The Summer 2024 scouting thread

fecka said:

I'm personally leaning towards Guirassy, aware that some might not agree. I'll definitely try to take some time to watch him a bit for the rest of the season to see more of what he's like (and why for example @Ghost Hardware doesn't agree).

The few times I've watched him, and from the highlights, he has a few skills that I believe should translate to any league in the world.

1. The way he always seems to create time and space for himself, that's a proper skill.
2. His composure. He doesn't look hurried or frantic, making calm decisions and finishing in stressful situations.
3. Variety of finishes. Left foot, right foot, headers. He's got great finishing technique and hits them well all over the net making it difficult for the keeper to predict where he's going to shoot. Can both place his finishes and hammer it from a distance.
4. Scores both from runs in behind, and scrambles in the box.
5. Can create his own opportunities, not just a fox in the box.

He's clearly modeled himself a lot after Kane, with their movement being very similar and I can see more than a bit of Kane in his finishing. Not to mention he's copied his celebrations.

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Ghost Hardware said:

There is no doubt he is having an excellent season and showing some very deadly finishing, although against BVB on sat despite scoring one he also missed a few chances one of them absolute gilt-edged. Stuttgart in general are having a really good season, they are now on level points with BM after that win at the weekend. They also have a number of players having exceptional seasons such as Angelo Stiller, who I mentioned the other day, Chris Führich, Deniz Undav and of course Guirassy.

But despite his exceptional season I just don’t see us looking at him, I’d honestly be incredibly surprised if we brought him in. This is only the third season he’s hit double figures in a league and only the first he’s scored over 11. It is true that those three seasons were his last three so there is a solid chance it’s a case of him hitting his prime but the giant jump from 11 to 24, which is what he’s on currently, could also be a purple patch. As I said Stuttgart as a team are surprising everyone this year, I mean they are currently in third and their last two league finishes were 16th and 15th. What Sebastian Hoeness has done there is simply remarkable since he joined last year. If he continues to impress I’m sure it won’t be long before other clubs start looking at it him. Point is a lot of players have significantly raised their game this season so it remains to be seen if this is their real level or rather an anomaly.

All that being said If he was younger then I think the club most certainly would be looking at him, very keenly. The problem is he is 28 and I really think the club will be looking for players in the 25/26 and under bracket across the board. Regardless if I rate him or not, and like you point out he has been unplayable at times this season and has some very attractive qualities as a striker, I just don’t see the club seriously considering him, at least not to a degree that he would be anywhere near the top of our list.

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Mr Pink said:

Toney does come across as a bit of a tit, but if he showed more maturity maybe Ange would go for it.

Hands down, from a physical and talent point of view he's the stand out option for me.

He'd score a fucking shit load in this team and his overall CF play is top notch.

Cant afford a 'season of adapting' with someone from the Dutch league

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Ghost Hardware said:

Honestly I’d be amazed if he passes the character test. That video interview he did earlier this season will have set of alarm bells im sure, wasn’t it done without the knowledge of the club im fairly certain reading? Also the snap chat vid of him slagging off his own club, the fact he is twerking for a move away every times he’s asked about his future and that’s all aside from the gambling issues. Also I’d need to watch it again but from what I recall when watching that interview he seemed to be passing on the blame somewhat it seemed.

Look, if we were to get him then obviously that means Ange has had a good long chat with him and thinks he has the right mentality, if so, great. But from an outsiders perspective I’d be amazed if that is the case and I’m fairly sure we even had ITK saying we talked to him/his people in the past and were left considerably underwhelming by his attitude.

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Ghost Hardware said:

Honestly I’d be amazed if he passes the character test. That video interview he did earlier this season will have set of alarm bells im sure, wasn’t it done without the knowledge of the club im fairly certain reading? Also the snap chat vid of him slagging off his own club, the fact he is twerking for a move away every times he’s asked about his future and that’s all aside from the gambling issues. Also I’d need to watch it again but from what I recall when watching that interview he seemed to be passing on the blame somewhat it seemed.

Look, if we were to get him then obviously that means Ange has had a good long chat with him and thinks he has the right mentality, if so, great. But from an outsiders perspective I’d be amazed if that is the case and I’m fairly sure we even had ITK saying we talked to him/his people in the past and were left considerably underwhelming by his attitude.

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fecka said:

You certainly bring up valid points regarding his age and the question mark over whether it's a purple patch or not. It would certainly be a gamble but if I remember correctly he's got a release clause at something like 20-25m. In today's market that should be more than worth the risk IMO.

Especially considering that there isn't really any other exciting or prolific striker out there that wouldn't cost at least 50-60m, and that's likely for a prospect and not the complete, finished product.
Evan Ferguson's barely getting a look in this season and would be over 70-80m, Toney is Toney and would also be 70m+, Gyökeres over 100m, Isak over 100m, Leonardo went to Benfica recently, Vlahovic easily 70m+ despite contract situation, Gimenez has question marks over suitability and would likely be over 50-60m.

You see my point. Not that it matters if the club doesn't see the fit, as you say.

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Ghost Hardware said:

His release clause will certainly make him an attractive proposition in general but even at such a price I still struggle to see Spurs moving for him.

Everything you say about other targets I agree with and realistically there are none available who I’m particularly enamoured by. The ones i really like for us will likely be too expensive or just not available. Personally I’m feeling a little meh about it to the point that i would even be considering Kılıçsoy as to me he looks like an incredibly exciting talent even tho he’s only 18. Realistically tho that obviously isn’t going to happen. Like 0 chance. I actually wouldn’t even be upset if we went Guirassy, it would certainly be an interesting gamble, I just don’t see the club doing it.

Like I said on the other page regardless what my feelings are towards them, and I’ve expressed by doubts about both a good number of times, I fully expect our top picks to be Jonathan David and Santiago Giménez. We are known to have long standing interests, ITK have mentioned them numerous times, they are young, have consistently put up numbers and probably cost less than the higher echelon of strikers like Gyökeres. If we Sell Richy I would actually be surprised if we don’t move for one of those two.

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Ghost Hardware said:

His release clause will certainly make him an attractive proposition in general but even at such a price I still struggle to see Spurs moving for him.

Everything you say about other targets I agree with and realistically there are none available who I’m particularly enamoured by. The ones i really like for us will likely be too expensive or just not available. Personally I’m feeling a little meh about it to the point that i would even be considering Kılıçsoy as to me he looks like an incredibly exciting talent even tho he’s only 18. Realistically tho that obviously isn’t going to happen. Like 0 chance. I actually wouldn’t even be upset if we went Guirassy, it would certainly be an interesting gamble, I just don’t see the club doing it.

Like I said on the other page regardless what my feelings are towards them, and I’ve expressed by doubts about both a good number of times, I fully expect our top picks to be Jonathan David and Santiago Giménez. We are known to have long standing interests, ITK have mentioned them numerous times, they are young, have consistently put up numbers and probably cost less than the higher echelon of strikers like Gyökeres. If we Sell Richy I would actually be surprised if we don’t move for one of those two.

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joey55 said:

I think the same about him, as he always seems to play well against us. But I hardly ever see him play unless it's against us and he doesn't seem to have a massive reputation, so maybe he just shines when we play them. The guy Semenyo, at Bournemouth, is the same, in that he's looked really good when we play them, but you never really hear much about him.

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felmani26 said:

What are your thoughts on Omorodion Ghost?

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funkycoldmedina said:

It's interesting that Brentford's data led approach turned up Watkins followed by Toney, it gives me hope we get someone who is maybe not on the radar yet.

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Ghost Hardware said:

Exciting talent but not ready yet. I’ve only watched Alvés a couple of times this season so not enough to give a fully rounded report. He looks like a very good target man in the making. Tall, strong, has good movement in the box. Doesn’t tend to get too involved in the build up and I didn’t really note his hold up play but I reckon he will become good at it. He’s still very raw and needs to work on several aspects aspect of his game. Doesn’t tend to get too involved in defensive side of things ether from what I saw but may have improved on that and he’s not particularly good technically. He’s also owned by Atleti and they really rate him as one for the future so no chance we get him and he’s not ready I don’t think ether. For me personally as I said previously if we were looking for a young striker Semih Kilicsoy would be my pick at present. We already have Veliz developing who is a large target man striker, Semih is more a physical Aguero style CF.

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Trix said:

I've said it before but for me it's a fox in the box we need over a more complete striker. A modern day Rush or Lineker who just react faster over 2 or 3 yards in and around the box. It's a lost art nowadays with every club requiring their 9 to run the channels, press, link up and be able to beat a man etc but the way we play someone who can consistently get the right side of his man when the ball is whipped across the 6 yard box would see us score 2 or 3 every game.

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Trix said:

I've said it before but for me it's a fox in the box we need over a more complete striker. A modern day Rush or Lineker who just react faster over 2 or 3 yards in and around the box. It's a lost art nowadays with every club requiring their 9 to run the channels, press, link up and be able to beat a man etc but the way we play someone who can consistently get the right side of his man when the ball is whipped across the 6 yard box would see us score 2 or 3 every game.

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Hotspur88 said:

There is just no way we go for Toney with his character. Ange consistently highlights the importance of the right type of character and how only one bad seed can cause huge issues in a squad. Toney quite clearly puts his own needs ahead of everything else, there is just no way Ange gives the nod for us to do a deal with his personality issues. Brentford have supported him very well and he repaid them by publicly stating he wanted out within a matter of weeks of returning. The guys a

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Wheeler Dealer said:

He has hardly ripped up trees at either Pompey or Ipswich, so next season for him is vital, whether that's another loan, or we bed him in here.

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