This second striker to 'support' Kane

[MarkyP]

El Ghazi from Ajax.

 

[Jack]

People will disagree, but I personally would want someone who will run through brick walls for the team. He would work hard, lead the line, be an absolute pest and give 110% and lead the press from the front.

A lot to be said for that kind of player. Those guys are always a thorn in our side - players like Vardy and Mackie are two players who always make our soft defence nervy even though they need 5 shots to finish.

 

[aliyid]

The main thing for me is picking the striker to suit our style and not just getting somebody because they're a 'big' name.

Benteke for all his good attributes is mainly a force in the air but we generally don't get to the by-line and whip in crosses. The majority of games we play see opposition teams sitting deep and challenging us to break them down so I'd rather have somebody with good upper body strenth who can hold off defenders, make a yard and finish in tight spaces.

I'd love to see us get somebody like Lukaku or Austin as I think they'd slip into our style well and could provide that physical presence upfront that we've been lacking for the past few years

 

[Lemon]

I'm not really up with football, Spurs aside, but I think we need someone with the dribbling skills of Messi allied with the finishing and power of Batistuta.

Must also have prem experience, be under 24 and under £15M.

 

[Doomchicken]

Batshuayi is my preferred option. He's young, quick, strong, good on the ball, and gets a good amount of goals. But most importantly, he's Belgian.

 

[keithtighe93]

jay rodriguez would have been perfect if he hadn't got injured

 

[willy white wonka]

jay rodriguez would have been perfect if he hadn't got injured

If he hadn't got injured he'd most likely have been snapped up by one of the moneybags like manure or one of the others, most likely just to stop him coming to us. Becoming a habit now, first Willian now MS. Pity they can't produce their own quality players instead of whoring everybody else's.

 

[Mullers]

So I think everyone agrees we need to sign a striker or attacking alternative to our new born hero Mr Kane.

But what attributes and level of ability do you want this player to have?

Ade needs to go for many reasons as does Soldado as he's just not cut it.

I think we need a fairly big packet striker who can also play in the RWF And LWF positions.

I think they should be either 28+ and 1st team quality or a youngster perhaps under 25 who has potential but is willing to not be a first choice but who isn't far off and is somewhat proven already incase we need to rely on them.

So far we bid for Ings possibly Martial and are strongly linked with Llorente.

While Llorente is a proven class striker I can't see him coming here to sit on the bench and also who says he'll adapt to the prem any better than Soldado did. Ings seemed like a sensible option but again would he have been ok to sit on the bench? Martial was the one I was most excited about as I think he would've given us pace and options in the wide areas + a strong alternative to Kane and possibly an option for 4-4-2 if we needed to switch.

Others linked are Berahino and Benteke, the former is probably too small for the lone role but could he play out wide? I'm not so sure and Benteke would be a good fit but is 1st team quality so probably wouldn't move to fight for a place with kane.

So who do you guys think is the ideal fit and should we be looking to sign a ST and WF or just a ST?

For me we could try and sign one who can cover both + have the right qualities to play 4-4-2 if we needed too.

For me now we've sorted the defence somewhat with Trippier and Alderwield this signing is the one we need to really get right.

Any other rumours of who Mitchell and his merry band may be considering? And who do you all think would be the perfect realistic signing?

COYS!

I'm still not convinced that Harry can lead the line upfront this season, let alone who is going to help him upfront?

It's why I think we need a player of the caliber of Llorente!

I have severe doubts about the validity of the Llorente story, I think I first saw the story in The Standard. Even if it's true I think it's a stupid signing, 10 million for a 30 year old who we are not sure will make an impact, there is only one reason why a striker of that quality would come to us knowing he was the back up, money, we could go back to being lumped with a player with a big salary who isn't performing.

We need someone who can play on the wing or upfront because it will be hard to get a quality striker coming to us knowing he is back up.

 

[cliff jones]

im still torn but think this area of the team is more important than h/dm.

top of my list would be lukaku, who likes to come in off the right. selling townsend and lennon, the latter to everton would not leave us that far short. son would be a more affordable option. i also think bolasie could do both jobs but not for more than 12m.

 

[SteveH]

3 years ago I think we would have been selling mothers, grandmothers and anything else to get Llorente.

The reason he's available is that he's not that player. Not as extreme a case as Soldado but you know what I mean

I think the the whole player acquisition subject is far too much hit and miss, I'm glad I'm not responsible for any of these decisions. I would be sacked within minutes.

 

[SteveH]

I have severe doubts about the validity of the Llorente story, I think I first saw the story in The Standard. Even if it's true I think it's a stupid signing, 10 million for a 30 year old who we are not sure will make an impact, there is only one reason why a striker of that quality would come to us knowing he was the back up, money, we could go back to being lumped with a player with a big salary who isn't performing.

We need someone who can play on the wing or upfront because it will be hard to get a quality striker coming to us knowing he is back up.

No one plays two upfront in the old way..........Kane or whoever alway play wide then swap and move in!

 

[Mullers]

Just over 3 weeks to go until the start of the season better hurry up.

 

[Mullers]

No one plays two upfront in the old way..........Kane or whoever alway play wide then swap and move in!

You mean one upfront? That's what we play.

 

[SteveH]

You mean one upfront? That's what we play.

Yep

2 upfront with either pulling wide and making up numbers also in midfield. Which I'm sure Llorente, Kane or Austin and for that matter Rob S. and Ade.......could handle....in Poch we must trust.

 

[Mullers]

Yep

2 upfront with either pulling wide and making up numbers also in midfield. Which I'm sure Llorente, Kane or Austin and for that matter Rob S. and Ade.......could handle....in Poch we must trust.

Ok but Poch doesn't play two upfront.

 

[nssmuckers]

Probably not realistic at all but Son Heung-min. If Mitchell's black box has a "search for similar players" option, I would be all over that shit. Really the perfect forward for us. Can play anywhere across the front, incredibly two-footed, quick, young. But as I said, he's already at a CL club and the only thing we could really offer is more money.

I think we need a forward with genuine pace and a penchant for getting in behind. That would be a player who could play either instead of or WITH Kane. I really doubt Kane is going to score 30 goals again this season because teams will know how to play against him better. It was already happening towards the end of the season. I think he's going to have to balance his game out again and bring more of his playmaking qualities back into prominence so teams can't just close him down quickly. If teams are afraid of sticking too tight to Kane because he can knock it around the corner to <INSERT FAST EXOTIC WING FORWARD HERE> it will really help him.

 

[sundanceyid10]

If Bojan recovers well from his injury then I would like us to go for him, but unlikely to happen this window, same as Jay Rodriguez although I haven't seen enough of him before the injury to judge whether he is good enough and who knows how he'll be after the injury. But he fits the profile purely because he can play out wide and through the middle which is what we need.

Good shout had not thought of him.

 

[bryanabutler]

Son,
Werner
Fischer
Batshuayi
And one from way out L/Field, as there was a rumor that Chelsea were keen on Dembele, so might do a P/X
Patrick Bamford, can play C/F R/W L/W

 

[Locotoro]

In terms of the needs of our squad to have a successful 2015/16 season, the question of who to sign in this position is the biggest and most important decision that we need to make this summer.

Respectfully, I disagree

What was our biggest problem last season and in fact in the preceding 3 seasons? Answer: Breaking down teams that park the bus. The reason we struggled so much with this is because since Modric and VDV we have not had a player who can consistently unlock a defence and we haven't had a defensive shield who gives confidence to the offensive players in front.

Seeing as we simply cannot afford the quality number 10 we would need and that would still leave us short in the holding role our most important signing will be who/if we bring in a defensive midfielder capable of sitting in front of the back four and slotting in between the centre backs when the fullbacks push on forward to provide width.

If we get someone who knows the role and plays it well it will not only seal our defence but also give players like Bentaleb, Chadli and Eriksen more confidence to make movements into the box where our fullbacks can deliver from wide. With fullbacks like Rose and Trippier having more targets in the box we can be in a better position to defeat those teams that load 10 men in the penalty area and wait to hit us on the break.

Aside from providing a back up to Kane the addition of a CF/WF is going to have limited effect on those games where there is very little room to run into down the touch line. Sure they would be useful against the top sides but I don't believe UCL qualification will be won against the top sides, it will depend on our results against the WBAs and Crystal Palace's of this world

 

[Locotoro]

If Bojan recovers well from his injury then I would like us to go for him, but unlikely to happen this window, same as Jay Rodriguez although I haven't seen enough of him before the injury to judge whether he is good enough and who knows how he'll be after the injury. But he fits the profile purely because he can play out wide and through the middle which is what we need.

Bojan definitely has the quality to be a useful addition to our team but he is the type of player that needs to be at the centre of the team to get the best out of him. So for that reason I would pass on him despite his obvious quality.

However Stoke have just signed a Barca academy player called Moha who (you heard it here first) will take the premiership by storm next season. He's a top quality prospect and I can't believe Barca didn't have him tied down. He's super quick and has a great delivery on him

I wish we would have signed him