what are napoli’s next CL fixtures?
Victor Osimhen | out of options | goes to Gala on loan
- Thread starter L1nk
- Start date
- Status
They play Frankfurt
“He didn’t score against Liverpool” firstly, not scoring doesn’t mean he didn’t play well, he actually played well in the first game as was stretching Liverpool’s defence. He also only played less than a half of the game in the 4-1 win due to injury.
If you check the match, after about 40 seconds he had beaten Allison to the ball, went round him and hit the post. You saw his pace and movement in full flow in under a minute.
But sure, let’s find a striker that has pace, hold up, passing, finishing, does it against top quality opposition all the time and won’t break the bank. Give me the names of those strikers?
I think we’ll sign Vlahovic instead. Hes going to be expensive
Thuram had spent most of his career playing as LW.
Look if there was a prime Van Basten or even a prime Shearer around then I'd say then we should go for him no matter the price. Unfortunately there is no one at anywhere near to that level. Thus we need to act smart and do what SAF had done with the likes of Saha, Ole, Yorke and to a lesser extent Cole ie develop the player. My suggestion is called distributing the risk on multiple bets. If let's say we have 200m to spend then I see it as a safer option to bring in Thuram on a free, Sesko for 50m, we reintroduce the player that can't be named to the first squad and we strengthen CM (DM and MC) and the RB rather then simply blow most of the budget for a striker who scored goals in a league were even Immobile, Arnautovic, Abraham, Scamacca and Lookman look world beaters in. If we're so unlucky that Thuram, Sesko, the player that can't be named and Mcneill are duds then it would be easy to keep them as squad players and sell the rest for a slight loss. Its almost impossible to get rid of a 140m rated striker without looking silly especially since he'll probably ask a salary that would reflect that fee. Let's avoid another Maguire incident shall we?
How could you possibly know this?
Or in other words it's going to be Osimhen vs Kolo Muani. Feels a bit like CF candidate casting.
First of all, Kane could be available. Just because a shit source says Levy won't sell Kane to a rival this summer does not mean we have to start looking at the likes of Marcus Thuram and Sesko to chase instead. And I agree, it is quite clear that Thuram has barely played as a striker because he is not a natural striker or a consistent goal scorer. But at the same time, he isn't exactly a great team player unless he plays left forward where we already have Rashford, Sancho and Garnacho, so please explain why we should go for him. Is it because we can get him on a free? That's not good enough imo.
As for Sesko, the hype surrounding him is weird. He hasn't shown anything at all for us to be interested in him. He can't even score goals in the Austrian League. Also, for £50m? So why shouldn't we just double that and get Osimhen?
When it comes to the bolded part, neither of these players have ever looked world beaters in Serie A with the exception of Immobile. It seems you only look at goals scored, and even then, Scamacca scored 16 goals in 36 matches played (25 in which he started). You should look at the player's ability before spouting out how shit the league is. I agree, though, it is a bad league with horrible teams in it, but Osimhen's abilities are evident and there is nothing that suggests he wouldn't make it in Premier League. I mean, have you seen us lately? We create a lot of chances every game, and even Weghorst could've had a few more goals if he had Osimhen's pace.
Napoli want 134m pounds for Victor Osimhen this summer, and are preparing for an 'auction'. #MUFC are working to get 'in pole position' to sign Osimhen.
From - [@mattinodinapoli via Sport_Witness]
Low tier source anyway
From - [@mattinodinapoli via Sport_Witness]
Low tier source anyway
I like Kolo Muani better. Feel like his dribbling, passing and hold up play is very good but Osihmen looks like a better goal scorer. Kolo Muani with some of Benny McCarthy’s finishing coaching could be great in my opinion.
I haven't seen Muani, what makes him better? Particularly when his stats suggest he is massively less of a goal threat?
His contract is expiring next year. He would be sold for half of it.Napoli want 134m pounds for Victor Osimhen this summer, and are preparing for an 'auction'. #MUFC are working to get 'in pole position' to sign Osimhen.
From - [@mattinodinapoli via Sport_Witness]
Low tier source anyway
He has two years left in the summer so it won’t have much impact on the price I’d imagine
His contract expires in 2025.
But he is a much better creator than Osimhen. So it comes down to the question if you want your CF to be the main goalscorer, or are you happy if he also often assists Rashford, Bruno etc.
Because United has these strong finishers and I don't feel like the quality gap between Kolo Muani and Osimhen is massive to me it becomes a matter of preferred style.
I still think that Osimhen currently might be a bit better, but as both would have to adjust to a new club and league I think it's hard to predict how they would develop after a transfer to United.
If Kane is available at around 60m-70m then let's go for him. Unfortunately I can't see Levy selling him for less then a 100m which is crazy for a (then) 30 year old. My argument is simple. There is no top quality striker out there worth spending 100m+ upon. Doing so would be unfair on the player who'll have to carry such price tag (think of Maguire and Nunez) and stupid from the club. Thus we need to take a step back, get a player (actually two) on a reasonable fee who has potential to fit into the system we're using and develop them. The likes of Sheringham, Ole, Yorke and Saha were hardly world beaters but they served the club extremely well and ended up becoming the players we needed.
Thuram might be that sort of player. He's versatile, he's technically gifted, he's physical and he's got an eye for goal. His father must have instilled in him the persistence and the can do attitude he had as its very rare for the son of a football legend to become so good in football himself. Finally his time as winger had enabled him to keep an eye of what going around him as well which makes him an unselfish player. I am not too concerned about his position change. Pirlo moved from a very average forward (who was far worse then Thuram was as a LW) to a deep lying playmaker rather late in his career and we all know how that worked out.
Don't take me wrong, I wouldn't mind if we don't sign him out. However I do believe that given the circumstances we're should go for a player like him or Muani. If it doesn't work out then tough luck. We'll sell for a small loss and move on. That won't happen with a 120m striker. That's a manager career threatening signing that must succeed
This is why I ask, as the stats suggest Osimhen is a lot more than a bit better over recent seasons. Twice as good in fact.
In terms of xG: 0.28, 0.34, 0.35 vs 0.61, 0.62, 0.65.
In terms of actual goals: 0.27, 0.37, 0.50 vs 0.57, 0.64, 1.03.
And the creativity stats don't seem to bridge that gap.
Basically if Bundesliga and Serie A translated 1:1 with the PL this season then Muani would be scoring as regularly from open play as Toney and expected to as regularly as Ollie Watkins, where Osimhen would be outscoring everyone bar Haaland and expected to score more than anyone bar Haaland & Nunez. So Muani would have to look pretty damn amazing in general play to be a better bet. Enough that I'm sceptical.
I like Muani but any of Muani or Osimhen I would be happy with. Both could play for years.
If Thuram is the option or Sesko who is not ready then I would rather us spending 120m-140m on Osimhen and sign Tielemans for free as Eriksen backup or any cheap midfielder out there. Lot of Mönchengladbach fans didn’t even think he’s good enough for top club. Among the average player you can pick, I’m more surprised you mentioned Thuram but not Weghorst. At least Weghorst is proper striker and proven has the right character.
Weghorst is 30 years old, he'd cost us a fee and quite frankly I think he's too slow to ever become a regular player with United. However I accept your opinion and quite frankly Thuram is not the hill I am willing to die on. All I am saying is that spending 120m-140m on a striker who score goals that can make Immobile, Lookman, Arnautovic and Abraham look great in, is, in my opinion, a huge mistake. It's unfair on the player, its stupid by the club and its a potential managerial career threatening move for ETH. Considering that there are no safe bets out there then we should buy a gamble on realistic fee only to develop him further ourselves. Then we can invest the money in other positions that need TLC like CM and RB. Muani would be another great option.
Osimhen has a great leap on him for sure. Would be a good aerial threat here.
Haven’t had that in awhile
honestly don't think he's mobile enough to play for this side as we see with similar effect with Wout
What’s wrong with signing 30 years old as short term then go for Osimhen again in 2024 or another more developed striker? Surely that option is better than signing Thuram as long term right? Weghorst is better than Thuram and it’s not even my opinion but it’s based on stats because his bundesliga stats record is far better than Thuram’s in goals, assists, and pressing.
If you don’t think Weghorst is good enough then Thuram shouldn’t even be consideration. Your issue about spending 120m-140m on a striker so we can have enough cash to sign midfielder. I literally just remind you Tielemans a free agent midfielder. If there is an option to sign free player between Tielemans or Thuram, I’m surprised you would rather sign a player who is worse than Weghorst like Thuram.
Playing well against the abysmal defence of this current Liverpool side should be the absolute minimum.
Did I say they need to not break the bank? Osimhen will though - for the money Napoli would want you'd need to be sure he's as good, if not better, than Kane, or even Goncalo Ramos. You'd also want to have some confidence that by spending all your money on him you won't miss out on another emerging talent such as Ferguson who might soon show themselves to have a higher ceiling. There are other interesting prospects around like Retegui who won't cost anywhere near as much, and leave room for someone else as well.
I was on the Sesko train last season/this summer when there seemed like a real lack of CF talents emerging, but this season there have been quite a few all of a sudden who'd be worth considering instead.
With what service? Rashford is always cutting in and shooting (effectively this season) and Antony can't cross his legs, never mind the ball.
Weghorst can do two things with United. He can succeed or he can fail. If he succeed then I can see Burnley asking silly money for him. If not then we wouldn't want to keep him right? Thuram on the other hand is younger, more versatile and he's a free agent. If he doesn't succeed as a forward its easier to move him around in other areas of the team or sell him off.
I have nothing against Tielemans joining United as long as his salary demands won't be over the roof. What I am against is paying 120m-140m on Osimhen. No disrespect towards the player who is quite talented indeed. However he's not worth that money which in turn would be bad business for United, unfair on the player and a risk for ETH's career.
Yes and he achieved the bare minimum, it was you who brought up that he didn't score against them despite not mentioning he went off injured in the first game after playing well and the second was a dead rubber that neither team brought any intensity to.
Also, Retegui? What do you see in him that would be a good investment? He's a year younger than Osimhen, has had 1 good season playing on loan rather than for his parent club who surely would be starting a 23 year old if he was that good. Goncalo Ramos will cost around the same as Osimhen. Evan Ferguson we don't know how good he can be, but Brighton will sell for a very high price. There isn't a plethora of strikers out there to choose from, maybe Mauni would be a good option for a cheaper price.
Also regarding Retegui, he has an Italian passport and is signed with Totti's agency. We can have a good guess to what country he will end up in.
I hope we throw everything at him in the summer. He’s quality and will fit in with our forward players that are already here.
if we have to kick in another 10m to pay over installments, we should do it
Goncalo Ramos would probably be a bit cheaper than Osimhen; maybe £80mil instead of £100mil+. Although he doesn't have some of Osimhen's stand-out athleticism, I wonder if his playing style would be a better fit for Utd, his all-round game, including with the ball at his feet, seems a bit more solid than Osimhen's. I think Martial shows that this Utd team plays better with a striker who's good at playing in tight areas and getting involved in link-up play, rather than a target-man type like Weghorst and CR7, which Osimhen might be a bit more similar to.
Muani I think is too similar to Rashford - excels running in behind and also cutting inside from the left flank I think they would step on each other's toes too often.
I'll be keeping an eye on all 3 though in the next round of the CL.
Ferguson would cost a lot for sure, also £60mil minimum, but it's incredibly rare that such an accomplished looking player appears in the PL at 18. He's already playing for a team 6th in the PL and not seeming out of place at all. I also find it tricky to judge what his ultimate level will be, but at the moment there doesn't seem an obvious limit to how high his ceiling could be relative to other number 9s given the range of qualities he's shown.
I wouldn't take Retegui as the only striker, but he'd probably only cost £20mil and he looks to strike the ball like Kane cleanly with power with both feet. Not saying he'll be the next Kane, but for what he'd likely cost he's the kind of signing who could be worth a punt. He doesn't have to go to Serie A either - he'd get a UK permit and Ten Hag seems to like his Argies. I mentioned him rather as being an alternative to Sesko as someone who'd be more an up-coming striker who could be back-up at first.
Last edited:
He's one of Ten Hags top targets because we don't have a single fecking striker besides the crocked one. Of course we want him. That doesn't mean paying whatever price Spurs want is a good decision, but you seem to keep simplifying it down to that when we have a squad that is one injury away from Scott McTominay at the base of our midfield as well as relying on a converted 10 who's a ghost defensively to play alongside Casemiro (I also think we probably need 2 strikers not just one). Pretending we are set as a squad besides up top is just sticking your head in the sand
Music to my ears
ETH has said about us making mediocre signing, yet you still want us to do the same by signing Thuram who is worse than Weghorst. What I’m confusing is that you don’t want us to sign players due to their transfer fees no matter how success the player can be for example you don’t want us to sign Weghorst if he succeed because Burnley could ask silly money for a player who’s contract will be expired in 2025. Shouldn’t we priority succeed over money if it means we are signing player that can be more successful here?
Furthermore, we have too many wingers, so it’s not easier to move Thuram around in other areas if he’s not good enough as striker. And also, Thuram is currently on 82k pw, while Weghorst is currently on 40k pw so it‘s easier to move Weghorst to 2nd choice striker or backup striker if he’s not good enough as main striker than selling Thuram or cheaper than keeping Thuram. Why would you prefer worse stats and higher wages just for the sake of small margin transfer fees?
ETH wants top class striker. 100m is the amount of money for top class striker. if he wants top class striker then he knows that’s the risk he has to take. Who else can we get in the top striker market? Thuram isn’t top class striker, he’s not even a striker.
Both him & Kane are too obvious, would cost an arm & leg anyway. We need a top quality striker, but maybe look someone less obvious than them?
Yeah but I think in an ideal world Ten Hag wants his forward to be low usage and not involved in build up which would suit Osimhen. It's how he's played the likes of Haller in the past but Osimhen is far superior to Haller. We can see it in the way Haaland operates where frequently the only time he's touching the ball is when he's running on to it to take a shot or actually just taking a shot. I think that Ten Hag wants his striker always pulling the centrebacks high to make more space on the pitch in the same way he wants his wide men very wide.
Like who? Why does it need to be “less obvious”, anyway? The reason they’re so obvious is because they’re the best strikers we can target.
- Status