Sancho over Son, definitely.
Current level might be similar (I would argue Sancho is already better), but Sancho has more to come, both in terms of improvement, and years left on the clock.
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If Son was 3 years younger, I’d definitely choose him… because we know he can handle the PL and the drive he shows is incredible. Plus Son’s salary is supposedly lower.
But in this case, Sancho is easily the better choice due to age and similar ability.
In either case, I don’t think we have the funds for Sancho plus Konate plus a midfielder (we need one because without Gini we would struggle to field a healthy midfield at times)… unless one of our front 3 leave.
Tammy Abraham seems to be an unpopular choice, but I don’t see why. For ~£35m, it would be hard to buy better and having another home-grown could be important down the road.
In a couple years, Milner will be gone… potentially Henderson as well (will be turning 33). Hopefully Ox well before that. Gomez… who knows what further injury will do to him.
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What about Ollie Watkins? He’s had a good year for a middling side, and he tore it up for Brentford the year before.
Dunno.
What about him? 
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True… Just want to have fun with a player more realistically having a chance to come to us.
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I haven’t seen him play but I think it was @ILLOK who said he might struggle here as he relies on his pace and teams wouldn’t give him the space he thrived on at Villa and Brentford.
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Incidentally, though, the stats pulled by Goal’s partner who flagged Konate as Liverpool’s best fitting CB target showed that he’s statistically the most similar striker to Firmino (whereas I think he’s nothing like). WhoScored (I think) recently published a stat that showed he’s the player with the fifth most touches in the opponent’s box in the top five leagues in Europe. I’m not impressed by him in terms of him being a possible Liverpool player, though, I just thought this might be worth pointing out.
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Villa took the gamble on Watkins in bringing him to the Prem, and they also paid a tidy sum to do so. If they are to be persuaded to deal, we would need to twist their arm with so much cash that it wouldn’t be worth it.
If we are shopping lower down, perhaps we will buy our own version of Watkins, before he made the jump to the Pre? Either from the lower leagues or somewhere in Europe.
Ivan Toney.
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There must be quite a few as yet, undiscovered gems in the lower leagues. It all depends how good the scouting system is.
We used to find these future stars, when there wasn’t as much money in the game. Why can’t we do it again?
Keegan, Neal, Hansen, Lawrenson to name a few and of course Andy Robertson.
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i think we still do its just the target age is younger. more than ever before talent is spotted at a younger age.
weirdly, the german league represents more what divvy 2 and 3 (in old terms) means to players who want first team football instead of the bench at the top level
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Is he a member of the royal family? Wiki says his full names is Oliver George Arthur Watkins? That has to count for two English players under FA rules, no?
Don’t both Mane and Salah rely on their pace? Mane especially. Not that I’m high on Ollie, but he’d be cheaper than 'Arry.
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Pace plays a significant role in their game, but I would say that their movement and ability with the ball is pretty significant too. I got the impression that Watkins is more limited in that respect.
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Watkins also has one of the best pressing stats this year. The willingness to press and pace alone would have made him a massive upgrade compared to Origi.
But, we can have Tammy Abrahams with a very good price. £35m is no longer massive these days, especially for a homegrown player.
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Depends what type of forward we want.
If we want a box presence, someone who’s going to just play centrally that take advantage of the crosses from the fullbacks and be more clinical than most of our current options then it’s hard to see past Abraham. We know he’ll be available and will want to prove a point to Chelsea. I think he’ll be like Lukaku who took a step down, proved he was more than capable and then cost twice what he was bought for when that club sells him.
If we want someone with some of the attributes of players we have now like pace, flexibility to play wide, ability to take players on and make their own chances then Donyell Malen fits the bill. It’d be a big step up for him but we’d be able to ease him in rather than expecting him to start from day one. Reminds me a lot of Mason Greenwood. Fast feet, sharp bursts of speed, finishes with both feet and a real eye for goal and loves to score.
If we want a successor to Bobby where overall play is valued over out and out goal scoring then Matteus Cunha is probably the closest thing to him out there. Questions around attitude and application but has skills in abundance and probably a better finisher than Bobby.
Personally I think we need something a bit different and each option has pros and cons. I don’t think we need that Bobby successor just yet, we need an alternative option when he isn’t doing what we need or want to play a different way. Abraham will be the most expensive and I’ve a feeling Chelsea would do everything to make sure he didn’t end up at a direct rival. Malen would need time to settle and adapt but I think he’s the one I’d go with.
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How about AOC and/or Takumi and Elliott supplementing Mane, Salah, Jota, and Bobby?
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AOC may very well be considered for this role. He came on against Burnley in it, and when he was at Arsenal he had a run of games as a centre forward.
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Is Ox stays fit he will be a brilliant player for us
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If Ox stays fit might be the new If Sturridge stays fit.
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I thought it was “if Keita stays fit” but I get your point.
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