We need a fecking centre forward thread

Sign a solid option this January, someone who can lead the line for us this season and then provide a good option off the bench or in certain games next season. This is why I would go for Toney. He won't complain about being a rotation option long term but could also do a good job for us in the second half of the season. Most importantly of all he stays fit and available. I'll admit the stats posted above about his open play goals are a slight concern, but his all round game and hold up play has some merit and I'm confident he'd be putting away a good chunk of these chances Marcus has been missing.

Of course it all depends on the price we could get him for. If there's a similar profile of player abroad that we could get for a better deal then I'd be all for that too. Hopefully our scouts will start to pull their finger out. Regardless, temporary solution in Jan. Long term solution in the summer. It's going to be immensely frustrating otherwise to carry on like this, with the team playing well but not getting the goals we deserve.
 
TwoSheds said:
Could Leão become a proper centre forward for us? His dribbling and pace is really exceptional but perhaps he's more of a Rashford competition than a Martial? Don't know what his contract situation is like but I feel like perhaps he might be on the market soon. Isn't there some controversy about him having to pay out his Sporting contract or something? Would be all for signing him if we thought we had a suitable place in the side for him and the fee wasn't crazy.
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Leão is world class at setting up Ibra or Giroud for goals. But without a proper center forward he will also be useless.

He's a better version of Antony. Not a CF.
 
Things have been going well recently at Man Utd. but vs Newcastle and again last night getting the ball into the net is an issue.

But why doesn't your manager take more risks: Pellestri or Garnacho for the last 20 minutes. Maybe you would get a surprise and find that you don't need a 'fecking centre forward' after all.

Furthermore, buying an established striker isn't really an option - unless you can sell Sancho for 80 million (he is not the same player who we saw in Germany and I don't know whats gone wrong there) because after the bad start, the club, under pressure from the new Manager spent the next years transfer budget on Casemiro and Anthony.
 
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DancingPanda said:
I said this years ago and I'm saying it again despite it being an unpopular opinion (although slightly less so nowadays?), but I really want Mitrovic in the team. Would have been a perfect squad player and a different option off the bench.
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Yes I would love to see that. Hoping we consider him.
 
Kane will want out come the end of the season, won't cost 100m+ anymore either. Should go for him
 
Tigersam said:
But why doesn't your manager take more risks: Pellestri or Garnacho for the last 20 minutes. Maybe you would get a surprise and find that you don't need a 'fecking centre forward' after all.
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ETH knows the best. He is seeing them in training everyday. So there has to be a compelling reason why he is not playing them, yet.

We do need a specialised CF anyway.
 
charlenefan said:
Kane will want out come the end of the season, won't cost 100m+ anymore either. Should go for him
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He will still cost a lot - even if its in wages. Plus he will be over 30.... I think a younger striker would be better.
 
Tigersam said:
He will still cost a lot - even if its in wages. Plus he will be over 30.... I think a younger striker would be better.
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If there were another Haaland out there or even a Nunez I'd agree
 
I'd take Kane next Summer, even at 30, because of his ability to combine the 9 and 10 roles and limited reliance upon speed as opposed to positioning and short movement. Closest comparison to him is Lewandowski who's still doing it close to his mid-30s and although Lewandowski's been more prolific in the last 10 years overall and is fine in linking play, I'd say Kane as player slightly shades it in the comparison given his all-round creativity as well as the 'Spurs handicap' in contrast to Lew playing for Bayern Munich most of that time.

Levy will definitely ask 100m though, even with 1 year left on the contract -and might, ala Modric, just refuse to sell to an English club: flipside is it seems Spurs were willing to deal around Bale in '13, who then turned down the move due to RM interest and wanting to emulate Ronaldo/ (secretly too, I think) Moyes rather than SAF being in charge at that stage, but even then provisional acceptance was conditional upon us going 15m over the non-Prem asking price.
 
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I can’t see ETH going for Kane. He’ll probably find someone much cheaper and younger. I kinda think Kane has got a bit of star power and obviously the backing of the English media, which is a potential distraction that he won’t want any part of, especially with all this Ronaldo stuff. ETH seems quite aware of that English tax premium and kinda wants to avoid that trap unless that player is the absolute perfect player for a given position.

I‘d love to know his thoughts on us spending £130m on Maguire and AWB, and seeing how neither of them are fancied by him.
 
Next season will be the best chance ever to get Harry Kane. He’ll be more willing to come seeing our recent improvement… chelsea and city are out of the picture as competition so we just have to fight off Bayern.
 
I think we need a more fitting striker than Kane, fantastic though he is. We need a striker who won't be dropping deep but a bona fide #9 who will occupy defenders all game and stretch the pitch, giving us a focal point.
 
Chairman Steve said:
I can’t see ETH going for Kane. He’ll probably find someone much cheaper and younger. I kinda think Kane has got a bit of star power and obviously the backing of the English media, which is a potential distraction that he won’t want any part of, especially with all this Ronaldo stuff. ETH seems quite aware of that English tax premium and kinda wants to avoid that trap unless that player is the absolute perfect player for a given position.

I‘d love to know his thoughts on us spending £130m on Maguire and AWB, and seeing how neither of them are fancied by him.
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Unsure about that
If Kane is available for a price Utd are willing to pay and the player open to joining us there's next to no chance Ten Hag says no to a player of that quality regardless of nationality and by the way Kane is INFINITELY miles better than the Fridge and AWB. He's literally among the all time PL top scorers
And Kane is literally PERFECT for a Ten Hag system if Pep pushed City to pay £100m+ not so long ago
 
I really think Jonathan David would tear it up in our team. Would 100% be the one I go for.
 
I was skeptical before but I'm convinced now we have to make Harry Kane our top target for next summer. We won't find a better ST on the market
If Lewandowski at 34 is worth paying £40-50m for Barcelona or Casemiro €80m an extra €10-20m for a PL/CL/International Proven World Class ST in his prime at 29/30 is worth the gamble simply because of the guarantee of goals he comes with. The other younger STs like Felix, Gakpo, Osimhen, Toney come with too much risk on how they'd transition into a big club or if they're out out No9s
He's the type of ST that can easily play into his mid 30s like Benzema/Lewandowski so we don't have to worry about replacing him anytime soon
Hopefully his contract situation, tangible improvement on the pitch on our side plus desire to break Shearer's record makes him see us as a serious option
 
Tigersam said:
But why doesn't your manager take more risks: Pellestri or Garnacho for the last 20 minutes. Maybe you would get a surprise and find that you don't need a 'fecking centre forward' after all.
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Neither are centre forwards. I would actually be happy enough if we signed a young striker to fulfill the wildcard 20 minute sub role, because top level strikers are readily available. Of the young wingers in the squad, the one who may be fairly passable at CF is the one you didn't mention, Elanga.
 
Kane would be an absolutely fantastic signing, regardless of his age. It would be like when we signed RvP back in 2012. We would probably have to splash at least £100m, and it would only be somewhat realistic if we qualify for CL and Spurs don't, and Kane being keen on leaving Spurs while staying in the PL. This means however that we would need to sign a striker in January as well though; we need it to get into CL and be an alternative for Kane next summer.
I'm guessing that Ronaldo will leave in January so I'm hoping we sign Moussa Dembele (Lyon) as his replacement on the cheap with his contract expiring in the summer. Dembele would be a fine option for the rest of the season as well as being a good rotational option for when/if we sign Kane in the summer.
 
Who's Kissing Cameras? said:
Sensational from Osimhen tonight. He’d definitely cost over £100m though as Napoli’s chairman is a cnut.
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Fill me in, why would Osimhen be such a good option? 4G 1A so far in Serie A this season for the team top of the table, compared to Arnautovic’s 7 goals for high-flying Bologna. Mitrovic seems the better bet to me
 
Rainy nights in Stoke said:
Fill me in, why would Osimhen be such a good option? 4G 1A so far in Serie A this season for the team top of the table, compared to Arnautovic’s 7 goals for high-flying Bologna. Mitrovic seems the better bet to me
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Osimhens been injured for 6 weeks, it’s why his numbers are so low.

He passes the eye test. Rapid, technically sound, can hold the ball up and has exceptional movement. His underlying xG stats are great, too.
 
Rainy nights in Stoke said:
Fill me in, why would Osimhen be such a good option? 4G 1A so far in Serie A this season for the team top of the table, compared to Arnautovic’s 7 goals for high-flying Bologna. Mitrovic seems the better bet to me
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Watch football instead of checking stats
 
Rainy nights in Stoke said:
Fill me in, why would Osimhen be such a good option? 4G 1A so far in Serie A this season for the team top of the table, compared to Arnautovic’s 7 goals for high-flying Bologna. Mitrovic seems the better bet to me
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Pace, power, physicality. From what I've seen of him those are obvious. Haven't seen enough to know his touch/technique/skill level
 
Osimen hrm. If I played for Naples I think I'd stay there and eat the best pizza and most beautiful women in the world. I love that city.

Hell of a player though if he comes to us he is going to need a red mask. :devil:
 
Kane would be great, my only concern however would be that the spine of the team would then all be the wrong side of 30 - DDG, Varane, Casemiro and Kane but so be it. I agree with above poster who thinks there would be a RVP like effect.
 
I really wish we signed Sesko... incredibly frustrating. I'm not fully sold on Toney - solid but not spectacular. He'd be a decent option but don't think anything more than that. Plus he'd be so expensive.

I truly don't know what ST would be suitable - we might have to go for an unheralded striker.
 
Keep Kane away from this club. Top player but not the type of striker we need.

He's clearly better playing alongside another striker as he does with Son or wide attackers looking on making runs in behind. He's also not someone I think could keep up with our pressing.

Kane's best quality right now is creating chances, we don't need that as much as we have many creative players we need someone in the box to put chances away. Kane spends too much time outside of the box for my liking. He's scoring ay Spurs but wouldn't be surprised if his goals dried up if he moved here.

Get a young and mobile striker with good hold up play.
 
Infestissumam said:
Jonathan David for me. Young, versatile, two-footed. Think he'd strive under ETH.
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Not quite a center forward. Lille plays a fluid system where wingers and attacking midfielders/support strikers keep interchanging positions.

David can either lead the line, but it is very often seeing him drop deep.

Fonseca is a manager that knows how to nurture young talents, good choice by Lille.
 
Tigersam said:
Things have been going well recently at Man Utd. but vs Newcastle and again last night getting the ball into the net is an issue.

But why doesn't your manager take more risks: Pellestri or Garnacho for the last 20 minutes. Maybe you would get a surprise and find that you don't need a 'fecking centre forward' after all.

Furthermore, buying an established striker isn't really an option - unless you can sell Sancho for 80 million (he is not the same player who we saw in Germany and I don't know whats gone wrong there) because after the bad start, the club, under pressure from the new Manager spent the next years transfer budget on Casemiro and Anthony.
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Football isnt spray and pray. When you're not ready you're not ready.

A youth can do a macheda one match by just being lucky or on fire, but on the grand scheme of things coaches knows if they're ready or not.

They're not playing for a reason
 
Tigersam said:
Things have been going well recently at Man Utd. but vs Newcastle and again last night getting the ball into the net is an issue.

But why doesn't your manager take more risks: Pellestri or Garnacho for the last 20 minutes. Maybe you would get a surprise and find that you don't need a 'fecking centre forward' after all.

Furthermore, buying an established striker isn't really an option - unless you can sell Sancho for 80 million (he is not the same player who we saw in Germany and I don't know whats gone wrong there) because after the bad start, the club, under pressure from the new Manager spent the next years transfer budget on Casemiro and Anthony.
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That's silly. We may get a decent cameo out of a youngster but we need a fecking centre forward regardless. Garnacho the wide forward does nothing to change that.

And we don't need to sell Sancho to fund a CF signing. The club has loads of money. Moreover with Ronaldo leaving one of the highest earners in world football will be easening a huge burden on our pockets.
 
The ideal CF we can get is someone with a very similar skill set as Martial, just without the injuries; Good at link up play, hold up play, 1v1 dribbling, one touch passing, weighted passes, above average pace, good finishing on ground.

Forget looking at names; these should be the criterias we should be looking at.

And to be honest, names like Toney, Osimhen, etc, just doesn't fit these criteria (Kane maybe, but he's on the older side so that's a big negative). We don't need a brute of a target man upfront, we need a technician that can bring the best out of the likes of Rashford, Sancho, Antony, Bruno.
 
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amolbhatia50k said:
Given were shit at finding smart deals well have to overpay for one this summer. Hope we do.

But I'd bring in a stop gap in January regardless while selling Ronaldo as we need some physicality and hold up play at least.
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Yeah that's what I'm hoping will happen in the shape of a loan deal,perhaps we will use World Cup as a scouting mission for that.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
We should probably not go for Frenkie now. While I think we can do with someone like him, we've spent 60 million on Casemiro in midfield and our attack needs serious repair work. Either way we'll have to find a good deal either in midfield or in attack and we're terrible at that.
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We have created quite a bit in last couple of games,so have to prioritise striker over midfielder in January or summer 23.
 
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The Napoli striker would be quality for us I think. I reckon we’re gonna have to spend big on a striker next season, that’s probably where most of our budget will go.
 
Kane is more than a finisher. His holdup play is excellent. But he’s not a top pressing forward, though I’m not sure how critical that really is under ETH.

If Levy holds out for even 80m then there’s no discussion to be had. And if there is a young striker our scouts have turned up then sure, go for it. But let’s be clear: we are a top striker away from being comfortably in second place in the PL.
 
I think we should just look at which strikers are most similar in football qualities to Arnautovic. Since that is the strikers EtH initially wanted. Probably someone who can score with his head and can bully centre backs. You would say Ronaldo fits the bill if only he was more mobile and erm willing to come onto the field.
 
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