And how critical is a proven PL player? After finishing 2nd this season with Havertz missing a good chunk of the season due to injury and finishing 2nd prior to that with Havertz only playing at 9 for half the season, my opinion is that a full season of Havertz along with a new 9 adapting to England is good enough to win trophies. Handshake agreement? In general, getting a good player for a year or two or three and leaving for a profit is not a bad outcome to me. Too bad Barca are not in the Club World Cup where $125m for winning would cure a lot of their financial difficulties. Guess they will have to sell their badge or something.
Billy Carpenter had a great piece on the various striker options and he offers good arguments for Sesko and Ekitike. Was more lukewarm on Gyokeres, largely because defending in Portugal is, ummm, aspirational.
True but 6 goals in 8 appearances in the UCL with 3 of those against Man City isn't to be sneezed at.
Yeah, you'd have to judge Gyokeres more accurately on how he did in European football for club and country. He had some good looks against us. He nearly scored a few times. And we have one of the best defenses around. I have very little doubt he'd do very well in our system. But he's just turned 27. My view is if this season is a do or die, title or bust, then he's clearly the finished striker than Sesko. I think we can win the title this year with either but it will be easier with Gyokeres. And we'll dominate with him for the next 3-4 years. However, we can still win with Sesko and in 2 or 3 years I think he will be clearly better than Gyokeres. And we'd dominate with Sesko even moreso. I really like Etitike, as well as Osimhen. Both would score buckets with us. Along with those two there are others I think would thrive as well. I think Sesko offers unique strengths and potential that is very unique and won't be able to find anywhere else.
Sure, but making a 60m quid signing on the basis of eight games is a huge risk. His goalscoring record in Portugal is because he was a huge physical mismatch against the CBs there, and that won't be the case in England. Sesko will be a physical mismatch against anyone (except Van de Ven, who seems to be not good at defending), and the risks with him are: (1) how does he deal with low blocks and less space, and (2) Bundesliga tax. Probably rank them: (1) Sesko, (2) Osimhen, (3) Ekitike. Not sure I'd want to go anywhere near Gyokeres: we already have Havertz and if we can't get one of the above three, I'd say get a prospect. Link to the article, if you have an hour to kill: https://billycarpenter.substack.com/p/scouting-strikers
I wouldn't necessarily say that. I do think he offers us skills that will be very hard to find elsewhere. My personal opinion is he'll eventually be kinda similar to Haaland, tall, strong (he'll get stronger and a wee bit more muscle) but also great feet. He plays basketball as a past time. In b-ball he's a guard/small forward at best (6'5"), that type of player needs quick feet. He'll possibly be the or near the best leaper in the league. With him, Gabriel, Saliba, Ben Wnite when he's playing, the set pieces will be havoc for the opposition. Very few clubs will have players to match with each and if the ball is put right, with his height and leaping ability, very few will be able to get to the ball. He'll be fouled a lot as well and we will likely get some PKs from pushing him in the box when the ball gets whipped in the air. I keep repeating myself but if its that we can only win the title with Gyokeres then that settles that. That thinking goes out the window as we were thinking title with Havertz and Jesus as back up. So, why wouldn't having both Havertz and Sesko be a better chance?
The only thing that worries me a bit is I'm sure Arteta told Berta what he plans do with Sesko. If the rumors are true that Berta favors Gyokeres more, then I am a wee bit curious as to why he would favor Gyokeres, even after seeing Sesko (in video if not in person) and after hearing of Mikel's plans.
Orny says we've backed off Nico and Rodrygo supposedly decided to stay at Real (for now). Sane signed, Gittens looks to be headed to Chelsea and Gordon (one of the few legit links) seems unlikely to be available. Curious where we go from here at LW.
Think you are making several unfair assumptions based on the rumors you have heard..... 1. Berta's interest in Gyokeres stems from his time at Atletico. We have no idea how Berta truly feels about the two after discussing with Arteta. 2. Arteta favors Sesko but how do we know that he doesn't like Gyokeres. There are really no rumors about Arteta's feelings towards him. Only that he favors Sesko. If he truly views them as 1a & 1b then all this discussion is pointless. 3. You falsely assume that any negotiation for Gyokeres is anything more than leverage against Leipzig
Semenyo? or young potential, i.e., hijack Gittens? Malick Fofana? who statistically looks very much like Rodrygo lite, or someone completely out of left field.
Semenyo is interesting but I personally see him as an improvement on our depth rather than a true competitor for Marti and given his age/price tag, I don't think he would be my first choice. Fofana could be interesting. Oddly enough I saw him linked to Chelsea yesterday. Guess they are buying all the wingers. Personally I am ok with a prospect. While Marti hasn't been perfect, I think he is unjustly criticized at times and I think he could be better (output) with a healthy squad and pressure taken off by more production at ST.
If we go with a prospect, Semih Kılıçsoy is a name we were linked with last year. I haven't seen any links recently. A decent bit of potential there and not likely to be expensive.
If I recall from last summer, isn't he primarily a ST? If we are gonna go with a Turk, think the guy from Juve is far more likely.
Moving on from Gittens or a negotiating plot with Dortmund? Gittens feels to me like what Arteta would prefer, bigger and stronger than Fofana but more raw. And right footed whereas Fofana is a lefty that plays on the left.
I would be shocked if he sees them equally, I think the preference is Sesko. But they have to sign a 9 and it's critical to have a plan B. Of course, if things fall apart with Sesko, they can claim no official bid and Gyokeres was the #1 target all along. FWIW, I kind of feel like whoever they dont sign will end up in Saudi Arabia. Could be wrong, but both seem determined to move.
Someone who is supposedly reliable in Turkey says Partey is leaving Arsenal and has been offered to Fenerbache and Galatasaray.
I saw the Chelsea Fofana link too. It may suggest they are not willing to pay BVB’s asking price for Gittens. As profligate as they have been, I don’t see them signing both. Since UEFA doesn’t recognize the sale of their women’s team to a subsidiary co. they are already pushingUEFA’s FFP Boundaries.