We can then get him at a discount when they get relegated!
Chelsea wouldn’t want us to have him. They will probably slap some outrageous fee on him. After all, they don’t seem to lack money. But in the end they will sell him to a non-rival club for a lesser amount.
If West Ham get him for £25m for example, maybe we can get him for £30-35m the following season…lower than what Chelsea will charge 
If the price works out similar maybe the quality is improved so the value higher!
But, don’t we need him this season? Maybe we sell Origi to WHU for £15m so they aren’t the option anymore. 
. One rock, three birds 
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Seems like I’m on a different opinion than most on the CF thing - I don’t want us to and I don’t think we’ll be getting CF. I don’t watch much football outside of the PL, but I haven’t seen someone that I like a lot and think they are at level we want (except Haland or Kane, which are not happening). But more importantly I don’t see us changing our style and playing with out-and-out striker especially the type of Benteke, Lambert, Tammy etc.
All 4 of Bobby, Jota, Mane and Salah can play in the middle of our front 3 without them being your typical CF type. For me we should be and will be targeting a wide forward type that will get into rotation with those 4 this season and will be the long term successor of Mane/Salah in our front 3 (from impact point of view). I like a lot Raphinha for that role, think he’s very similar to Mane in many areas, but unfortunately don’t see him moving from Leeds, at least not this window and will probably be worth a huge fee even if they were open to sell. But if we can find someone similar somewhere in Europe that would not cost that much and we can afford, I’d be happy with us going with such option instead of CF.
tldr - I don’t want a CF, I want Raphinha.
P.S. This is assuming Mbappe/Haland is not happening.
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Agreed @kotsebotse, if we’re only picking one forward I’d go with a wide player as well, and a wide player who can actually beat players on the outside and deliver a quality ball in to the box.
When Mane’s on form he’s the only one of our forwards who does this with any regularity, and this was evident in the last few games of the season. When he’s down on confidence he comes into the centre too much, and conversely when he’s at the top of his game he can go down the line on his left foot as well as coming inside. We saw him do this nicely for Phillips’ goal against Burnley, but there were a handful of other chances he created in the last few games by beating his man.
Raphinha has got the quality to do this regularly, as well as a host of other qualities that would make him suitable for this side.
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Need Woy and Eddie Howe to get back to the premier league so that they continue taking our players for good sums.
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I definitely understand your point.
I don’t get why we’re suddenly up for getting a big/tall/muscular striker by default, let’s not forget what we’re fundamentally still about and let’s focus on style and quality. Size doesn’t always mean that someone is a strong player or a target man type of striker. Or that we necessarily need one.
I think we’ll eye maybe someone to play more central, but certainly still a mobile/active player, probably with pace, decent technique and some finishing ability. Not easy to find of course. Daka was mentioned a little bit, maybe someone of that type.
Either that or someone who would play more off the right, even if I don’t see Salah changing his position/zone, I think he’s best where he is and should remain there for the coming future. If we go for a player who would be more coming off the right, then I agree, I’d want a technically sound and strong 1v1 player. Backuping Salah means that player could also be an option sometimes when we go 4-2-3-1, when Mo usually goes up top.
I think in a good number of games, there’s room for another forward who is good at going in behind. Bobby is obviously a creator, Mane and Jota are best at doing a bit of both, Salah is best at going in behind (it’s not like he does nothing else than that, but we know his main strengths). I’d say we’re still pretty good at creating chances, but the quality of the final move, shots on target and finishing has dropped somewhat.
We know for a while now who was our CB priority, we know more or less what type of CM we’d be looking at if we’re signing one (I hope we do), but in forward areas there are still no signs what type of player that one would be.
I think that one might be the last one, see what offers we get for the likes of Origi, Minamino and Shaqiri. First one goes almost for sure, maybe one of the last two stays, maybe not. Small chance for Elliott to prove to the staff in pre-season that he merits keeping.
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Surely Elliot merits keeping. It’s just a case of whether he should be loaned again. I’d say a Brighton type loan would be good for his development.
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By merits keeping I meant kept as a first team player, one of the “22” let’s say. Of course we’re not selling him. Our staff will have a look, maybe they already have an idea more or less what will happen, but they’ll see how he does and feel if there’s something useful for both sides next season. If not, another loan then.
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A PL loan seems most likely, don’t you think? I’m sure there would be plenty of interest
Hard to tell, I only saw his goals/assists and individual highlights here and there. Maybe he can attract something “better” than Blackburn, to give him a new test? Whether that’s a more competitive Championship side or a lower PL side that plays a certain way that suits him, we’ll see. We often hope that they attract better interest than they do in the end. I’m sure a creative side like Brighton have already numerous options for those positions. Not easy to get game time even at such places.
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Brighton, Southampton or Norwich might be better for him on loan than being included in the squad for next season. Something for the coaching staff to look at.
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I think it might depend on the outgoings and any fitness issues from those taking part in summer tournaments.
If Shaq, Origi and Minamino all go and we get one more in up top the I could see us keeping Elliott up until the January window, if not for the season to give him some time around first team players. That’s possibly even more likely should Salah go to the Olympics. I certainly think any loan move would come just before the window closes so he gets plenty of time at Kirkby over the summer.
The other factor could be any changes to the substitute rules. Most leagues are going with five again so I suspect the issue gets raised for the premier league over the summer what with all the international football going on.
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You may well be right, but he’s still only 18, and the jump from Blackburn to us is a big one.
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Firmino will be 30 in October.
Salah will be 29 next month.
Mane is 29.
I think a succession planning is in order. None of them are showing any signs of aging, in fact, I expect a rousing performance from them next season. However, they all have peaked and it’s downhill from here on, sooner or later.
Their alternatives are Jota in his prime and Elliott in early stage of his career. I think there isn’t just the space but also the need for another attacker. Someone young (but older than Elliott) with his peak years ahead of him.
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Dunno, depends how the front 3 are playing. Mane and Firmino had a tough season but by the end of it they were playing some great stuff again.
The 30s isn’t quite the death sentence it’s usually portrayed as. For the last few years the leading goalscorers around Europe have often been 30-35 year olds. Lewandowski, Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez, Cavani, Immobile, Benzema, Muriel, Moreno (Villareal, not Albert) have all been banging them in. Vardy is 34 and has only recently (last few months) started showing clear signs of slowing down, and even then his numbers are good.
We do need to be aware of succession planning but there is also a danger we break up a very successful formula too early. I’m not expecting any of them to be sold this summer, so let’s see how they get on next year.
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Those strikers often play along with other younger wingers/strikers, except for say, Barcelona, and we all know what happened with them. For example, Suarez plays with a young Marcos Llorente, or Lewandowski plays with Gnabry, or Benzema with Vinicius Jr, or Vardy with Harvey Barnes.
We are somewhat similar to Barcelona (especially last year before they dumped Suarez) in that all the front 3 are aging at the same time, and our playstyle depends more on stamina and speed more than other teams.
Man Utd during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Barcelona during 2009-2015, and Bayern in 2012-2013 all began their domination with a group of 5-6 core elite young players - I mean, 5-6 Trent Alexander Arnolds. Meanwhile, we only have 1 Arnolds.
5-6 TAAs? Bullshit. No team has ever had 5-6 talents of his level and age on the pitch together. Cf the egs you’ve given, we have TAA and Jones and (in a season or two) Harvey. I’d absolutely agree we should be looking at adding another 1-2 of this level over the next couple of seasons but it ain’t easy. Perhaps Konate will be another? What’s super important is that we handle the aging of the front three - that’s why I would be all for a Salah for Mbappe change if it were possible.
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I do think Barca 2009, Bayern 2012 and Man Utd 1999 had at least 4 extremely young talented players, maybe 5-6.
For example, Bayern: Mueller, Hummels (bought a little later but still around that time), Kroos, Boateng, Alaba, Neuer, Gotze. Some of these guys are TAA level: Alaba, Kroos, Neuer, Mueller. Jones is at Mario Goetze level at best - which means he is not good enough to break into 2012/13 Bayern first 11, only a sub there. There was also Badstuber who was talented but wrecked by injury.
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