Morning all.
Ever since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stopped scoring goals for Arsenal, alarm bells have been ringing rather loudly. The club tried to sign Dusan Vlahovic in January, if reports are to be believed that is, so we can pretty much guarantee to see a striker or two arrive this summer but this time. Mikel Arteta’s list of potential recruits is probably long.
Where should the club recruit from though, the Premier League, or overseas?
It’s often said/written that it’s better to sign a player from the Premier League because they’re used to the English game, the weather, food etc etc but I think that’s a bit of a myth. Overseas players often fancy a new challenge, they want to test themselves in what’s considered to be the toughest League in football and the added bonus is, the money is good.
Premier League players usually come at a greater cost. 24 year old Marcus Rashford is currently valued around the £80 million mark despite being out of contract in 2023. Ollie Watkins would cost somewhere north of £35 million. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, £40 million. These are just TransferMarket valuations which as we know, are usually conservative.
Young and talented upcoming strikers overseas are plentiful I’m sure but here are a few.
Adam Hložek – 19 years old, £18 million. Described as being one of the most exciting talents currently playing outside of the top-five leagues in European football. He’s ‘a brute of a human being’ with the physical build and attacking skillset reminiscent of a young Zlatan Ibrahimović. He is thick-set, around 6’1” and has a good burst of speed when given some space to gather speed. He can play across the attack, but his skillset is definitely suited to him playing as a striker. He can win the ball in the air exceptionally well, heading for goal or trying to hold up play to get others involved. But he can also play off the last man’s shoulder and look for avenues in-behind the defence, or swing wide into the channels to open up space for others.
Myron Boadu – 21 years old, £18 million. Even after suffering two serious injuries before his 18th birthday, the Dutchman remains a high-impact athlete. He’s explosive over short distances, able to create separations. He also has excellent top-end speed which few can match. He’s nimble enough in smaller spaces and possesses a mature, athletic frame. His movement in general is excellent. He’s a constant threat against high defensive lines: he positions himself on the last man and shows impressive awareness in his positioning and posture, angling his body to optimise his runs into depth. His acceleration and speed make him difficult to contain in these situations. He’s at Monaco right now and things aren’t going that well for him apparently. Sound familiar?
Alexander Isak – 22 years old, £36 million. Isak is comfortable on both feet and in the air, which means he can score a variety of goals based on many different situations. The 21-year-old is tall and leggy but possesses good technique, showing quality in his link-up play and dribbling. He also possesses impressive movement – his running in behind is intelligent, while he moves smartly in the box to escape defenders. Isak struggles to impact himself against quick, physical defenders. He is still growing into his body for top level action. He lacks intensity when defending – his tackle and interception numbers are low – although he can press when asked. His goalscoring is streaky and inconsistent.
Darwin Nunez – 22 years old, £36 million. Often compared to Erling Haaland is foolhardy but Darwin Núñez will remind you of him a little bit – not least for the way he attacks space. Darwin is a tall striker with long limbs who possesses explosive athleticism. His acceleration and top-end speed is excellent, making him a dangerous attacker in transition and open space. When he gets going, he creates separations easily. He also has the robustness to withstand contact and is able to bounce of challenges, even at high speed. He’s good at attacking space off the shoulder, making the most of his speed, but is also adept at making short, sharp movements around the box which distract and occupy defenders.
Of course I researched the internet for player names, although “research” is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but it shows that young talent from overseas, if signed at the right time in their career, usually cost less. Less cost means less risk and less financial loss should the move not work out as well as hoped. The £72 million paid for Nicolas Pepe has been a disaster hasn’t it? Yet the £50 million paid for Ben White is fast becoming looking like a bargain.
Transfer fees have got out of control in my opinion but it seems the footballing world is obsessed with how much a club pays for who. If Arsenal spend £70 million on a player, they’re ambitious, showing intent, yet if the club spend £6 million on a player, it’s the opposite, and invariably, before the guy has kicked a ball in England. Look back at last summers transfer business, Arsenal might have spent a lot of money, but I don’t recall the footballing world, by that I mean the sports writers and Sky Sports team, raving about any of the players Mikel Arteta signed. No other club wanted the players Arsenal signed – according to them, but hear and read their views now. Not that their opinion really matters.
Every transfer in or out of a club is a gamble but after last summer, and the way Arsenal have cleared the decks since Mikel Arteta arrived, I have high hopes for the summer ahead. I’m actually quietly confident that whichever player/players arrive at the club, will do well. Regardless of whether they cost £6 million or £60 million.
See you in the comments.
Morning Rico and All
The question about a striker will come down to how much we are willing to spend and does Arteta want a young striker for the future or a older striker for short term,
After looking at the short list above and looking on youtube Darwin Nunez skill’s look pretty good for his age and he is in the age group that Arteta likes. His market value seems pretty good.
I’d add Victor Oshimen to that list. Incredicble work rate. 23yo – 6’1” and can’t I still dream about Haaland?
Morning Geoff, all.
I think it depends on who fits into Mikel Arteta’s system rather than price. I think he’ll go for younger players again is Dusan Vlahovic is anything to go by.
Why not Chrispy, I dream of M’bappe for free. 😜
Morning Rico. If and that’s still a big if, we make the top 4 then it will be something of a minor miracle after this season’s happenings. But Arteta can’t afford to roll the dice again I would think. The whole striker thing has become a critical piece of the jigsaw.
I don’t know much about any of the players you mention except perhaps Isak so aimless speculation seems pointless. Perhaps a well-known player plus a cheaper, unknown one?
Looking around the PL I don’t see any player who could be available, that is really exciting. Rashford? On current form? DCL seems injury-prone, Watkins appears to have stalled. The list goes on.
Great win at the weekend. Villa are tough to beat at home.
Adam makes some good points. A few players we have been linked with have slipped away since the start of the season.
I still think Arteta would like a powerful forward with pace, what used to be called a British style CF. Abraham at Roma would be perfect, but the fee would be high. Ivan Toney would be the cheaper version and he would need to kick on.
Rashford wouldn’t be my favourite. He is fast, but suits the wide positions where we have plenty of talent presently.
Of course we may have the in-house solution in Martinelli.
Morning Adam. Agree, it’s whats missing in the team and I still think that’ll cost us top four. More likely imo is a Europa spot with the fixtures we have compared to Totts.
I don’t watch much football these days so I’ve no idea about the players either but we definitely need a striker, if not two in the summer imo.
Agree Pete, 3 big points.
I think we missed the boat with Abraham.
good afternoon Rico and co
Mike Dean is retiring at the end of the season, due to fact Tottenham will only give him a one year extended deal. He’s after three.
Off to read the post. Its about a striker….I hope we buy at least one striker (not a stinker)
Afternoon Devil. I don’t think Dean has been as bad as some of the others we’ve had officiating matches. Even so, I’ll be glad to see the back of him.
Nice summary, Rico (and good afternoon).
I think the question is not mostly about the striker age, but more his competency profile – meaning what kind of role does Arteta envision for the forward.
Here are my 5 categories with some examples and candidates:
1. The bully.
Not just tall, but also big, that has a strong presence in the box, could occupy many defenders during a corner. He can create a chance using body-to-body or a quick turn, and has the strength to unleash a powerful shot without much of a run or preparation. They are often tall, so could pose an aerial threat as well, but prone to the offside trap.
Examples are Lukaku, Balotelli, Hulk, Benteke. Similar strikers associated with an Arsenal switch: Osimhen, De Tomas, Onuachu
2. The hold-up master
Not (necessary) the clinical finisher, but a player with great ball control and passing skills he occupies defenders even when the opponents attack, and can quickly and efficiently distribute the ball during a counter to the fast players in the second wave. I don’t think our next striker will personify this type as we already have Lacazette who is an expert in holding, but apparently we won’t be retaining his services.
Examples: Lacazette, Benzema, Lewandowski, Dybala, Payet. Similar strikers associated with an Arsenal switch: Gnabry, Gouiri, Jovic
3. Tall but technical
If a club has good players on the wing (and Arsenal really have), then they can opt for a crossing style of play. But in the modern era a player cannot be only tall – like Kalajdžić or Crouch – but has to possess the technical skills to be really dangerous. This could indeed pose a threat (and could be an asset defending corners and set pieces), but would somewhat makes our play less creative and exciting.
Examples: Ibrahimovic, Haller, Morata, Abraham, Richarlison. Similar strikers associated with an Arsenal switch: Isak, Calvert-Lewin, Schick
4. The prolific
These players shoot a lot, sometime considered a bit selfish. They often score, too, but they exploit the law of large number rather than over-analyzing if they should dribble, pass or shoot. Usually they are not that tall (see Mané & Salah), but there could be overlaps with the prior category (like Kane, Lewandowski and Benzema). Sometime they operate at the wing, so it’s unpredictable if they will shoot or pass.
Examples: Salah, Ronaldo, Kane, Mané, Immobile, Vlahovic, Mbappé. Similar strikers associated with an Arsenal switch: Haaland, Gakpo, Martínez
5. The wild card
These players either don’t have a preferred style or their strength is simply less known. But they seem to be scoring on a regular basis, as they are capable of the unexpected. They don’t always score spectacular goals, but good offensive positioning skills and offside awareness can often do the trick. Some of them are exceptionally fast making the game a nightmare for the defenders.
Examples: Toney, Boadu, Ben Yedder, Daka, Traore, Werner. Similar strikers associated with an Arsenal switch: Nketiah (!), Malen, Nunez, Broja; David
These players linked to Arsenal are all good strikers. Maybe not equally good (Broja, de Tomas and Jovic are a bit below the rest, Gnabry and Haaland are above). The key deciding factor should be the financials (asking price, agent bonus and salary) as well as the players willingness to join the PL’s 4th best team. The first would almost certainly rule out Haaland and Martinez, the latter would most likely disqualify Osimhen, Nunez and Gnabry.
Out of the remaining selection I would go for Gouri, Gakpo and David, but that’s just my personal preference.
Darwin is almost a flop and Benfica wants 70 million…(at least).
Abraham or Jota for me.
Good afternoon Rico, where should we look for a striker? Anywhere but the bottom of the barrel. 😉
Afternoon Cicero, Pbarany, i agree in that it depends on who fits into the Arteta plan and that’s something I’ve no idea about but if we went for Vlahovic, then I imagine he’ll want someone similar.
Agree re the barrel and its bottom Cicero 😂
Hi all,
I like the look of Broja from the games I saw him play.
We need a finisher and good close control.
Our crosses are an absolute waste and I doubt we would find that striker anyway other than Cedric who whips in a dangerous ball.
Sadly, we do need a link player like Lacazette though.
Perhaps we’ll keep Lacazette Brad?
My problem there is we still need a finisher. Can’t afford Laca as 10 and Odegaard false 9 sort of.
We need an old fashioned centre forward . Someone that can head the ball, play with his back to goal and have the ability to lay the ball to more skill full players and get into the box and win headers. He doesn’t need to be a long distance sprinter but quick off the mark .
The nearest we have had recently is Giroud but an Alan Smith or going way back Radford or Macdonald would be fine.
Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan for me, we’ve usually done quite well when signing players from Serie A because they arrive thoroughly well coached with a professional attitude and I did read that Rashford for example is rated at £80m and if is the case then I’d rather spend that kind of money on a guy who is on the up rather that one who is on the slide…
I guess that we have to hope that Stat DNA and our scouting network can find the sort of guys who we’ve not heard of yet but who could be the types that Man City and Co would want to sign for big money in a year or two, like Martinelli.
There should be a lot more fixtures though Brad, we’ll need a deeper squad imo.
Not asking for much then Potter. 😂
I’ve a feeling it’ll be someone other than a big name too Kev.
If we are playing wish lists we might as well reach for the skies
For me its either one of Calvert Lewin, Abraham or Toney.
1) They are English
2)They are over 6 ft (Toney 6’1, DCL 6’2, Abraham 6’3)
3) They are still young (between 24 and 26)
4) They are very mobile.
5) They are experienced in the EPL
6) All want to play for the national team
If I had a choice it would be DCL. But I like Abraham’s physicality and Toney’s unpredicatbility.
Dybala is on a free from Juventus this summer, he’s still only 28…
Richalison is a moody miserable git but he’s a pretty good striker, might be worth a bid for him if Everton continue to struggle?
can any one remember who the 2 American player Kroenke brought us are, I believe 0ne was a keeper but can’t remember the other one
Don’t get too excited about Riley retiring, he’s taking up a role as a permanent var. 😕
Good morning all.
Hi Geoff.. Matt Turner (GK) and Auston Trusty (defender)
Thanks Sue
Morning all.
Trusty is a great name for a defender. Hope he lives up to it. 😂
New post up now
M’bappe is available for free too Kev. Lol
DCL fits the profile Devil but he’s injury prone isn’t he?