Liverpool are in for him now too.

As much as I'd love for him to come here but we are a point now if Liverpool and Arsenal come calling for a player who's in their prime then maybe we're not the best option from the player perspective. We also have that wage structure we seem to not like to break.

This was always just a rumour for me and nothing more than that. He is 27, commands a big transfer fee and huge wages, things that do not fit our board's vision. Maybe not in terms of transfer fees as they've repeatedly shown they are ready to pay big money for players, but in terms of age and wage, he clearly is a "no" for our current board.

This has Arsenal/Liverpool written all over it.

High on our list according to Ben Jacobs but he would need to fit into the club's model. It's this type of thing that makes me less optimistic given Arsenal have no problem giving players nearly £300kpw.

Gyokeres genuinely feels like a Diego Costa type squad bolster.

7 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

High on our list according to Ben Jacobs but he would need to fit into the club's model. It's this type of thing that makes me less optimistic given Arsenal have no problem giving players nearly £300kpw.

Gyokeres genuinely feels like a Diego Costa type squad bolster.

True but they can't have an infinite number of players on 300k a week. Also risks upsetting the players there who'll demand more parity.

7 hours ago, BordeauxBlue said:

True but they can't have an infinite number of players on 300k a week. Also risks upsetting the players there who'll demand more parity.

Praying that we offload Sterling, Nkunku and Chilwell in the summer (how?) which could allow us to get two statement marquee sign8ngs in Rodrygo and Gyokeres/Osimhen where we could pay wages outside of the structure and still be better off.

Nothing happens without CL and frankly I am quite pessimistic about our chances.

8 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

Praying that we offload Sterling, Nkunku and Chilwell in the summer (how?) which could allow us to get two statement marquee sign8ngs in Rodrygo and Gyokeres/Osimhen where we could pay wages outside of the structure and still be better off.

Nothing happens without CL and frankly I am quite pessimistic about our chances.

To who? And you just know they aren’t going anywhere without a payoff which isn’t happening. We would be lucky to shift any of those players the club want gone this summer. Juve are after a loan move again for Veiga, that is how bad it is.

6 hours ago, ducavis said:

To who? And you just know they aren’t going anywhere without a payoff which isn’t happening. We would be lucky to shift any of those players the club want gone this summer. Juve are after a loan move again for Veiga, that is how bad it is.

Absolutely. Spot on.

On 20/05/2025 at 14:57, ducavis said:

To who? And you just know they aren’t going anywhere without a payoff which isn’t happening. We would be lucky to shift any of those players the club want gone this summer. Juve are after a loan move again for Veiga, that is how bad it is.

Think we'll be able to sell Nkunku (for like 40m euros maybe) and Chillwell for some ridiculously low amount (i.e. CHO). It's Sterling I'm most worried about, we might be stuck with him.

I'd be shocked if we sign Gyokeres or Osimhen though. Think we're more of a Ekitike/Sesko/Delap/another no name kind of club now. For better or worse

I think if Arsenal go for him, he is mot likely their man, but after them we probably will stand best chance if we go for him. I hope Arsenal do go for Sesko because for me Gyokeres will give them a major advantage next season but Havertz will still be a key player for Arsenal next season, hence why Arteta may go for a player like Sesko who won't start every game. A lot of rumours seem to suggest their no.1 target is Sesko.

If that is case, then we have a better chance than I initially thought. We have CL footy to offer, the London factor and also a young but improving team. The board need to show intent and increase the wages. If Liverpool sell Nunez to Saudis for big money, would not be surprised to see them go for him also, but ultimately think it will come down between Arsenal and us, if the board decide they want to go for him. The core of the squad is already good. We just need some final touches and he defo fits the bill. His fitness record is absolutely brilliant as well.

If we are serious about improving as a team and club on the pitch this would be the guy we go for.

All the talk is 85mill for a, so far, one season hit from Frankfurt but no talk about this guy. Why? Could it be his wages would be much more than the others we are linked with?

Theres not a lot of quality out there, that is available.

Gykores (ex Coventry City) Delap (very basic journeyman) and or Osimhen ( another enigma) are unlikely to improve us significantly.

next...

Reports in Portugal Arsenal are structing his transfer.

Great.

I would be amazed if he came to us and that's the same for Osimhen.

We don't sign 26+ year olds here anymore unless they are free, champions league won't mean better quality it will just mean more quantity.

Edited May 27, 20251 yr by Sheva

One thing I noticed from his goals this season is that there were NO headers at all, does anyone know how does he fare on crosses/long balls/target man duties?

3 minutes ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

One thing I noticed from his goals this season is that there were NO headers at all, does anyone know how does he fare on crosses/long balls/target man duties?

He's not a target man. Majority of his goals are in transition so he's not going to hit the same numbers here. He does have the physicality, control+dribbling, and power to be a threat in the box though.

22 minutes ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

One thing I noticed from his goals this season is that there were NO headers at all, does anyone know how does he fare on crosses/long balls/target man duties?

On 23/04/2025 at 12:29, STATS said:

It will be interesting to see how he does in the PL. He looks the real deal. I think he would complete Arsenal. Strangely, the one thing he needs to work on in his game is his heading ability. For such a big guy, he rarely scores headed goals and you think that is something he could work on. Haaland before he joined City was not great in the air too, however since moving to City, has improved this part of his game massively. I think if Arsenal want him, that will be his first choice tbh. No shame in admitting that.

Interestingly, I touched up on this last month. In the quote above. He does not score much headed goals at all. Reminds me of Haaland at Dortmund. Did not score much headers. Can and should be able to work on it, especially if he goes Arsenal. Huge part of their play.

10 minutes ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

One thing I noticed from his goals this season is that there were NO headers at all, does anyone know how does he fare on crosses/long balls/target man duties?

Not watched him, but on the stats he is a low 16th percentile on winning aerial balls in the FBREF scouting report.

Jackson is 18th percentile for a comparison.

Here are all the main targets we have been linked with :

Even the big lads don't really standout for their aerial prowess. Sesko the best of the bunch.

Headers possibly going out of fashion due to all the well-publicised dementia issues faced by older players due to heading the ball ... ? Not good news for the future of specialist set piece coaches LOL

5 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Not watched him, but on the stats he is a low 16th percentile on winning aerial balls in the FBREF scouting report.

Jackson is 18th percentile for a comparison.

Here are all the main targets we have been linked with :

Even the big lads don't really standout for their aerial prowess. Sesko the best of the bunch.

Headers possibly going out of fashion due to all the well-publicised dementia issues faced by older players due to heading the ball ... ? Not good news for the future of specialist set piece coaches LOL

Quite astonishing that he'd be so low with that height and bulk but like Sconnie & STATS mentioned, there should be a lot more about his game that makes him the #1 target for ST. It would be a shame to sign a striker of that caliber and still have Cucurella as our best header though.

Anyway, considering where we are at, I wouldn't mind any of the names above, as long as Jackson isn't our first option next season.

2 minutes ago, Brigadeiro Mk II said:

Quite astonishing that he'd be so low with that height and bulk but like Sconnie & STATS mentioned, there should be a lot more about his game that makes him the #1 target for ST. It would be a shame to sign a striker of that caliber and still have Cucurella as our best header though.

Anyway, considering where we are at, I wouldn't mind any of the names above, as long as Jackson isn't our first option next season.

Forgot to add Osimhen LOL. He's well clear of the rest in the aerial stakes based on last season's league goals.

91st percentile for aerials too...

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

Him and Delap in with Jackson leaving for a small profit would be some great business.

55 minutes ago, DukesOfHazard said:

Him and Delap in with Jackson leaving for a small profit would be some great business.

Yes would be a big upgrade on paper for sure.

• Gyokeres (or Osimhen)

• Delap

• Guiu

All three would be proper strikers with the instinctive movement, positioning and finishing.

Would have to destroy out wage structure. So won't happen. Also, he has his choice of clubs and wouldn't choose us over some other options.