When was the last time striker moved from mid table PL club to top PL club and was a success?
Benjamin Sesko | Salzburg | Leipzig
- Thread starter RDCR07
- Start date
When was the last time striker moved from mid table PL club to top PL club and was a success?
Surely you can see the irony here?
Mané? Jota? Lukaku (only half-joking)?
Mané and Jota are wingers, not strikers, aren't they? Occasionally playing in the centre doesn't make them strikers in my opinion.
RvP.
They aren't strikers. Lukaku isn't a success story.
Even if we agree on Mane, that was 8 years ago.
It's very hard to find a successful transfer (for CF) from PL midtable to top clubs.
Lewan levels at the same age is what was referred to quite obviously. And “he was too many flaws to his game” is clear hyperbole. He will likely score 20-25+ goals next season as a starter.
Regardless the path to a top PL club actually does not need to take the route of a mid table one first. Most top clubs agree hence Arsenal, Chelsea and United were after him this summer. Add to that the path is hardly ever used successfully. Most top strikers are signed by the top PL clubs from outside of the league
Excellent.A good/talented player who had an absolutely shocking international tournament. It happens.
Peter Crouch regen if you ask me.
OK, lets find out how Sesko does. He's getting Hojlund level figures in a lesser league as it stands.
I don't even think he was all that bad. Showed glimpses and was involved and active throughout. Not terrible for a young player in a pretty mediocre side.
The late miss was a disaster of course
The late miss was a disaster of course
It was a good save but he had so much time, he could’ve knocked it around him and tapped it into the net.
I can’t say I’m an expert on him and I’m sure he’s a very good player, he’s just had a bit of a shit game against a top side in a big international tournament.
Poor tournament but think he'll score more goals than Zirkzee next season so...
Probably not in the EPL though as he'll most likely be playing in Germany
I always think that big players have moments where they announce themselves as such. Feel like he properly missed that opportunity last night.
He was not the starting striker until the last 3 months so…
Interesting to see that he was our number one choice for striker this summer according to The Athletic but chose to stay at Leipzig.
Apparently we will be keeping a close eye on him this season.
Also this was our third approach to Sesko (don't know when the other two approaches were). Obviously then a striker we are very interested in.
Apparently we will be keeping a close eye on him this season.
Also this was our third approach to Sesko (don't know when the other two approaches were). Obviously then a striker we are very interested in.
Berbatov, Van Persie? Yorke? Cole? Cantona? We’ve had good success with converting mid table strikers!
So, decades ago ....
Sorry for being pedantic but cantona shouldn't count, he won the league at Leeds the previous year.
I think I read Ralf wanting him in January '22. Would have helped with the Greenwood nightmare.
And Arsenal weren’t a “mid-table” team.
That's how long it has been since we had a striker good enough to be nailed on the teamsheet.So, decades ago ....
The best we managed since Berba/Rooney/RvP were short over the hill stints and occasional purple patches from Martial.
I was being slightly facetious, but history shows most of our striker signings from mid table clubs have been successful. I’d never really thought about it before but it’s been a happy hunting ground for us. The only “failure” in terms of forwards that I can think of is Saha, and he didn’t fail so much as he was constantly injured and never realised his potential.
Seeing someone describe Saha as a failure hurts a little. I know you qualified it, but still.. love that guy.
I do think your general point is fine though. Although we always had that "make stars not but them" thing going in those times. Largely because we had to. I still wonder what we might've been if SAF had got his way with Batistuta.
Anyway, I'm glad we got Zirkzee instead of Sesko. He's a better footballer.
Saha was brilliant when he was on the pitch, arguably a prototype of the modern forward and I really wanted him to succeed, he just missed so many games and failure was probably harsh, but he was definitely a lost talent.
Batistuta in a United shirt would have been the stuff of dreams. Hard to get the top players to leave Italy in them days though.
I agree on Zirkzee too, although do you think he would be a direct comparison to Sesko, or would that be Rasmus?
Sesko, in my opinion, would have been a signing we'd come to regret. He's just Rasmus with more exposure. Zirkzee, well. I've carried his flag for a while so I don't want to get a reputation or anything. He's just a Manchester United player, more than anyone we've signed in over a decade.
I think I remember reading that Batistuta was a real possibility for Ferguson but the board shut him down. Gabigoal would have changed my childhood to the extent I'd probably be an entirely different person.
I think people need to be patient with him, no preseason, about 5 minutes in euros isn’t great prep for a long hard season. Thought he had good bit and negative bits against pool. Certainly got into the right areas and unlucky not to score. I think him and Rashford are developing an understanding.
If true then Sesko doesn't really seem interested in United however. Turning you down three times doesn't look good.
Rooney was from mid table, tevez.
Good point, not sure how I forgot them two. Actually thought of Tevez but had the false memory he'd come from abroad.
According to the article, Utd were impressed that he values his career development more and moving when he thinks it's the right time to move to an elite club.
That's fine. But will he consider United an elite club when it's time for him to move? I'm not so sure about that. United hasn't exactly been better than Leipzig in recent years, so if it's his own development he wants to take care of it might not feel like a step up for him, if United don't get their sh*t together soon.
It's certainly a step up in pressure and expectation!
And money. But that does not seem to be his priority, otherwise he would have pushed for the move I think.
I think he's right to stay where he is anyway, he's still very raw and unpredictable. Hojlund would have been wise to stay at Atalanta, but he's a massive United fan, so he was never going to turn that opportunity down. He won't be short of suitors when he's ready to move on and we may or may not be in a position to offer a good project. Arsenal may offer a better option at that point.
He stated a few times that his ultimate goal is playing home matches at Santiago Bernabeu. But I don't think that his potential ability will get him to live his Madrid dream.
Who knows... just look at Joselu. Sesko is already a better striker than Joselu ever was, yet Joselu played a lot of matches for Real last season.
Be interesting if we (Arsenal) are still looking to pursue him in future windows as well.
Was interesting that by all reports we were balls deep for Sesko, but we didn't really make a move for any alternatives when he decided to stay.
For what it's worth, I think he's totally done the right thing by staying. He should establish himself enough so that when he does make a move, it's with the thinking he'll be a starting striker at a big club, rather than seen as a forward to develop which might put him further down the pecking order.
Was interesting that by all reports we were balls deep for Sesko, but we didn't really make a move for any alternatives when he decided to stay.
For what it's worth, I think he's totally done the right thing by staying. He should establish himself enough so that when he does make a move, it's with the thinking he'll be a starting striker at a big club, rather than seen as a forward to develop which might put him further down the pecking order.