Arsenal Vision did a podcast with David Hartrick, a big Brighton supporter who is also a football analysts for Huddersfield Town. They always talk to this guy whenever we are linked with Brighton players and he is usually a pretty good listen.
He essentially said that Ferguson wasn’t ready for a big move to a club like Arsenal yet but that Gyokeres was a complete monster in the Championship and that there were a number of understandable reasons he couldn’t break through immediately at Brighton. Basically, he said Gyokeres over Ferguson all day if Arsenal want to sign a striker this summer.
Yup, the more I see of Gyokeres the more I am sold.
The big question is mentality as its a massive jump to a club like Arsenal but if Arteta/Edu are confident about him in that regard then I don’t see what’s not to like.
I think there is some chance of getting him a bit under that number. Sporting will be highly incentivized to sell this summer. Keeping him another year is risky at his age and with the possibility of injury. There isn’t really much more he can do in that league that would drive his value up so its really only downside.
Its hard to say if there will be another side willing to pay the release clause outright. There aren’t that many big clubs likely to spend big on a striker this summer: Its really just Chelsea (if they get their FFP house in order with sales) and PSG and one of them is likely signing Osimhen. Spurs could get involved but no way is Daniel Levy paying that release clause all upfront and we will be a more attractive proposition to the player.
If we can get him for a 75m fee and something like 150k per week wages then its going to cost something like 22m per year in wages/amortized fee over a five years contract which is a pretty reasonable number.
I think Edu/Arteta are saving money to buy us a really good one, like Rice.
Osimhen, Toney, Gyokeres are all good, but do they worth 100m? I don’t know.
I just believe they would be “another” player if joining us.
We are not a team that putting the ball in the box and let the striker do the rest team.
If we play like that, probably Eddie could have played a lot more than right now.
Our attack and tactics are complicated, need players to have certain intelligence to adapt and perform. Hope we don’t buy just for the sake of it.
Maybe not the best one in the market, but the most suitable.
The likes of Toney and Gyokeres being close to 100m goes to show the lack of quality strikers out there. This era is arguably one of the driest in terms of quality players.
But buying him on a 100m release clause isn’t? I’m really wary of that. Best case scenario he’s Salah, Drogba or even a Giroud in terms of career trajectory but those three guys were at least playing in bigger leagues before moving to England. Worst case scenario he’s Lucas Perez and we’ve fucked up our budget.
They are all good to varying degrees but Gyokeres looks unique in that he has an excellent all round refinded game in addition to being a prolific goal scorer
Osimhen is a phenomenal athlete and can score but technically he is lacking as is his link of play, Toney can score to a degree, links well but is an average athlete at best and doesn’t run in behind.
Gyokeres blends all the attributes together which makes for a potential all round CF at the top level.
I don’t think we can be waiting anymore especially if we don’t win the league, I’d rather go for the guy that shows he has most of the attributes I’m looking for rather than a project or another player who isn’t as well rounded.
Don’t know how much they worth, if we are spending 100m, I think this is the quality we need and should get.
Definitely not willing to spend that much on Toney or someone equivalent.
Osimhen was like 120m? I don’t know, don’t think he fits our style.
Yes, he is more a prolific scorer but if he does not fit out style, he is not going to score much anyway.
If Gyokeres is in a good price, I think we should.
I don’t know him much, but seeing you guys giving him high praise.
Of course its risky but £85m - which is the release clause but he might sell for a bit less or in a deal that converts some of that number to add ons - and relatively affordable wages just isn’t what it used to be. Nunez was £85m (part add ons), Hojlund £72m (part add ons), Lukaku £98m, Isak £65m.
Osimhen at £110m and 300k per week is actually a lot riskier IMO. He may have shown goal production at a higher level but he has been hurt a lot and his translation to our football is less clear.
Ferguson at £100+m for a 19-year-old who still needs a ton of both physical and stylistic development is probably the riskiest of the lot.
I don’t think we desperately need a striker though. I’d be worried if our wide options were shit, but they ain’t.
Our midfield is capable of scoring too.
Personally, I’d rather sign a versatile forward instead a la Trossard.
Nico Williams ticks most boxes and he has a relatively cheap release clause.
He’s an insane talent, and a great player already. If we’re after a wide player he should be one of the top options.
We definitely can’t go big both for a CF and a winger, we’ll what Arteta prioritises, or who he rates the most.
Gyokeres obviously is a huge gamble and it just sounds strange to go big for a 26 year old (Drogba was 26 when he joined Chelsea ) with one big season is Sporting… But if he really ends up being nearly as good as it seems atm 100M euros could seem like a bargain very quickly.
You just need some scouting and you can get a decent picture about him, even if he’s playing with farmers. I just hope he’s a serious option and he’s on our radar.
One thing is sure, no one on this forum can tell his shit/mediocre from seeing his wiki biography (or even less lol).
Btw, I never believed Bruno Fernandes could translate his perfomances from Portugal to the PL nearly as good as he actually did in the end. And to do it just right away, no adaptation period. So positive examples do exist.
Falcao was a similar case too.
I felt the same about Bruno, maybe because the word was that they’d been after him for a while and I wrongly assumed that their scouting was so horrendous that anyone they chased would end up being more sizzle than steak. He’s turned out to be a really good player, definitely a good times player and comes off as a complete tit on the pitch but a very good player.
) with one big season is Sporting… But if he really ends up being nearly as good as it seems atm 100M euros could seem like a bargain very quickly.