The Centre Forward Stop-Gap Market

We could do worse than someone like Ben Brereton Diaz, if we could find the £10m or whatever. I’m not suggesting he’d be good enough for us in the long term, but he’s got a good range of skills, is in good goal scoring form in the last year or two and you’d sell him for at least that in a year.

:lol::lol::lol:

You've never seen him play have you?
 
Couldn't we pull off a loan with an agreement to buy in the summer if certain conditions are met?

Loaning a player isn't free. Getting a loan fee and wages now + full purchase in summer sounds like a potentially very good deal for the selling club. Likely nets them £20M more than an outright sale.
 
Please stop mentioning Morata, he's awful.
Awful? If you think he's awful, wait til you see what our attack looks like after a couple of injuries if we don't get a competent loan striker in.

Can’t believe we’re back on here discussing Morata, it was a bad potential signing years ago, and it’s only gotten worse.
It would be a loan ffs. And for an experienced international striker. We have no money available, so what the hell do people expect in January?? Is Morata what we really want? Absolutely not. Is he a pretty decent option given the difficult circumstances? Yes, yes he is.

These people acting outraged about the thought of Depay, Morata etc really need to get their heads round our situation.
 
I keep reading we don't have the money to make a permanent signing but surely what we are saving on Ronaldo's wages could be used to bring a decent talent that won't cost the earth?

Morata would be a terrible choice and smacks of an Ole/Woodward panic button move that we were supposed to have left behind.
 
I keep reading we don't have the money to make a permanent signing but surely what we are saving on Ronaldo's wages could be used to bring a decent talent that won't cost the earth?

Morata would be a terrible choice and smacks of an Ole/Woodward panic button move that we were supposed to have left behind.
Not when our owners are putting a for sale sign in the front yard. They are not giving us a present before they leave . The biggest present for me is that they are going to Leave
 
Awful? If you think he's awful, wait til you see what our attack looks like after a couple of injuries if we don't get a competent loan striker in.


It would be a loan ffs. And for an experienced international striker. We have no money available, so what the hell do people expect in January?? Is Morata what we really want? Absolutely not. Is he a pretty decent option given the difficult circumstances? Yes, yes he is.

These people acting outraged about the thought of Depay, Morata etc really need to get their heads round our situation.

Yeah you are bang on,it will only take Martial to go down injured and then we are screwed. Look Morata or Depay aren't the top striker options but at least means we would have someone up there.
 
Loan of Morata for 6 months would be a nice deal. He is a great supplement to our squad's lack of aerial threat up front
 
I think that Ivan Toney would be a great signing. The FA are going to be very slow about any suspensions - meaning that he is likely to see out the Premier League season, and since he is cooperating, my guess is that the suspensions will likely be minimal.
 
I think that Ivan Toney would be a great signing. The FA are going to be very slow about any suspensions - meaning that he is likely to see out the Premier League season, and since he is cooperating, my guess is that the suspensions will likely be minimal.
They gave Joey Barton 18 months and Trippier got 10 weeks for one incident, not sure why you think Toney will be any different. He will 100% miss one season.
 
I think that Ivan Toney would be a great signing. The FA are going to be very slow about any suspensions - meaning that he is likely to see out the Premier League season, and since he is cooperating, my guess is that the suspensions will likely be minimal.
The 45m+ you'd need to spend on Toney would hardly be stop-gap.

We're essentially looking for a short-term backup to Martial; I'd think Morata or Welbeck would be sufficient short-term.
 
I think that Ivan Toney would be a great signing. The FA are going to be very slow about any suspensions - meaning that he is likely to see out the Premier League season, and since he is cooperating, my guess is that the suspensions will likely be minimal.

Anyone who signed Ivan Toney right now would be stupid and incompetent to such an extent that I fundamentally don't believe they'd be allowed to do it by those around them.
 
We could do worse than someone like Ben Brereton Diaz, if we could find the £10m or whatever. I’m not suggesting he’d be good enough for us in the long term, but he’s got a good range of skills, is in good goal scoring form in the last year or two and you’d sell him for at least that in a year.

I've never seen that lad play but there are probably hundreds who we could replace an ancient Rolando with and improve the squad. I include Depay in that.
 
I keep reading we don't have the money to make a permanent signing but surely what we are saving on Ronaldo's wages could be used to bring a decent talent that won't cost the earth?

Morata would be a terrible choice and smacks of an Ole/Woodward panic button move that we were supposed to have left behind.

We're saving 14 million, that buys you nobody.

We spent big in the summer, (then the Greatest Player that Madeira has given the world left us), so we have no funds and a really dense fixture list, and while we have a good team we need bodies at CF and almost anybody will do.
 
Not much cheaper than Gakpo, who ETH did actually want at some point, but seemingly can't afford.
I'd guess Mitrovic would be significantly more than Gakpo. Prem-proven, long contract, Fulham have no need to sell. £60m I reckon.
 
I'd guess Mitrovic would be significantly more than Gakpo. Prem-proven, long contract, Fulham have no need to sell. £60m I reckon.

Possibly, I heard 30 on some podcasts, but we can't afford either prices it seems.
 
Possibly, I heard 30 on some podcasts, but we can't afford either prices it seems.
Would be extremely surprised if they sold him for that. He's in large part why they are where they are. My Fulham supporting mate would certainly be upset with him being sold for £30m.
 
Would be extremely surprised if they sold him for that. He's in large part why they are where they are. My Fulham supporting mate would certainly be upset with him being sold for £30m.

I take your word for it. I have no idea beyond podcast waffle.
 
I've never seen that lad play but there are probably hundreds who we could replace an ancient Rolando with and improve the squad. I include Depay in that.
I’m not advocating for him as such. I can think of plenty better. I suspect he’d be a perfectly serviceable PL striker at best. It’s just that given the fact we’re either skint or have turned off the tap, some of the names we’re being linked with just aren’t realistic.

If loaning Felix for 6 months for £13m is too expensive then bringing in someone like him who’d want 1/4 of what some of our targets would want in a deal that would wash its own face makes some sort of sense.

Obviously, there are any number of better strikers out there but how many of them can or are we willing to afford and who would be willing to sign for us on a short term deal? People seen shocked that the guys who have done a terrible job running the club are now, at a time when the sales of the club looks very likely, reticent to throw another £100m down on a striker.
 
They gave Joey Barton 18 months and Trippier got 10 weeks for one incident, not sure why you think Toney will be any different. He will 100% miss one season.

Then again, I could be very wrong on this. :angel:
 
I’m not advocating for him as such. I can think of plenty better. I suspect he’d be a perfectly serviceable PL striker at best. It’s just that given the fact we’re either skint or have turned off the tap, some of the names we’re being linked with just aren’t realistic.

If loaning Felix for 6 months for £13m is too expensive then bringing in someone like him who’d want 1/4 of what some of our targets would want in a deal that would wash its own face makes some sort of sense.

Obviously, there are any number of better strikers out there but how many of them can or are we willing to afford and who would be willing to sign for us on a short term deal? People seen shocked that the guys who have done a terrible job running the club are now, at a time when the sales of the club looks very likely, reticent to throw another £100m down on a striker.

Yeah I got the jist of that by him as a recommendation, I was agreeing with you. That obviously feels as counter-intuitive for you as it does for me.
 
Wonder if there is value in the Championship market... someone like Pukki could be tempted (would Norwich stand in his way) or the lad Estupinan at Hull. One issue is that league us so congested not many are out of the promotion play off spots.
 
I am sure we are looking at all possibilities.More than likely be a loan deal, but we certainly need a CF for remainder of this season.
 
You know we hit a new low when people are considering bring Morata. I would agree bringing Morata as a backup option, but we don't need backups. We need immediate impact.
 
It’s a shocking reflection on our recruitment that we’re looking to plunge into this ‘market’ for what must be the sixth or seventh consecutive year. This nonsense started with Ibrahimovic back when Mourinho was here and still it continues.

Glazers. Bastards.
 
So, what excatly is your point?

That we shouldn't be looking at players over the age of 25 not playing in a top 5 league?

That's bollocks.

Jamie Vardy was in league 4 or something like that when Leicester found him.
And he's still scoring.

Didier Drogba was also a late bloomer.

Sometimes players work out, even if they don't fit with the whole xG narrative.

What are you focussing on his age for - I mentioned that in passing in my original post. Are you really this obtuse? His complete lack of goalscoring potency is the issue here. I refer to his age only because he's hardly some kid who is going to blossom as he gets older. Vardy was scoring 24 goals in the England's top league at this guy's age so don't come at me with him and Drogba who scored more goals at a higher level than Petkovic ever did.
 
You'd hope fans would show a shred of common sense if there was a short term loan deal with an option given the circumstances. But Bologna would still want compensated to let him leave 6 months early.

Morata is probably the best bet for a loan that'd suit all parties.
Maybe there's things more important than football to some of our fanbase and common sense doesn't mean we ignore potential signings previous racist histories.
 
I think it’s time we take another look at Anton Flamingo. Look outside Europe for a change.
Pedro, the Brazilian striker is ripping it up in Brazilian Serie A. The thing I like about him is that he's a big man, gets plenty of goals but he's also a decent passer and gets lots of assists.
 
I keep reading we don't have the money to make a permanent signing but surely what we are saving on Ronaldo's wages could be used to bring a decent talent that won't cost the earth?

Morata would be a terrible choice and smacks of an Ole/Woodward panic button move that we were supposed to have left behind.
This is not how wages work. His contract might have been earning him millions but whatever he was paid.. lets say £300,000, from the beginning to end of January you would have saved £1.2 mil. Up to £2 million if he was on £500,000.

I don’t know what he was on but it’s besides the point. Firing Ronaldo gives you no money to sign anyone. This is before we get into there being accounts for transfers, accounts for wages and accounts for bonuses. It would simply fall back into the wages account and wouldn’t significantly affect transfers.
 
Don't know why so many are strongly opposed to Morata on loan. When, not if, Martial gets injured again, we've got no one who can hold the ball up. Morata can do that and he's decent in the air.
 
I'm not sure people understand what a stopgap means? We need a short term body for rotation or for when Martial gets injured. It'd be great to get someone in that is an improvement over Martial but we won't likely get that with loan options. You have to think, would you take someone like Morata, Depay, etc over nothing? We aren't signing a £30m player that could improve the squad, we don't have the funds.
 
I'm not sure people understand what a stopgap means? We need a short term body for rotation or for when Martial gets injured. It'd be great to get someone in that is an improvement over Martial but we won't likely get that with loan options. You have to think, would you take someone like Morata, Depay, etc over nothing? We aren't signing a £30m player that could improve the squad, we don't have the funds.
I would 100% take a Depay or Morata over nothing.