Lots of bad points and I can't see many good ones.

The only good one is that Tuchel had some success with him a long time ago. Part from that it's pretty bad and our scounting is clearly not the best if we're looking at 33 year old strikers, he went to Barcelona and it's not like they won anything with him.

Man City invested in Haaland, Liverpool in Nunez and those are the teams that are above us. If we want to compete with them we must find a hidden gem and it has been a while since we had such a signing.

4 minutes ago, Adamrb said:

Lukaku scored goals but at the detriment to the pressing we need to make our system work. Does a 33 year old auba have the right attitude to relentlessly press from the front?

The market is certainly thin though as you say. Just hope it’s max 2-year contract 

 

Blocks and Attacking 3rd pressures are two of his biggest strengths. The ranks in the picture below are for forwards across top 5 leagues. He's certainly better than Haaland, Nunez, or Lewandowski who every Tom, Dick, and Moron would've loved to see here - despite them potentially having a Lukaku-like effect on our system.

 

3 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

The only good one is that Tuchel had some success with him a long time ago. Part from that it's pretty bad and our scounting is clearly not the best if we're looking at 33 year old strikers, he went to Barcelona and it's not like they won anything with him.

Man City invested in Haaland, Liverpool in Nunez and those are the teams that are above us. If we want to compete with them we must find a hidden gem and it has been a while since we had such a signing.

As a stop gap he will do well.

I think we are being sensible if we sign Auba. No great long-term strikers on the market and we've then decided to show some patience and go for a stop-gap instead.

Just now, Sindre said:

As a stop gap he will do well.

I think we are being sensible if we sign Auba. No great long-term strikers on the market and we've then decided to show some patience and go for a stop-gap instead.

I just can't see how is Aubameyang going to help us catch Man City, not in the short term and not in the long term but if it's a cheap solution then there is nothing to lose and much to gain I guess... The question is also if he's willing to come back to the PL as well.

Otherwise nothing is stopping Tuchel from giving Broja a few matches and see how it goes, or just to put Havertz back to the false 9 again. Sterling is an upgrade to Werner so our first system with Havertz as a false 9 should work with Sterling even better if we follow that logic. 

Hate the thought of Auba. It is yet another damning indictment of our utter failure to scout suitable players. 

Are we really to believe that the ONLY player who suits our system is a 33yr old arsenal reject. 

It is utter bollocks. 

Rather than have a scouting network that can identify suitable options, we take the utterly lazy option of going with over the hill has beens/ never was.

If the options in front of us are stick with Kai up front or Auba then I am all in on Auba tbh.  Yeah I'd much prefer us to bring in a 23 year old beast but that's not gonna happen this window.  We bring in Auba on a one year deal, who really would not be that bad at all here, and then we let our scouts lose to find someone for next season.  It's not as doom and gloom as everyone makes it out to be.

12 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Hate the thought of Auba. It is yet another damning indictment of our utter failure to scout suitable players. 

Are we really to believe that the ONLY player who suits our system is a 33yr old arsenal reject. 

Can't agree with that. In the past two seasons we've sounded out Haaland, Kane, Lewandowski, Jesus etc. They're not here for different reasons, but it's certainly far from a damning indictment.

No, but we are to believe that the best option for right now is a prolific ex-Arsenal striker.

You have to ask, what sort of system is it we play if there is not a centre forward on the planet that can play well in it? Maybe we should try signing a silly mid on or a scrum half to play up front.

8 minutes ago, venom2011 said:

Can't agree with that. In the past two seasons we've sounded out Haaland, Kane, Lewandowski, Jesus etc. They're not here for different reasons, but it's certainly far from a damning indictment.

No, but we are to believe that the best option for right now is a prolific ex-Arsenal striker.

Exactly! All well known, household names. Scouting Kane, Lewandowkski and Haaland is a joke! Literally my 6 yr old would all give those names.

Where are the scouts earning their salary? Where are the unearthed gems, that Lewandowski, Haaland and Jesus once were?

50 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

The only good one is that Tuchel had some success with him a long time ago. Part from that it's pretty bad and our scounting is clearly not the best if we're looking at 33 year old strikers, he went to Barcelona and it's not like they won anything with him.

Man City invested in Haaland, Liverpool in Nunez and those are the teams that are above us. If we want to compete with them we must find a hidden gem and it has been a while since we had such a signing.

The thing is I'm not convinced we need an out an out striker.  Are Liverpool going to be any better with Nunez (who looks like he has the touch of a trampoline) than Mane? I don't think so.  Haaland is a beast but 8 touches in the last game in which Lukaku got blasted for isn't exactly a Pep style player.  These two teams have basically been the best 2 on the planet for the last 5 years and have done so without a striker.  It will be interesting to see the effect the change to a striker lead system will have on them.

I think we need an attacking player in the style of Mane and Salah rather than a classic striker.   Who that is and finding them is going to be a big ask though.   Until then I fear we are just going to go from striker to striker without ever solving the problem.

3 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

Exactly! All well known, household names. Scouting Kane, Lewandowkski and Haaland is a joke! Literally my 6 yr old would all give those names.

Where are the scouts earning their salary? Where are the unearthed gems, that Lewandowski, Haaland and Jesus once were?

🙂 I agree with you in that sense - you mean like a Drogba from Marseille... So my only response to that is - we don't currently need a rough diamond, another expensive risk. Take Drogba - Came in, was fairly decent initially (nothing special) and scored something like 10 goals. We can get that same output with Broja who is a talent already on our books. Havertz, another great talent on our books. What we need is a top goal scorer, a household name or close to it. Just because we aren't publicly pursuing unearthed gems doesn't mean we're not actively tracking them or that the scouting department is failing.

Take someone like Nkunku - who we are actively tracking. It may take 100m to get him, he comes with high risk as he's coming from Germany and has only had 1 prolific season. So do you potentially blow another 100m or do you bide your time, bringing in a proven PL scorer who can get us 20 goals this season? The mind boggling thing is, some on here are criticising our transfer activity for not being more calculated in our pursuits and others are criticising it for not being more bold. Can't have it both ways.

 

If Auba had signed for us in Jan and scored 11 in 17, then would we sell him? No. 

We'd be looking for a replacement, but we don't have one ready made. Broja might become that player, so we'd keep Auba and nurture Broja / use the next year to find one. 

There isn't a replacement on the market right now. The two best options went to Liverpool and City, the next big option wont be able to go to those clubs, we will be front of the queue. Auba is the best stop gap. 

11m a year for 2 years, not the worst idea. It's also probably the only idea we've got left. 

3 hours ago, Gol15 said:

The one thing is that Tuchel at some point worked with Aubame and it was a great time for both. The problem is that it was a long time ago and it's impossible for us to play like Dortmund in Bundesliga. I'm not against this move, if Tuchel wants this guy he should get him but on paper Tuchel should have been able to get the best out of Werner and Havertz and it's just not happening... Somehow I can't imagine Auba in our shirt at all, I'll believe in it when I see him scoring for us.

Nope you're right he won't be able to play the same style as he did with Dortmund but Tuchel obviously thinks he has the attributes to make an impact on our team which makes sense, he can play in a fluid system and has got goals in the middle and on the left side. It would be weird seeing him in a Chelsea shirt but as someone already said, we thought the same about Giroud

3 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

Nope you're right he won't be able to play the same style as he did with Dortmund but Tuchel obviously thinks he has the attributes to make an impact on our team which makes sense, he can play in a fluid system and has got goals in the middle and on the left side. It would be weird seeing him in a Chelsea shirt but as someone already said, we thought the same about Giroud

Arsenal to Chelsea, no more boggling than a certain Ashley Cole

Looks like this might be over the line soon. Auba is a good finisher. I think we need one pretty urgently. 

 

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

The only good one is that Tuchel had some success with him a long time ago. Part from that it's pretty bad and our scounting is clearly not the best if we're looking at 33 year old strikers, he went to Barcelona and it's not like they won anything with him.

Man City invested in Haaland, Liverpool in Nunez and those are the teams that are above us. If we want to compete with them we must find a hidden gem and it has been a while since we had such a signing.

Yeah because Nunez has worked so well to date, can't control a ball and makes Costa look like a saint. We've tried the big money signing with Lukaku and failed, this stop gap makes sense for the short term.

2 hours ago, Gol15 said:

I just can't see how is Aubameyang going to help us catch Man City, not in the short term and not in the long term but if it's a cheap solution then there is nothing to lose and much to gain I guess... The question is also if he's willing to come back to the PL as well.

Otherwise nothing is stopping Tuchel from giving Broja a few matches and see how it goes, or just to put Havertz back to the false 9 again. Sterling is an upgrade to Werner so our first system with Havertz as a false 9 should work with Sterling even better if we follow that logic. 

Gol Todd can spend whatever it takes to sign Auba, De Jong, Gordon, Fofana and the kitchen sink if he likes and we still won't overtake City.

While Pep, KdB and Co are there we won't overtake them for 38 games.

10 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Gol Todd can spend whatever it takes to sign Auba, De Jong, Gordon, Fofana and the kitchen sink if he likes and we still won't overtake City.

While Pep, KdB and Co are there we won't overtake them for 38 games.

True but I am sure the new owners also want to make sure we don't risk dropping out of top 4. 

1 hour ago, DarkMata said:

The thing is I'm not convinced we need an out an out striker.  Are Liverpool going to be any better with Nunez (who looks like he has the touch of a trampoline) than Mane? I don't think so.  Haaland is a beast but 8 touches in the last game in which Lukaku got blasted for isn't exactly a Pep style player.  These two teams have basically been the best 2 on the planet for the last 5 years and have done so without a striker.  It will be interesting to see the effect the change to a striker lead system will have on them.

I think we need an attacking player in the style of Mane and Salah rather than a classic striker.   Who that is and finding them is going to be a big ask though.   Until then I fear we are just going to go from striker to striker without ever solving the problem.

Fully agree.

1 hour ago, timetowaste said:

Nope you're right he won't be able to play the same style as he did with Dortmund but Tuchel obviously thinks he has the attributes to make an impact on our team which makes sense, he can play in a fluid system and has got goals in the middle and on the left side. It would be weird seeing him in a Chelsea shirt but as someone already said, we thought the same about Giroud

Well yea if Tuchel is asking then let's go, just don't give him the number 9!

10 minutes ago, forbzy said:

True but I am sure the new owners also want to make sure we don't risk dropping out of top 4. 

That is a fair goal given Spuds and Arsenal strengthened.

2 hours ago, venom2011 said:

Can't agree with that. In the past two seasons we've sounded out Haaland, Kane, Lewandowski, Jesus etc. They're not here for different reasons, but it's certainly far from a damning indictment.

No, but we are to believe that the best option for right now is a prolific ex-Arsenal striker.

Jesus would have been the best option for us. We dropped a serious clanger there.. 

Even the most blinkered Chelsea fan, must be able to see that we are lacking firepower up front and have been for a long time now. It is clear that at 33, PEA is not a long term option. But I guess TT/TB both agree with most of us that we need a forward, while we decide on a longer term option. I wasn't massively impressed with this choice, but there just isn't the forwards available. TT likes PEA, knows what makes him tick, and as I have posted previously, has something to prove, not least of all against Arsenal and Barcelona. So let's run with it and pray that he gets us 15-20 goals this season while we sort ourselves out. 

3 hours ago, venom2011 said:

Blocks and Attacking 3rd pressures are two of his biggest strengths. The ranks in the picture below are for forwards across top 5 leagues. He's certainly better than Haaland, Nunez, or Lewandowski who every Tom, Dick, and Moron would've loved to see here - despite them potentially having a Lukaku-like effect on our system.

 

thanks for posting. well that's at last slightly reassuring. he wasn't that player at the end for Arsenal but hopefully Tuchel can get him back at it for a year or two 

Look at some of the finishes he's still making at Barca, i'm sorry but this seems like exactly what we need. We have Kai when we want to link up play, at least PEA can smash a goal in from inside the box.

45 minutes ago, d-one said:

Jesus would have been the best option for us. We dropped a serious clanger there.. 

Definitely. But again, he had the fanbase divided because he wasn't an automatic starter for the best team in Europe... 

To be fair I think it was just a timing issue. If we had Cech and didn't have the immediate focus of CB signings, we wouldn't have waited until the last minute to hijack the transfer.