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The Centre Forward thread

Al-Hilal, who have offered close to £40m, are not near to Aston Villa's asking price for Ollie Watkins. As next Tuesday's transfer deadline nears, Villa will play hardball for their all-time record Premier League goalscorer.
Not that I watch much other football, but Watkins for £45m seems a no brainer. What are the downsides apart from no sell on value?
 
A olayer that I would imagine would cost a similar amount (maybe a bit more) but has a MUCH bigger upside is Christian Kofane at Bayer Leverkusen. Only 20 and borderline good enough already for the PL but I think in 2 or 3 years time he could be in the best 10 in the world.

He ig big, physical, fast, holds the ball up well and is a good finisher. He’s not a good dribbler and nor is he a creative player but I think we’ll be getting that from the wings instead.

Kofane is who I've thought would be best for us (after Osinhen) all summer long
 
De Zerbi rates Solanke, but obviously he needs to be fit and up to speed pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure we won't be signing another forward if Marmoush arrives, unless we can shift Richarlison before the deadline.

For some reason I think the non-homegrown quota plays into what you're saying about Richi....

Kinsky, Dubravka
Porro, Robbo, Udogie
JPvH, VDV, Danso, Senesi
Fernandez, Bentancur, Tonali, Sarr
Kudus, Savio, Kulusevski, Simons
Marmoush, Richi

There are 19 names there and we can only name 17 in the PL squad. At the moment, you have to think that the 2 to miss out would be Simons and Sarr.

Now if we were to bring in just one more non-HG player then you have to think that the next ones to miss out would be Richi or Kulu. If it was Kulu then it would inevitably mean a 6 month loan to get playing time.

I think it will be Richi though, if we bring anyone in at all.
 
A olayer that I would imagine would cost a similar amount (maybe a bit more) but has a MUCH bigger upside is Christian Kofane at Bayer Leverkusen. Only 20 and borderline good enough already for the PL but I think in 2 or 3 years time he could be in the best 10 in the world.

He ig big, physical, fast, holds the ball up well and is a good finisher. He’s not a good dribbler and nor is he a creative player but I think we’ll be getting that from the wings instead.
I know his name but I haven't watched him I don't think. I'll keep an eye out for him this season.
 
Not that I watch much other football, but Watkins for £45m seems a no brainer. What are the downsides apart from no sell on value?
Yep, good question.
Well, Watkins might prefer the likely higher wages at Al-Hilal vs what we'd pay him. But yes, for 45 mil I agree with you.
He can hold the ball up, is decent in the air, has some pace and acceleration, is two-footed, can drop in to midfield, brings other players in to the game, presses well, draws fouls, and can have a nasty mean streak about him that gets under the skin of defenders. And of course, he's a reliable and consistent goal scorer and PL proven. So yes, at that price point, on a 3-year deal, I'd be interested.
 
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Good question.
Well, Watkins might prefer the likely higher wages at Al-Hilal vs what we'd pay him. But yes, for 45 mil I agree with you.
He can hold the ball up, is decent in the air, has some pace, is two-footed, can drop in to midfield, brings other players in to the game, presses well, draws fouls, and can have a nasty mean streak about him that gets under the skin of defenders. And of course, he's a reliable and consistent goal scorer and PL proven. So yes, at that price point, on a 3-year deal, I'd be interested.

Watkins has been at Villa for 6 years and only broken 20 goals twice. In his entire career he's only done it 3 times. He has a career record of about 1 in 3 and is 31 in December. My concern is that in about 3 weeks he'd be called the new Solanke. His pace will disappear as he gets into his thirties and he won't be all energy anymore. He has some nice attributes but actually isn't as good as people make him out to be. He misses some absolute sitters and has some horrible first touches. He has had a good spell in his late twenties though.

Personally, I wouldn't spend close to £50m of Spurs money on him and give him a 3-year deal.

Then you look at the player's perspective. Given just 61 mins throughout the entire WC, well at least the relevant part of it until we went out. It sounds like he's about to get £400k per week in KSA and he'd be more than happy to stick the middle finger up at Tuchel and go into semi-retirement. I doubt he'd be interested in our project. We'll barely hear of him again would be my guess.
 
I like the thinking but on the times I’ve seen him, which I grant is not all that many, his hold up play was akin to Richy’s ie non-existent. He may just have been having a bad day, so I’ll try and not retain that bias should he sign. He’s definitely a goal threat and an outlet though, but he needs service. Hopefully Marmoush and Savinho could provide that and it would possibly benefit Marmoush having someone to play off too.

I concur on this point, that I do like that he’d bring presence to the team as we’re shaping up to be really quite weak in that regard outside of the CBs.

Bear in mind Dave you might very well be right re: hold-up play, and I could just be applying the bluffers metric of size + strength + a few highlights = hold up Godmerchant!!! 😂😂😂
 
Bear in mind Dave you might very well be right re: hold-up play, and I could just be applying the bluffers metric of size + strength + a few highlights = hold up Godmerchant!!! 😂😂😂
I think his hold up play is better than richys
Without it being good
What he is good at is getting the big chances that others don’t get too
Doesn’t always score them of course
 
Marmoush is the CF. DeZerbi likes Solenke. Those two will rotate or play together.

If we bring in anyone else this window it will be another winger or an AM.
 
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