weasel wrote:Another point in relation to signing a striker is also getting one that can fit into the system we play. We are still to a large degree playing as if Chris Wood was still up front and if for example we went for a Jordan Rhodes, Nugent, Ross McCormack style signing for all they have scored goals elsewhere do they fit into our system? It can obviously be argued that neither Roofe, Lasogga or Ekuban fit it either and perhaps we are still trying to adapt to Wood leaving as because he left after the season had started we were presumably training in the summer with him in that position.
Perhaps a Hugill type player would fit the role but is he worth the fee being suggested? Would the lad from Peterborough be able to play it, I would guess not as I don't think he is that type of forward. Perhaps TC has been changing the formation during the week in Spain into a way that either suits Lasogga/Roofe/Ekuban better if playing 1 up top or even suits 2 of them playing together and maybe he feels that a formation that suits them better will get more out of them than it would get out of a new signing.
Just speculation really but shows how there is much more to getting a transfer right than simply signing someone who is doing well elsewhere.
For those overly concerned about the scoring record of this striker that we have been linked with just because they aren't prolific at the start doesn't mean they can't be. A certain Alan Shearer burst onto the scene towards the end of the 1988 season with a hat trick but didn't score in his other 4 matches. The following season 0 goals in 10 matches. The next year 3 in 26 matches. The next year 4 in 36. The following year 13 goals in 41 matches - hardly prolific (less than 1 in 5) yet the right people saw the potential and he went to Blackburn and in 4 seasons scored 112 goals in 138 matches. Don't know anything about the lad to be fair but that is why I am not jetting around the world looking at players for Leeds to sign. Thierry Henry record before Arsenal was similar to Shearer (23 goals in 121 matches) but he became a clinical striker.
Think the closest we have come to perfect for our system is Ekuban, he has the pace to work the channels, but he also has the build and physicality to put himself about, this guy does seem to be similar, but for the price that we are paying, thats a huge risk.
Appreciate what your trying to say but Alan Shearer was playing at a higher level then the lad we are looking at, and he wasnt looking to go up a level, just get better at the level he was at. We need a striker who can improve and come in and hit the ground running, for the fee we are paying its a huge risk to expect thatfrom someone who hasnt really shone at a lower level then ours and is now in his mid 20s. Especially for the fee thats being thrown about, thats a lot of money for us, on a guy who can no longer be called a "young talent" . Unlike both Shearer and Henry when they moved to there clubs.
And Henry had performed decently at a decent level in France since he was in his late teens, good enough to earn a move to Juve so that isnt really something that can be used as an alleviation of concerns.