The centre-forward market...

If Kane is feasible we just need to get him at all costs. I think the outlay is still worth it even if it's only 2/3 seasons.

Same was said about Casemiro, but I couldn't care less about his age because his impact has been incredible and worth the fee already. Kane will have the same impact on our attack I believe.

All the other links still need another couple of seasons before they're ready to lead the line for United.

Kane for a few seasons, and line up Ferguson as replacement.
 
I think we'll have a better shot at Kane than Osimhen. Really don't think Kane would join another London club so that rules out Chelsea, and given his age the likes of Bayern and Madrid won't fork a fortune for him. We're the perfect club for him at the moment. Obviously the biggest issue would be Levy dragging this out all summer which we really need to avoid.

Ideally it'd be great if we could sign 2 strikers as well considering how we're short in that department. Probably someone young with potential.
 
Think we'll buy that Gift Orban kid. He seems to be the ideal replacement for Martial. Same player, just better at everything.
 
croadyman said:
Who do people think is the best fit for how Erik wants to play outside of Kane/Osimhen
Click to expand...

If ETH would get to choose between Randal Kolo Muani and Gonçalo Ramos — today — I would be surprised if he didn’t go with the former.

RKM is a real work horse. He comes deep to get the ball. He is always moving his feet. He is strong on the press. And he is just very hard to contain which makes him a constant threat over 90 minutes. Besides that, he is definitely not bad in the air.

Gonçalo Ramos — in the Premier League, next season at the age of 21 — is much harder to pin point from my point of view. I would describe him with one word, quality. He can finish with both feet. Great first touch. Great finisher. He does get into battles for the ball, he is smart on the press. Good with his head

With some guys you risk to underestimate them because they just don’t ooze a lot of emotions. When you watch GR, I mean, it just looks like a day at work for him. It’s fairly easy. Will he put in the extreme work it takes and push himself the extra distance to take the necessary steps to become a true elite striker in the World? Like I can’t lie, I know myself well enough to admit that if half his face was covered in scars from burn damage and he had firey eyes — I would probably be super high on him.

But all that aside, when a scout get a scouting report form to fill out, not many — if any — young striker in Europe will come away with higher marks than Ramos. He — could — become the next Benzema. But I think everyone will admit that doing it in the PL will be different, and history is full of guys like Alvaro Morata and the likes who comes to the PL and just looks very flat.

My dark horse would definitely be Benjamin Sesko. This is also a kid that is raw. Everyone knows that Leipzig bought him from Salzburg on the cheap since it was infra the Redbull group. Could be unthinkable to sell him (for many reasons).

But talent wise, this kid is unique. Just 19 y/o. 6’5, but has explosive speed. Tremendous finisher with his left foot. Very hard worker. Brought up under Haaland who he definitely reminds everyone a lot of. Nobody should be compared with Haaland ever. Sesko is still rough around the edges. Can he be expected to come in at the age of 19 and carry a PL team? No. But he is definitely my No 1 target. There are always top young striker targets out there — and most don’t reach the expectations on them. But the raw talent of a kid like Sesko just sets him apart. It’s like with Bellingham, you can question exactly what the player will become, but talent wise he is so good that you know that he won’t fail to become at worst a good PL player. A young Rio Ferdinand was at that level too.

The one guy I have zero interest in is Dusan Vlahovic. I could be wrong, I am not a pro football scout, but my bet is definitely that he would have become another Ole disaster had we managed to get him last year. Watching him for Serbia and Juventus — he is just so limited. Not a factor at all on the press. Doesn’t threat the D with runs. Sure he, he does get past his man on occasion — but it’s so rare. He is a great threat from a distance with his shot, and he is a good ball distributor with his long passing games.

Ivan Toney is one that intrigues me a bit. First of all, the impact of Mbuemo on his game shouldn’t be underestimated. They are doing it as a duo to a large extent, and both are equally important in that regard even if it’s Toney that finds the net most of the time. But regardless of that, he got the striker’s psyche, he is a good finisher, he is very slippery, good on the linkup. He is out until January though and that isn’t stellar.

Rasmus Højlund is a kid I like, but he can’t come with (the pressure of) a high price tag. That would be a recipe for disaster. He just isn’t there yet. He is ready to handle the minutes Wout is getting, it won’t end well if people treat him like Mudryk and starts calling him a bust if he doesn’t set the world on fire. 30-35m — great. 60-70m? I am doubtful.

We know that ETH talked with Brian Brobbery late in August and tried to convince him to come to Manchester. That is kind of fascinating. For anyone that haven’t seen BB play — he stands out in many ways. First of all, his first touch is kind of horrible. But he looks to be like 5’9 200lbs. He will create goals, and I think his game 100% translates to more or less every level. He is like John Hartson in battles for the ball. But he isn’t really a finisher, he will back into a defender to create a lane, look up and make contact with the player on the ball, show like ‘just pass me the ball and run into this channel I created and I will get it back to you’ and then he delivers. And in those situations he is perfectly OK. Like if he was on the pitch with guys like Rash, Sancho, Bruno and co, when we had moved up our team and was pressing hard, he could warrant getting minutes on the pitch.

The problem is just that it’s not like he would be some kind of cheat code in those situations — and he is very limited in other areas of the game. At least that is my impression from my limited viewings of him.

Two guys I wouldn’t rule out for a back-up striker role are:
Maxine Chopo Moutine from Bayern and Memphis Dempay. Both as free transfers of course.

These guys both makes sense — if, and only if — they can be short term commitments. If they would take 1 year contracts. Many will say like, for fecks sake, why not sign Thuram’s kid, he is better than both? But the cost of making a bad signing on a long term deal is monumental. Like what did Igalho cost us and what will the total price tag for Donny Van de Beek be? Donny will cost us about 80m and we basically won’t get more than 1-2 solid games while Igalho perhaps cost us 10m for 1-2 solid games. The price for Marcus Thuram will be perhaps 50-60m over 5 years. You must know that he is good enough if you make that signing. If we give MCM 10m for one year, the risk is limited.

Jonathan David is a kid that don’t pass my smell test. Lille has developed some really good players and sold them for high fees. Always been Fabrizio Romano who breaks any move they make. Now he is bringing up and hyping David every chance he gets. I like this kid, his work ethic etc. But from my limited viewing — he is a 10-15m player. I know Elanga is low on everyone’s lists right now. But give Elanga 1 year at Lille and let him build up his confidence again — I think he is the better prospect.

With Ole, perhaps we would have gone for a kid like David. But I hope those days are over with ETH. DVB is another kid who I think Ajax laughed all the way to the bank after selling him.

Have we been linked to Vitor Roque? He is a good young prospect too. Definitely think that he can have a good European career. But I also wouldn’t rule out that he kind of would be like a young Memphis Depay, ie needing a few years before finding his game. But I would definitely give up the rumored 15m for him. Would be really refreshing to have a young exciting striker prospect in Manchester, we haven’t had that in ages. And while you can never count on it, all of a sudden a kid like this takes a chance and runs with it.
 
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Messier1994 said:
If ETH would get to choose between Randal Kolo Muani and Gonçalo Ramos — today — I would be surprised if he didn’t go with the former.

RKM is a real work horse. He comes deep to get the ball. He is always moving his feet. He is strong on the press. And he is just very hard to contain which makes him a constant threat over 90 minutes. Besides that, he is definitely not bad in the air.

Gonçalo Ramos — in the Premier League, next season at the age of 21 — is much harder to pin point from my point of view. I would describe him with one word, quality. He can finish with both feet. Great first touch. Great finisher. He does get into battles for the ball, he is smart on the press. Good with his head

With some guys you risk to underestimate them because they just don’t ooze a lot of emotions. When you watch GR, I mean, it just looks like a day at work for him. It’s fairly easy. Will he put in the extreme work it takes and push himself the extra distance to take the necessary steps to become a true elite striker in the World? Like I can’t lie, I know myself well enough to admit that if half his face was covered in scars from burn damage and he had firey eyes — I would probably be super high on him.

But all that aside, when a scout get a scouting report form to fill out, not many — if any — young striker in Europe will come away with higher marks than Ramos. He — could — become the next Benzema. But I think everyone will admit that doing it in the PL will be different, and history is full of guys like Alvaro Morata and the likes who comes to the PL and just looks very flat.

My dark horse would definitely be Benjamin Sesko. This is also a kid that is raw. Everyone knows that Leipzig bought him from Salzburg on the cheap since it was infra the Redbull group. Could be unthinkable to sell him (for many reasons).

But talent wise, this kid is unique. Just 19 y/o. 6’5, but has explosive speed. Tremendous finisher with his left foot. Very hard worker. Brought up under Haaland who he definitely reminds everyone a lot of. Nobody should be compared with Haaland ever. Sesko is still rough around the edges. Can he be expected to come in at the age of 19 and carry a PL team? No. But he is definitely my No 1 target. There are always top young striker targets out there — and most don’t reach the expectations on them. But the raw talent of a kid like Sesko just sets him apart. It’s like with Bellingham, you can question exactly what the player will become, but talent wise he is so good that you know that he won’t fail to become at worst a good PL player. A young Rio Ferdinand was at that level too.

The one guy I have zero interest in is Dusan Vlahovic. I could be wrong, I am not a pro football scout, but my bet is definitely that he would have become another Ole disaster had we managed to get him last year. Watching him for Serbia and Juventus — he is just so limited. Not a factor at all on the press. Doesn’t threat the D with runs. Sure he, he does get past his man on occasion — but it’s so rare. He is a great threat from a distance with his shot, and he is a good ball distributor with his long passing games.

Ivan Toney is one that intrigues me a bit. First of all, the impact of Mbuemo on his game shouldn’t be underestimated. They are doing it as a duo to a large extent, and both are equally important in that regard even if it’s Toney that finds the net most of the time. But regardless of that, he got the striker’s psyche, he is a good finisher, he is very slippery, good on the linkup. He is out until January though and that isn’t stellar.

Rasmus Højlund is a kid I like, but he can’t come with (the pressure of) a high price tag. That would be a recipe for disaster. He just isn’t there yet. He is ready to handle the minutes Wout is getting, it won’t end well if people treat him like Mudryk and starts calling him a bust if he doesn’t set the world on fire. 30-35m — great. 60-70m? I am doubtful.

We know that ETH talked with Brian Brobbery late in August and tried to convince him to come to Manchester. That is kind of fascinating. For anyone that haven’t seen BB play — he stands out in many ways. First of all, his first touch is kind of horrible. But he looks to be like 5’9 200lbs. He will create goals, and I think his game 100% translates to more or less every level. He is like John Hartson in battles for the ball. But he isn’t really a finisher, he will back into a defender to create a lane, look up and make contact with the player on the ball, show like ‘just pass me the ball and run into this channel I created and I will get it back to you’ and then he delivers. And in those situations he is perfectly OK. Like if he was on the pitch with guys like Rash, Sancho, Bruno and co, when we had moved up our team and was pressing hard, he could warrant getting minutes on the pitch.

The problem is just that it’s not like he would be some kind of cheat code in those situations — and he is very limited in other areas of the game. At least that is my impression from my limited viewings of him.

Two guys I wouldn’t rule out for a back-up striker role are:
Maxine Chopo Moutine from Bayern and Memphis Dempay. Both as free transfers of course.

These guys both makes sense — if, and only if — they can be short term commitments. If they would take 1 year contracts. Many will say like, for fecks sake, why not sign Thuram’s kid, he is better than both? But the cost of making a bad signing on a long term deal is monumental. Like what did Igalho cost us and what will the total price tag for Donny Van de Beek be? Donny will cost us about 80m and we basically won’t get more than 1-2 solid games while Igalho perhaps cost us 10m for 1-2 solid games. The price for Marcus Thuram will be perhaps 50-60m over 5 years. You must know that he is good enough if you make that signing. If we give MCM 10m for one year, the risk is limited.

Jonathan David is a kid that don’t pass my smell test. Lille has developed some really good players and sold them for high fees. Always been Fabrizio Romano who breaks any move they make. Now he is bringing up and hyping David every chance he gets. I like this kid, his work ethic etc. But from my limited viewing — he is a 10-15m player. I know Elanga is low on everyone’s lists right now. But give Elanga 1 year at Lille and let him build up his confidence again — I think he is the better prospect.

With Ole, perhaps we would have gone for a kid like David. But I hope those days are over with ETH. DVB is another kid who I think Ajax laughed all the way to the bank after selling him.

Have we been linked to Vitor Roque? He is a good young prospect too. Definitely think that he can have a good European career. But I also wouldn’t rule out that he kind of would be like a young Memphis Depay, ie needing a few years before finding his game. But I would definitely give up the rumored 15m for him. Would be really refreshing to have a young exciting striker prospect in Manchester, we haven’t had that in ages. And while you can never count on it, all of a sudden a kid like this takes a chance and runs with it.
Click to expand...
There's just something about sesko that sets him apart from his pairs,unlike most strikers even without g/a contribution in a match he always find a way to stand out.
One thing I like about him is his style of play,out of possession he's a pressing monster,in possession he's like a hybrid 10/9 (like benzema),if he improves he's g/a he'll be one of the most complete CF of his generation.
 
Messier1994 said:
If ETH would get to choose between Randal Kolo Muani and Gonçalo Ramos — today — I would be surprised if he didn’t go with the former.

RKM is a real work horse. He comes deep to get the ball. He is always moving his feet. He is strong on the press. And he is just very hard to contain which makes him a constant threat over 90 minutes. Besides that, he is definitely not bad in the air.

Gonçalo Ramos — in the Premier League, next season at the age of 21 — is much harder to pin point from my point of view. I would describe him with one word, quality. He can finish with both feet. Great first touch. Great finisher. He does get into battles for the ball, he is smart on the press. Good with his head

With some guys you risk to underestimate them because they just don’t ooze a lot of emotions. When you watch GR, I mean, it just looks like a day at work for him. It’s fairly easy. Will he put in the extreme work it takes and push himself the extra distance to take the necessary steps to become a true elite striker in the World? Like I can’t lie, I know myself well enough to admit that if half his face was covered in scars from burn damage and he had firey eyes — I would probably be super high on him.

But all that aside, when a scout get a scouting report form to fill out, not many — if any — young striker in Europe will come away with higher marks than Ramos. He — could — become the next Benzema. But I think everyone will admit that doing it in the PL will be different, and history is full of guys like Alvaro Morata and the likes who comes to the PL and just looks very flat.

My dark horse would definitely be Benjamin Sesko. This is also a kid that is raw. Everyone knows that Leipzig bought him from Salzburg on the cheap since it was infra the Redbull group. Could be unthinkable to sell him (for many reasons).

But talent wise, this kid is unique. Just 19 y/o. 6’5, but has explosive speed. Tremendous finisher with his left foot. Very hard worker. Brought up under Haaland who he definitely reminds everyone a lot of. Nobody should be compared with Haaland ever. Sesko is still rough around the edges. Can he be expected to come in at the age of 19 and carry a PL team? No. But he is definitely my No 1 target. There are always top young striker targets out there — and most don’t reach the expectations on them. But the raw talent of a kid like Sesko just sets him apart. It’s like with Bellingham, you can question exactly what the player will become, but talent wise he is so good that you know that he won’t fail to become at worst a good PL player. A young Rio Ferdinand was at that level too.

The one guy I have zero interest in is Dusan Vlahovic. I could be wrong, I am not a pro football scout, but my bet is definitely that he would have become another Ole disaster had we managed to get him last year. Watching him for Serbia and Juventus — he is just so limited. Not a factor at all on the press. Doesn’t threat the D with runs. Sure he, he does get past his man on occasion — but it’s so rare. He is a great threat from a distance with his shot, and he is a good ball distributor with his long passing games.

Ivan Toney is one that intrigues me a bit. First of all, the impact of Mbuemo on his game shouldn’t be underestimated. They are doing it as a duo to a large extent, and both are equally important in that regard even if it’s Toney that finds the net most of the time. But regardless of that, he got the striker’s psyche, he is a good finisher, he is very slippery, good on the linkup. He is out until January though and that isn’t stellar.

Rasmus Højlund is a kid I like, but he can’t come with (the pressure of) a high price tag. That would be a recipe for disaster. He just isn’t there yet. He is ready to handle the minutes Wout is getting, it won’t end well if people treat him like Mudryk and starts calling him a bust if he doesn’t set the world on fire. 30-35m — great. 60-70m? I am doubtful.

We know that ETH talked with Brian Brobbery late in August and tried to convince him to come to Manchester. That is kind of fascinating. For anyone that haven’t seen BB play — he stands out in many ways. First of all, his first touch is kind of horrible. But he looks to be like 5’9 200lbs. He will create goals, and I think his game 100% translates to more or less every level. He is like John Hartson in battles for the ball. But he isn’t really a finisher, he will back into a defender to create a lane, look up and make contact with the player on the ball, show like ‘just pass me the ball and run into this channel I created and I will get it back to you’ and then he delivers. And in those situations he is perfectly OK. Like if he was on the pitch with guys like Rash, Sancho, Bruno and co, when we had moved up our team and was pressing hard, he could warrant getting minutes on the pitch.

The problem is just that it’s not like he would be some kind of cheat code in those situations — and he is very limited in other areas of the game. At least that is my impression from my limited viewings of him.

Two guys I wouldn’t rule out for a back-up striker role are:
Maxine Chopo Moutine from Bayern and Memphis Dempay. Both as free transfers of course.

These guys both makes sense — if, and only if — they can be short term commitments. If they would take 1 year contracts. Many will say like, for fecks sake, why not sign Thuram’s kid, he is better than both? But the cost of making a bad signing on a long term deal is monumental. Like what did Igalho cost us and what will the total price tag for Donny Van de Beek be? Donny will cost us about 80m and we basically won’t get more than 1-2 solid games while Igalho perhaps cost us 10m for 1-2 solid games. The price for Marcus Thuram will be perhaps 50-60m over 5 years. You must know that he is good enough if you make that signing. If we give MCM 10m for one year, the risk is limited.

Jonathan David is a kid that don’t pass my smell test. Lille has developed some really good players and sold them for high fees. Always been Fabrizio Romano who breaks any move they make. Now he is bringing up and hyping David every chance he gets. I like this kid, his work ethic etc. But from my limited viewing — he is a 10-15m player. I know Elanga is low on everyone’s lists right now. But give Elanga 1 year at Lille and let him build up his confidence again — I think he is the better prospect.

With Ole, perhaps we would have gone for a kid like David. But I hope those days are over with ETH. DVB is another kid who I think Ajax laughed all the way to the bank after selling him.

Have we been linked to Vitor Roque? He is a good young prospect too. Definitely think that he can have a good European career. But I also wouldn’t rule out that he kind of would be like a young Memphis Depay, ie needing a few years before finding his game. But I would definitely give up the rumored 15m for him. Would be really refreshing to have a young exciting striker prospect in Manchester, we haven’t had that in ages. And while you can never count on it, all of a sudden a kid like this takes a chance and runs with it.
Click to expand...
Thanks @Messier1994 for a really good analysis. Two other strikers you didn't mention are Gift Orban and Evan Ferguson - what are your thoughts on these two?
 
We need a goal machine first. Kane has to be first choice, in saying that, Osimhen reminds me of him quite a bit in the sense he didn't look like he was going to be a world beater looking at his earlier seasons, but burst onto the scene. Lilles scouts deserve a lot of praise, he'd probably be about 120 million, as would Kane, as would Vlahovic. That's just going to be the going rate for a top quality striker this season.

Someone like Dallinga or Fullkrug as a shot out of leftfield wouldn't surprise me either.

Dallinga as a complete surprise after a decent season but he's Dutch, or Fullkrug as a Weghorst that can actually play football.
 
Ramos would still be my first choice. 70 should do it alongside 10 for Fullkrug.
 
Messier1994 said:
If ETH would get to choose between Randal Kolo Muani and Gonçalo Ramos — today — I would be surprised if he didn’t go with the former.

RKM is a real work horse. He comes deep to get the ball. He is always moving his feet. He is strong on the press. And he is just very hard to contain which makes him a constant threat over 90 minutes. Besides that, he is definitely not bad in the air.

Gonçalo Ramos — in the Premier League, next season at the age of 21 — is much harder to pin point from my point of view. I would describe him with one word, quality. He can finish with both feet. Great first touch. Great finisher. He does get into battles for the ball, he is smart on the press. Good with his head

With some guys you risk to underestimate them because they just don’t ooze a lot of emotions. When you watch GR, I mean, it just looks like a day at work for him. It’s fairly easy. Will he put in the extreme work it takes and push himself the extra distance to take the necessary steps to become a true elite striker in the World? Like I can’t lie, I know myself well enough to admit that if half his face was covered in scars from burn damage and he had firey eyes — I would probably be super high on him.

But all that aside, when a scout get a scouting report form to fill out, not many — if any — young striker in Europe will come away with higher marks than Ramos. He — could — become the next Benzema. But I think everyone will admit that doing it in the PL will be different, and history is full of guys like Alvaro Morata and the likes who comes to the PL and just looks very flat.

My dark horse would definitely be Benjamin Sesko. This is also a kid that is raw. Everyone knows that Leipzig bought him from Salzburg on the cheap since it was infra the Redbull group. Could be unthinkable to sell him (for many reasons).

But talent wise, this kid is unique. Just 19 y/o. 6’5, but has explosive speed. Tremendous finisher with his left foot. Very hard worker. Brought up under Haaland who he definitely reminds everyone a lot of. Nobody should be compared with Haaland ever. Sesko is still rough around the edges. Can he be expected to come in at the age of 19 and carry a PL team? No. But he is definitely my No 1 target. There are always top young striker targets out there — and most don’t reach the expectations on them. But the raw talent of a kid like Sesko just sets him apart. It’s like with Bellingham, you can question exactly what the player will become, but talent wise he is so good that you know that he won’t fail to become at worst a good PL player. A young Rio Ferdinand was at that level too.

The one guy I have zero interest in is Dusan Vlahovic. I could be wrong, I am not a pro football scout, but my bet is definitely that he would have become another Ole disaster had we managed to get him last year. Watching him for Serbia and Juventus — he is just so limited. Not a factor at all on the press. Doesn’t threat the D with runs. Sure he, he does get past his man on occasion — but it’s so rare. He is a great threat from a distance with his shot, and he is a good ball distributor with his long passing games.

Ivan Toney is one that intrigues me a bit. First of all, the impact of Mbuemo on his game shouldn’t be underestimated. They are doing it as a duo to a large extent, and both are equally important in that regard even if it’s Toney that finds the net most of the time. But regardless of that, he got the striker’s psyche, he is a good finisher, he is very slippery, good on the linkup. He is out until January though and that isn’t stellar.

Rasmus Højlund is a kid I like, but he can’t come with (the pressure of) a high price tag. That would be a recipe for disaster. He just isn’t there yet. He is ready to handle the minutes Wout is getting, it won’t end well if people treat him like Mudryk and starts calling him a bust if he doesn’t set the world on fire. 30-35m — great. 60-70m? I am doubtful.

We know that ETH talked with Brian Brobbery late in August and tried to convince him to come to Manchester. That is kind of fascinating. For anyone that haven’t seen BB play — he stands out in many ways. First of all, his first touch is kind of horrible. But he looks to be like 5’9 200lbs. He will create goals, and I think his game 100% translates to more or less every level. He is like John Hartson in battles for the ball. But he isn’t really a finisher, he will back into a defender to create a lane, look up and make contact with the player on the ball, show like ‘just pass me the ball and run into this channel I created and I will get it back to you’ and then he delivers. And in those situations he is perfectly OK. Like if he was on the pitch with guys like Rash, Sancho, Bruno and co, when we had moved up our team and was pressing hard, he could warrant getting minutes on the pitch.

The problem is just that it’s not like he would be some kind of cheat code in those situations — and he is very limited in other areas of the game. At least that is my impression from my limited viewings of him.

Two guys I wouldn’t rule out for a back-up striker role are:
Maxine Chopo Moutine from Bayern and Memphis Dempay. Both as free transfers of course.

These guys both makes sense — if, and only if — they can be short term commitments. If they would take 1 year contracts. Many will say like, for fecks sake, why not sign Thuram’s kid, he is better than both? But the cost of making a bad signing on a long term deal is monumental. Like what did Igalho cost us and what will the total price tag for Donny Van de Beek be? Donny will cost us about 80m and we basically won’t get more than 1-2 solid games while Igalho perhaps cost us 10m for 1-2 solid games. The price for Marcus Thuram will be perhaps 50-60m over 5 years. You must know that he is good enough if you make that signing. If we give MCM 10m for one year, the risk is limited.

Jonathan David is a kid that don’t pass my smell test. Lille has developed some really good players and sold them for high fees. Always been Fabrizio Romano who breaks any move they make. Now he is bringing up and hyping David every chance he gets. I like this kid, his work ethic etc. But from my limited viewing — he is a 10-15m player. I know Elanga is low on everyone’s lists right now. But give Elanga 1 year at Lille and let him build up his confidence again — I think he is the better prospect.

With Ole, perhaps we would have gone for a kid like David. But I hope those days are over with ETH. DVB is another kid who I think Ajax laughed all the way to the bank after selling him.

Have we been linked to Vitor Roque? He is a good young prospect too. Definitely think that he can have a good European career. But I also wouldn’t rule out that he kind of would be like a young Memphis Depay, ie needing a few years before finding his game. But I would definitely give up the rumored 15m for him. Would be really refreshing to have a young exciting striker prospect in Manchester, we haven’t had that in ages. And while you can never count on it, all of a sudden a kid like this takes a chance and runs with it.
Click to expand...
Are you working in the sport in some fashion? Not joking or anything just really interesting to see your thoughts on players I don't see a lot of.

I know of a club that could use some of that kind of analysis....
 
Messier1994 said:
If ETH would get to choose between Randal Kolo Muani and Gonçalo Ramos — today — I would be surprised if he didn’t go with the former.

RKM is a real work horse. He comes deep to get the ball. He is always moving his feet. He is strong on the press. And he is just very hard to contain which makes him a constant threat over 90 minutes. Besides that, he is definitely not bad in the air.

Gonçalo Ramos — in the Premier League, next season at the age of 21 — is much harder to pin point from my point of view. I would describe him with one word, quality. He can finish with both feet. Great first touch. Great finisher. He does get into battles for the ball, he is smart on the press. Good with his head

With some guys you risk to underestimate them because they just don’t ooze a lot of emotions. When you watch GR, I mean, it just looks like a day at work for him. It’s fairly easy. Will he put in the extreme work it takes and push himself the extra distance to take the necessary steps to become a true elite striker in the World? Like I can’t lie, I know myself well enough to admit that if half his face was covered in scars from burn damage and he had firey eyes — I would probably be super high on him.

But all that aside, when a scout get a scouting report form to fill out, not many — if any — young striker in Europe will come away with higher marks than Ramos. He — could — become the next Benzema. But I think everyone will admit that doing it in the PL will be different, and history is full of guys like Alvaro Morata and the likes who comes to the PL and just looks very flat.

My dark horse would definitely be Benjamin Sesko. This is also a kid that is raw. Everyone knows that Leipzig bought him from Salzburg on the cheap since it was infra the Redbull group. Could be unthinkable to sell him (for many reasons).

But talent wise, this kid is unique. Just 19 y/o. 6’5, but has explosive speed. Tremendous finisher with his left foot. Very hard worker. Brought up under Haaland who he definitely reminds everyone a lot of. Nobody should be compared with Haaland ever. Sesko is still rough around the edges. Can he be expected to come in at the age of 19 and carry a PL team? No. But he is definitely my No 1 target. There are always top young striker targets out there — and most don’t reach the expectations on them. But the raw talent of a kid like Sesko just sets him apart. It’s like with Bellingham, you can question exactly what the player will become, but talent wise he is so good that you know that he won’t fail to become at worst a good PL player. A young Rio Ferdinand was at that level too.

The one guy I have zero interest in is Dusan Vlahovic. I could be wrong, I am not a pro football scout, but my bet is definitely that he would have become another Ole disaster had we managed to get him last year. Watching him for Serbia and Juventus — he is just so limited. Not a factor at all on the press. Doesn’t threat the D with runs. Sure he, he does get past his man on occasion — but it’s so rare. He is a great threat from a distance with his shot, and he is a good ball distributor with his long passing games.

Ivan Toney is one that intrigues me a bit. First of all, the impact of Mbuemo on his game shouldn’t be underestimated. They are doing it as a duo to a large extent, and both are equally important in that regard even if it’s Toney that finds the net most of the time. But regardless of that, he got the striker’s psyche, he is a good finisher, he is very slippery, good on the linkup. He is out until January though and that isn’t stellar.

Rasmus Højlund is a kid I like, but he can’t come with (the pressure of) a high price tag. That would be a recipe for disaster. He just isn’t there yet. He is ready to handle the minutes Wout is getting, it won’t end well if people treat him like Mudryk and starts calling him a bust if he doesn’t set the world on fire. 30-35m — great. 60-70m? I am doubtful.

We know that ETH talked with Brian Brobbery late in August and tried to convince him to come to Manchester. That is kind of fascinating. For anyone that haven’t seen BB play — he stands out in many ways. First of all, his first touch is kind of horrible. But he looks to be like 5’9 200lbs. He will create goals, and I think his game 100% translates to more or less every level. He is like John Hartson in battles for the ball. But he isn’t really a finisher, he will back into a defender to create a lane, look up and make contact with the player on the ball, show like ‘just pass me the ball and run into this channel I created and I will get it back to you’ and then he delivers. And in those situations he is perfectly OK. Like if he was on the pitch with guys like Rash, Sancho, Bruno and co, when we had moved up our team and was pressing hard, he could warrant getting minutes on the pitch.

The problem is just that it’s not like he would be some kind of cheat code in those situations — and he is very limited in other areas of the game. At least that is my impression from my limited viewings of him.

Two guys I wouldn’t rule out for a back-up striker role are:
Maxine Chopo Moutine from Bayern and Memphis Dempay. Both as free transfers of course.

These guys both makes sense — if, and only if — they can be short term commitments. If they would take 1 year contracts. Many will say like, for fecks sake, why not sign Thuram’s kid, he is better than both? But the cost of making a bad signing on a long term deal is monumental. Like what did Igalho cost us and what will the total price tag for Donny Van de Beek be? Donny will cost us about 80m and we basically won’t get more than 1-2 solid games while Igalho perhaps cost us 10m for 1-2 solid games. The price for Marcus Thuram will be perhaps 50-60m over 5 years. You must know that he is good enough if you make that signing. If we give MCM 10m for one year, the risk is limited.

Jonathan David is a kid that don’t pass my smell test. Lille has developed some really good players and sold them for high fees. Always been Fabrizio Romano who breaks any move they make. Now he is bringing up and hyping David every chance he gets. I like this kid, his work ethic etc. But from my limited viewing — he is a 10-15m player. I know Elanga is low on everyone’s lists right now. But give Elanga 1 year at Lille and let him build up his confidence again — I think he is the better prospect.

With Ole, perhaps we would have gone for a kid like David. But I hope those days are over with ETH. DVB is another kid who I think Ajax laughed all the way to the bank after selling him.

Have we been linked to Vitor Roque? He is a good young prospect too. Definitely think that he can have a good European career. But I also wouldn’t rule out that he kind of would be like a young Memphis Depay, ie needing a few years before finding his game. But I would definitely give up the rumored 15m for him. Would be really refreshing to have a young exciting striker prospect in Manchester, we haven’t had that in ages. And while you can never count on it, all of a sudden a kid like this takes a chance and runs with it.
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Great post. Thanks.

I wish @Lash could’ve done this when he enters the midfield argument.
 
JakeC said:
Ramos would still be my first choice. 70 should do it alongside 10 for Fullkrug.
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He leaves me proper underwhelmed whereas with Kolo-Muani I am intrigued to see if he can make that step up given the opportunity
 
What do you guys think about Patson Daka?

I’ve never really followed him that closely, but he has been perfectly OK when I’ve watched Leicester.

If Martial is going, we need two strikers. Don’t think Daka is the worst option to get to play second fiddle. Not saying we should get him, just a name that popped up.
 
Messier1994 said:
What do you guys think about Patson Daka?

I’ve never really followed him that closely, but he has been perfectly OK when I’ve watched Leicester.

If Martial is going, we need two strikers. Don’t think Daka is the worst option to get to play second fiddle. Not saying we should get him, just a name that popped up.
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I don't think he's ever going to be top class. A year in the championship could do him some good, he's never nailed down a spot in the Leicester side and it's not like his competition has been great.

I'd prefer Inhenacho if anyone.
 
He didn’t have a great game today but I’d take Mitrovic. Wouldn’t cost a fortune, scores plenty, and big and strong enough in the air to cause problems against teams that sit deep.
 
T00lsh3d said:
He didn’t have a great game today but I’d take Mitrovic. Wouldn’t cost a fortune, scores plenty, and big and strong enough in the air to cause problems against teams that sit deep.
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How much would Fulham want,ah wait a minute what about a deal involving Fred
 
croadyman said:
How much would Fulham want,ah wait a minute what about a deal involving Fred
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I’d be well on board with it if Kane decided to sit out his contract and we could take him for nowt next season. Use Mitrovic for a season, he’s be pretty decent and definitely have resale value
 
T00lsh3d said:
I’d be well on board with it if Kane decided to sit out his contract and we could take him for nowt next season. Use Mitrovic for a season, he’s be pretty decent and definitely have resale value
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How many do you reckon he could score
 
T00lsh3d said:
Plenty. He’s always scored goals, even when Fulham were garbage (which they’ve mostly been). No reason he can’t score 25 goals for me
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Yeah got 14 league goals this season which isn't great return,however needs to be caveated with missing those games
 
Apparently Benzema on a flyer could be a surprise option this summer if Kane doesn't work out....
 
croadyman said:
Yeah got 14 league goals this season which isn't great return,however needs to be caveated with missing those games
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That’s not a bad return at all….plus he’s playing for Fulham. With the amount we create he’d easy hit 20 league goals
 
daba said:
Feels like a player destined for a couple years in Saudi, but would absolutely take him for a year or two alongside signing a Hojlund.
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Oh yeah I definitely would take him alongside a younger option too but unlikely
 
Niclas Fullkrug would be a good punt for experienced striker to the squad if we get Holjund. Can probably get him for 25-30m and he'll likely jump at the chance of Champions League football. Can offer a good back up option for 2-3 years
 
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