Potential striker signings (who aren't named Højlund)

If DCL scores 20+ league goals next season, he could be someone that we can take into account. He scored 16 league goals this season so far without penalty. Impressive number. Just need to prove it again that he's not one wonder season.

Last season was 13 league goals, this season is 16 league goals with 4 more games to play. If he can score 20+ league goals next season, surely that's something we can put the big money on him. His movement is very good too.
 
Ings as a cheap short term option to be cover for Cavani. Guaranteed goals when he plays, also means we dont have to waste game time on Martial pretending to be a number 9.
 
Now we extended Cavani's contract we have one year breathing space but if we want to replace him eventually we might as well take a look at Adam Hložek. Massive talent, proper number nine, been playing men's football since 16 (18 now), already one of the best players in the league and the most all round striker I remember at this stage of development, 188 cm strong for his age, quick and agile as well.

He's got 11 goals and 9 assists in 16 games this year only due to lengthy injury but came back in a great form. Scored a typical goal for him today. Otherwise here's a complimentary video. half the highlights are from when he was 17.

Liverpool and WHU apparently after him, think we should hijack the deal now before he moves to a club like Dortmund which in fairness would be a better move for him now but I think he could be easily loaned out back to Sparta and available for 25 mil + add ons now and is certainly worth it as an already established player with such high potential...
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
If DCL scores 20+ league goals next season, he could be someone that we can take into account. He scored 16 league goals this season so far without penalty. Impressive number. Just need to prove it again that he's not one wonder season.

Last season was 13 league goals, this season is 16 league goals with 4 more games to play. If he can score 20+ league goals next season, surely that's something we can put the big money on him. His movement is very good too.
Click to expand...
If you put a gun to my head and asked me to predict the next striker we sign it would be this lad. But we will also get absolutely fleeced. :lol:
 
It looks to me like Rashford and Greenwood are more productive from their wing positions in Ole's 4-2-3-1 setup when Cavani is #9 than they are playing #9 in Ole's 4-2-3-1 setup. Having a starter and backup of at least Cavani's quality at #9 so Rashford and Greenwood can play where they are most effective would make the best use of transfer spending and maximize the production of United's quality young talent on the wings, imho.
 
Think Mason will take over eventually. Haaland might goto Real or Bayern. Lewa might goto PSG ( as per today's reports) . Kane will goto City.We still need a striker to replace Cavani and Martial though.

Our options ?

Benzema
DCL
Vlahovic
Andre Silva

If I am being honest, very uninspiring.
 
If Real end up paying €200M for Mbappe this summer I don't think they'll be in for Haaland and I think Bayern are intending to keep Lewandowski, but City will be if they don't get Kane and Juve's new refinancing scheme could see them involved as Raiola would probably be fine with stashing him there for 3 seasons before moving him on for a ludicrous fee as Italian clubs always sell. Last but not least I'm sure PSG will be in the mix to have a new big star to replace Mbappe.

I could see us going for Kane if City get Haaland as I don't see him wanting to leave the PL.
 
Suggestions of the likes of Ings and DCL are bang out of order. Osimhen is the answer you guys are looking for. That brother is the truth.
 
The players that come to mind for me:

Osimhen
Isak
 
Last edited:
Vlahovic looks interesting and the young lad at Salzburg ( Sesko) also looks like someone we should keep a eye on.

But I think we should also keep an eye on the young forward at River Plate (Julián Álvarez) who looks like someone who could develop into a very good #9. He seems to possess decent pace, strength and the ability to strike the ball with power with either foot. But his movement is excellent and surprisingly he's also a good creator whilst being versatile enough to play in several roles. He's 21 years old and it seems he will soon make a move to Europe.


 
The Napoli guy Oshimen looks good. If he can put up good numbers he would be one worth looking at if we can't get Haaland. I just hope for the love of all that is good in this world that we don't go after Kane.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
DCL, Osimhen and /nunuez of benfica are worth looking at
Click to expand...

None of these have delivered numbers even remotely close to what we need from someone to lead the line for us. We don't need a 10-20 goals a season striker.
We already have Martial (15 months older than DCL) , who looks amazing in highlight videos by the way, and actually has a better goalratio in the PL than DCL. (Martial - 209 minutes/goal, DCL - 227 minutes/Goal.) Which of course is why we are looking for someone better (better is the key word here).

We need a 25-40 goals a season striker... I'm afraid they all have to improve their output drastically to even be considered.
 
Adnan said:
Vlahovic looks interesting and the young lad at Salzburg ( Sesko) also looks like someone we should keep a eye on.

But I think we should also keep an eye on the young forward at River Plate (Julián Álvarez) who looks like someone who could develop into a very good #9. He seems to possess decent pace, strength and the ability to strike the ball with power with either foot. But his movement is excellent and surprisingly he's also a good creator whilst being versatile enough to play in several roles. He's 21 years old and it seems he will soon make a move to Europe.


Click to expand...

Looks a nice player but can't see us signing a number nine that is only 5ft 7 inches tall. Think he'd struggle too much physically. Even Aguero was taller than that and looks much stockier too.
 
@kouroux

how would you describe Lucas Paqueta?

I've seen him play CAM, almost as a False 9 and at times as deep as a CM.

Is he a false 9?
 
Isak looks a real gem everytime i've seen him play recently, not in the habit of watching Sociedad every week so no idea how constant his performances are..
 
troylocker said:
None of these have delivered numbers even remotely close to what we need from someone to lead the line for us. We don't need a 10-20 goals a season striker.
We already have Martial (15 months older than DCL) , who looks amazing in highlight videos by the way, and actually has a better goalratio in the PL than DCL. (Martial - 209 minutes/goal, DCL - 227 minutes/Goal.) Which of course is why we are looking for someone better (better is the key word here).

We need a 25-40 goals a season striker... I'm afraid they all have to improve their output drastically to even be considered.
Click to expand...
Martial is a poor example to use. He plays in a superior team to all of them whilst performing at 1/6th of his actual ability.
I also believe any one who can consistently get 10-20 goals at a lower level of club. Should be able to hit 30 -40 at a higher level.

Because les be honest. The ONLY 40 goal season forwards of buyable age are Halaand and Mbappe. Yet this thread is about those not named halaand nor mbappe
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Martial is a poor example to use. He plays in a superior team to all of them whilst performing at 1/6th of his actual ability.
I also believe any one who can consistently get 10-20 goals at a lower level of club. Should be able to hit 30 -40 at a higher level.

Because les be honest. The ONLY 40 goal season forwards of buyable age are Halaand and Mbappe. Yet this thread is about those not named halaand nor mbappe
Click to expand...
Generally if you play for a superior team, you're also playing against superior teams. Can you give me any examples of 10-20 goal strikers coming from weaker leagues turning into 30-40 goal strikers in stronger leagues?
 
Raven said:
Generally if you play for a superior team, you're also playing against superior teams. Can you give me any examples of 10-20 goal strikers coming from weaker leagues turning into 30-40 goal strikers in stronger leagues?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily from weaker leagues. But from lower clubs.

Radamel Falcao. Porto to Atletico Madrid

Lewandowski. Every step up in club has produced more goals

Aguero from atletico Madrid to city.

Fernando Torres from Atletico to Liverpool

Shearer from Southampton to blackburn.

Rooney Everton to Manchester United.

It could be argued Andy Cole from Newcastle to Manchester United


Yorke from Villa to Manchester United
 
Last edited:
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Martial is a poor example to use. He plays in a superior team to all of them whilst performing at 1/6th of his actual ability.
I also believe any one who can consistently get 10-20 goals at a lower level of club. Should be able to hit 30 -40 at a higher level.

Because les be honest. The ONLY 40 goal season forwards of buyable age are Halaand and Mbappe. Yet this thread is about those not named halaand nor mbappe
Click to expand...
There isn't many strikers out there of under 25 that would improve our 1st 11, Haaland and Mbappe might be the only ones.

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
I also don't ever get the obsession with a 40 goal a season forward. Liverpool , Chelsea and City are proof it's actually a luxury. You are better off with an all round forward who can combine with your wide forward/wingers to plunder goals
Click to expand...

Are they? What would 2008-2020 Barca or RM 2009-2018 be without their 40+ goals a season players.

Liverpool has 40+ goals a season from their 2 main wings alone. (Salah/Mane last 4 seasons: 17/18 - 64 goals, 18/19 - 53 goals, 19/20 season - 45 goals, 20/21 - 47 goals).

City has had around 30 goals a season from Aguero since 2012 + a ton of goals from backup strikers, wingers and midfield. Last 4 seasons City's forwards (Aguero, Jesus, Sane, Sterling and Torres) combined have scored: 17/18 - 88 goals, 18/19 - 94 goals, 19/20 - 77 goals, 20/21 - 47 goals. They are desperate for a new main striker and are ready to spend 100+M.
At the same time they have been supported by a very productive midfield (Silva, KDB, Mahrez, Bernardo, Gundo and Foden) who has combined scored: 17/18 - 37 goals, 18/19 - 54 goals, 19/20 - 56 goals, 20/21 - 62 goals.
I we had a pool of 8 to 10 players who scored a combined 110+ goals every season, which we don't, I agree that the need for a 40+ striker wouldn't been that big.

Chelsea scored 15 goals less than us in the prem last season, only Arsenal and Everton among the top 10 scored less. They won CL despite not even being among the 5 best teams in the tournament......and they just spent 110M on a striker.

Us the last 4 seasons:
Our main attackers (Lukaku, Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani and James) has combined scored: 17/18 - 51 goals (27 by Lukaku), 18/19 - 40 goals, 19/20 - 68 goals, 20/21 - 62.
Goals from attacking/b-to-b midfielders (Mata, Fellaini, Lingard, Sanchez, Pogba, McTom and Bruno): 17/18 - 30 goals, 18/19 - 33 goals, 19/20 - 25 goals, 20/21 - 44 goals (28 by Bruno)
Combined from this pool of attacking midfielders and forwards: 17/18 - 81 goals, 18/19 - 73 goals, 19/20 - 83 goals, 20/21 - 106 goals (Bruno adding a big number)

Add a 40+ goals a season striker to our squad and we instantly score 10-20 more goals a season.

As an example - Ronaldo vs. Haaland last season:
Ronaldo scored 27 goals from open play in 3751 minutes (139 minutes/goal) last season while Haaland for instance scored 38 goals from open play in 3540 minutes (93 minutes/goal). Ronaldo assisted 4 goals last season while Haaland assisted 13
Ronaldo had 183 shots vs Haalands 116 shots in the league and CL - Ronaldo scored on 14% of his total shots compared to 29% for Haaland.
Big games:
Ronaldo scored 2 goals in 610 minutes against Inter, Milan, Atalanta and Napoli last season (only 1 against Inter or Milan in 340 minutes), Haaland scored 7 goals in 501 minutes against Bayern, Leipzig, Wolfsbug and Frankfurt (5 in 240 minutes against Bayern and Leipzig). Champions League - 4 goals in 570 minutes for Ronaldo vs. 10 goals in 706 minutes for Haaland.

You just get more goals in general and more goals in the most important games which in the end wins you more games and points.

Real Madrid in LaLiga the 3 seasons before signing Cristiano: 66 goals and 76 points in 06/07, 84 goals and 85 points in 07/08 and 83 goals and 78 points in 08/09. Avg. 78 goals and 80 points.
Real Madrid in LaLiga with Ronaldo: 102 goals and 96 points in 09/10, 102 goals and 92 points in 10/11, 121 goals and 100 points in 11/12, 103 goals and 85 points in 12/13, 104 goals and 87 points in 13/14, 118 goals and 92 points in 14/15, 110 goals and 90 points in 15/16, 106 goals and 93 points in 16/17 and 94 goals and 76 points in 17/18. Avg. 107 goals and 90 points.
Real Madrid post Ronaldo: 63 goals and 68 points in 18/19, 70 goals and 87 points in 19/20 and 67 goals and 84 points in 20/21. Avg. 68 goals and 80 points.

Obviously not a luxury!
Even though there are more factors involved, it's pretty obvious that having a 40+ goalscorer in their team was essential to RM's success in the 10s and has been hard for them to replace those 40-60 goals a season since.

If we want to dominate English and European football we need a world class striker leading the line. DCL and most of the guys mentioned in this thread isn't, and I would much rather prefer that we bought a young superstar than a 33+ year old on his way down.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Not necessarily from weaker leagues. But from lower clubs.

Radamel Falcao. Porto to Atletico Madrid

Lewandowski. Every step up in club has produced more goals

Aguero from atletico Madrid to city.

Fernando Torres from Atletico to Liverpool

Shearer from Southampton to blackburn.

Rooney Everton to Manchester United.

It could be argued Andy Cole from Newcastle to Manchester United


Yorke from Villa to Manchester United
Click to expand...
None of these examples went from 10-20 goals a season strikers from a lower club to a 30-40 goals a season at a bigger club, not even close:

Falcao:
For Porto: 34 goals in 09/10 and 38 goals in 10/11
For Athletico: 36 goals in 11/12 and 34 goals in 12/13

Lewandowski:
Last 2 seasons for Dortmund: 36 goals in 12/13 and 28 goals in 13/14
First 2 seasons for Bayern: 23 goals in 14/15 and 42 goals in 15/16

Aguero:
Last 2 seasons for Athletico: 19 goals in 09/10 and 27 goals in 11/12
First 2 seasons for City: 30 goals in 12/13 and 17 goals in 13/14

Torres:
He had one great season in his career, the first one with Liverpool, with 33 goals. The rest of his seasons in England was on par with or worse than what he did with Athletico.

Shearer:
Yeah! He clicked pretty good in that Blackburn team.

Rooney was 18, hardly proves much that he improved from there...

Cole:
Last 1,5 seasons with Newcastle: 41 goals in 93/94 and 15 in the first half of 94/95
First 2,5 seasons with us: 12 goals in the last half of 94/95, 13 goals in 95/96 and 7 goals in 96/97.
He did the opposite and became less productive for a bigger team.

Yorke:
Scored 25, 20 and 16 goals his last 3 seasons at Villa and 29, 23 and 12 goals first 3 seasons with us. Pretty darn similar if you ask me...

No one goes from scoring 10-20 goals a season for a lower team to scoring 30-40 for a bigger team from one season to another. It doesn't happen.
 
Last edited:
troylocker said:
There isn't many strikers out there of under 25 that would improve our 1st 11, Haaland and Mbappe might be the only ones.
Click to expand...
We already know. this thread is about those who are potential alternatives. For if we are every honest I don't believe we are getting Halaand nor Mbappe


troylocker said:
Are they? What would 2008-2020 Barca or RM 2009-2018 be without their 40+ goals a season players.
Click to expand...
First. what does any of this have to do w ith what Chelsea, Liverpool and City have achieved over the last 4 years without a 30-40 goal a season striker, starting regularly for them?
Second, in their regular 40+ goal phase CR7 wasn't a center forward for Real Madrid. Messi was a false 9. They pretty much rubber stamp what I'm stating. A 40 plus goal a season center forward is not a necessity because its a rarity. Rather you need a forward line that can score over 60 goals between them regularly

troylocker said:
Liverpool has 40+ goals a season from their 2 main wings alone. (Salah/Mane last 4 seasons: 17/18 - 64 goals, 18/19 - 53 goals, 19/20 season - 45 goals, 20/21 - 47 goals).
Click to expand...
You are still enforcing my point. Firmino has been their lead center forward before Jota's arrival. He hasn't been any here near those winger's tallies. Which is precisely my point. Him or Jota hitting 40 plus is just a luxury not a necessity to Liverpool.

troylocker said:
City has had around 30 goals a season from Aguero since 2012 + a ton of goals from backup strikers, wingers and midfield. Last 4 seasons City's forwards (Aguero, Jesus, Sane, Sterling and Torres) combined have scored: 17/18 - 88 goals, 18/19 - 94 goals, 19/20 - 77 goals, 20/21 - 47 goals
Click to expand...
My point was Aguero's absence did not stop their success. If a team is reliant on a 30+ goals a season striker, their sucess would significantly go down in his absence

.
troylocker said:
They are desperate for a new main striker and are ready to spend 100+M
Click to expand...
They are. But they are still doing quite fine without one. Which is my point.

troylocker said:
I we had a pool of 8 to 10 players who scored a combined 110+ goals every season, which we don't, I agree that the need for a 40+ striker wouldn't been that big.
Click to expand...
I see it differently. We should share the goals amongst our forward line equally much mode than we currently do. In my view our inside forwards and wingers should be almost as high scoring as any center forwards we have.

troylocker said:
Chelsea scored 15 goals less than us in the prem last season, only Arsenal and Everton among the top 10 scored less. They won CL despite not even being among the 5 best teams in the tournament......and they just spent 110M on a striker.
Click to expand...
True. But again. They DID win the UCL without one.

troylocker said:
Us the last 4 seasons:
Our main attackers (Lukaku, Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani and James) has combined scored: 17/18 - 51 goals (27 by Lukaku), 18/19 - 40 goals, 19/20 - 68 goals, 20/21 - 62.
Goals from attacking/b-to-b midfielders (Mata, Fellaini, Lingard, Sanchez, Pogba, McTom and Bruno): 17/18 - 30 goals, 18/19 - 33 goals, 19/20 - 25 goals, 20/21 - 44 goals (28 by Bruno)
Combined from this pool of attacking midfielders and forwards: 17/18 - 81 goals, 18/19 - 73 goals, 19/20 - 83 goals, 20/21 - 106 goals (Bruno adding a big number)
Add a 40+ goals a season striker to our squad and we instantly score 10-20 more goals a season.
Click to expand...
It looks that way. But I'm not yet convinced. Our forward line on either side of a striker should be contributing much more goals consistently than they currently do. If they don't, I'm not sure adding a 30-40+ striker will improve us. In fact it will just make us over reliant on them, which is far frm what we should want

troylocker said:
Real Madrid in LaLiga the 3 seasons before signing Cristiano: 66 goals and 76 points in 06/07, 84 goals and 85 points in 07/08 and 83 goals and 78 points in 08/09. Avg. 78 goals and 80 points.
Real Madrid in LaLiga with Ronaldo: 102 goals and 96 points in 09/10, 102 goals and 92 points in 10/11, 121 goals and 100 points in 11/12, 103 goals and 85 points in 12/13, 104 goals and 87 points in 13/14, 118 goals and 92 points in 14/15, 110 goals and 90 points in 15/16, 106 goals and 93 points in 16/17 and 94 goals and 76 points in 17/18. Avg. 107 goals and 90 points.
Real Madrid post Ronaldo: 63 goals and 68 points in 18/19, 70 goals and 87 points in 19/20 and 67 goals and 84 points in 20/21. Avg. 68 goals and 80 points.

Obviously not a luxury!
Click to expand...
Again you misunderstand my point. You keep conflating a 30-40 goal a season player with a 30-40 goal a season center forward/ center striker.

Benzema Real Madrid's main lead the line center forward through out that period wasn't a 30-40 goal a season man. Which IS my point. It IS a luxury to have a proper center forward who is that prolific these days. Instead you can have a winger or wide forward who is that prolific or a collection of forwards who do that for you.
 
Last edited:
We have Ronnie and Greenwood. If it's not Haaland/Mbappe I don't see the point in signing a striker. Maybe an exceptional young talent?

We'll likely still have Martial around as well, since he's so overpaid.
 
troylocker said:
None of these examples went from 10-20 goals a season strikers from a lower club to a 30-40 goals a season at a bigger club, not even close:

Falcao:
For Porto: 34 goals in 09/10 and 38 goals in 10/11
For Athletico: 36 goals in 11/12 and 34 goals in 12/13

Lewandowski:
Last 2 seasons for Dortmund: 36 goals in 12/13 and 28 goals in 13/14
First 2 seasons for Bayern: 23 goals in 14/15 and 42 goals in 15/16

Aguero:
Last 2 seasons for Athletico: 19 goals in 09/10 and 27 goals in 11/12
First 2 seasons for City: 30 goals in 12/13 and 17 goals in 13/14

Torres:
He had one great season in his career, the first one with Liverpool, with 33 goals. The rest of his seasons in England was on par with or worse than what he did with Athletico.

Shearer:
Yeah! He clicked pretty good in that Blackburn team.

Rooney was 18, hardly proves much that he improved from there...

Cole:
Last 1,5 seasons with Newcastle: 41 goals in 93/94 and 15 in the first half of 94/95
First 2,5 seasons with us: 12 goals in the last half of 94/95, 13 goals in 95/96 and 7 goals in 96/97.
He did the opposite and became less productive for a bigger team.

Yorke:
Scored 25, 20 and 16 goals his last 3 seasons at Villa and 29, 23 and 12 goals first 3 seasons with us. Pretty darn similar if you ask me...

No one goes from scoring 10-20 goals a season for a lower team to scoring 30-40 for a bigger team from one season to another. It doesn't happen.
Click to expand...
To be honest I was focusing on their out put in league football.
 
troylocker said:
None of these have delivered numbers even remotely close to what we need from someone to lead the line for us. We don't need a 10-20 goals a season striker.
We already have Martial (15 months older than DCL) , who looks amazing in highlight videos by the way, and actually has a better goalratio in the PL than DCL. (Martial - 209 minutes/goal, DCL - 227 minutes/Goal.) Which of course is why we are looking for someone better (better is the key word here).

We need a 25-40 goals a season striker... I'm afraid they all have to improve their output drastically to even be considered.
Click to expand...
Osimhen will easily deliver those sort of numbers this season and in the future. The bother is the truth.
 
If it’s anyone other than Haaland or Mbappe then we need more protests against ownership
 
Joe Willock might be a good investment, he would only cost around 20 mil and would give us more options.
 
I would take a punt on Malen.

And buy Chiesa as well. That's after selling some attackers of course. Currently, there are too many attackers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.