Lautaro Martinez

[Marshall D Teach]

Alexis I'm guessing.

But there is that too.

Not really. Main reason you could consider him a success is because we were able to sell him at a profit.

He was a complete flop in his first two seasons.

 

[El Gato]

I always thought he's a fine player. Not amazing at Barcelona, but talent was there. Prime spent at Arsenal doesn't help to make this argument, but that's not his fault.

 

[CatalinR10]

Can't wait to see our new LW <3 <3 <3

 

[Tackle]

Stop gaps are not something a serious project employs.

Who ever suggested that we have a serious project?

Barto and his group of cronies running things is one of the reasons I'd rather see us punt most of the major squad decisions a year or two down the line. No guarantees a new president and board will bring about the changes that are needed, but it's worth a bloody shot.

At this point a new project would also have to see Leo go and that lines up better in 1-2 years than this summer as well.

 

[El Gato]

Who ever suggested that we have a serious project?

Barto and his group of cronies running things is one of the reasons I'd rather see us punt most of the major squad decisions a year or two down the line. No guarantees a new president and board will bring about the changes that are needed, but it's worth a bloody shot.

At this point a new project would also have to see Leo go and that lines up better in 1-2 years than this summer as well.

Largely yes, but it is perhaps not in your favour to invest money in something that is only being considered an option, because of board incompetence. As a club, you're better off getting pieces who might fail in the short-term leading to Barto being ousted, but are a better post-Barto post-Messi prospects. I.e. Lautaro over near 31 Auba. No point keeping up the patchwork strategy. If a sporting director has a head on his shoulders (which it is doubtful with Abidal, but he's not quite doomed in my eyes, just kind of undiplomatic) and makes the right moves, his transfers can reap benefits despite board's decisions. Unless you're fixated on success in the short-term, then sure, Auba is perhaps somewhat of an equivalent of Van Nistelrooy for RM. Which doesn't make him worth the investment.

 

[Messi983]

The insane wages we pay are a bigger issue than the transfer fees. They’re the reason we’re unable to get rid of expensive signings if they flop. It also creates a feedback loop of future signings demanding ever higher wages.

Agreed but high transfer fees are usually connected with high wages. You don't pay 100m for a player and then give him 3m wages. Or on the other hand you don't give a 10m player 10m wages. Of course for anything in between correlations between transfer fees and wages is not always so obvious.

Not proven enough? I always thought he would succeed when he made his first steps in European football. Some players just have "it". His signing would be more in the mold of Frenkie than Coutinho/Griezmann - hes a great fit. Mobile, technically strong, good dribbler, fast... and tenacious. Hes the best striker on the market. Aubameyang would be as risky as Lautaro if you consider resale value (and shortterm) - theres only one winner given the choice.

As for Haaland: Am I the only one whos glad that hes not an option right now (aka bound to Dortmund for 2 more years)? He looks clumsy, technically average.

He can score. This is what we should look for in a striker. If he also has other qualities then great but I would forgive him a few bad touches, passes and lost balls in every game as long as he can bang goals. Which he has done at every club/level in his young career so far and I'm sure he'll continue to do it as he moves to a better league/club as well.

Lautaro has those other qualities you've mentioned but it still remains to be seen if he'll score enough to be our primary striker. It looks like we'll get him so I hope for the best but if he won't be able to replace Suarez's goals then he'll be another 100m+ disappointment regardless if he'll fit us better than Griezmann and Coutinho (won't mention Dembele here because he actually fit us well but just can't stay healthy to prove this).

The same for defenders. We should look for players who can defend. Back in the days Pep fall in love with Chygrinsky's passing skills so much he forgot the guy had no clue how to do his primary job. Of course technical abilities are important for our style of play but fans are often looking at these "Barça DNA" attributes too much.

 

[Riordon]

Its unknown if Lautaro can perform as a lone striker. He didn't do that well until Lukaku came and he started to play 442 with Lautaro as the second striker, meaning he is likely to occupy the same space as Messi and/or Griezmann. I prefer a more typical 9. Isak fits the profile better IMO.

Myron Boadu is just 18 and already a goalmachine.

Getting Lautaro is IMO the easy and lazy decision which doesn't require much scouting or work from Abidal

 

[clemente]

We need to get a better scouting team and sign more under the radar players, Lautaro would cost a lot and then ask for 15m/season like Dembele and might get injured or we find out he isn't as good, and then we are in a deeper shithole.

 

[Riordon]

We need to get a better scouting team and sign more under the radar players, Lautaro would cost a lot and then ask for 15m/season like Dembele and might get injured or we find out he isn't as good, and then we are in a deeper shithole.

I actually think we have one of the best scouting teams around, we seem to identify great players earlier but fail to execute and buy the wrong players which is the fault of the management.

 

[DonAK]

That is true, but there is another area that need to be looked at when we go for a striker. The ability to operate with his back to the goal. To make passes and plays when he receives the ball with defender on his back and make something for it.
Suarez is/was brilliant at it, one of the main reasons he is great fit for Messi. Benzema is also great at that and this was influential in his career, Higuain too made life easier for everyone with it (until he misses chances in the finals) and even in your example; the liverpool trio Firmino is good at that aspect, making life easier for Mane & Salah.

I didn't watch Lautaro that much, from what I've watched he isn't that player. But if you watch him more you can tell me if he has that ability to`r not. Because it is one of those underrated aspects that could be the make or break for players.

He can do it, but, it's not his strongest suit. There are certainly better options if we want a striker like that. Isak is better with his back to the goal.

Like I said, I wouldn't sign him this summer. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't sign any CF this summer unless Suarez leaves as we could sign the best player available, but Suarez would still start thus pushing that player out of position or to the bench.

In that case I would sign a goalscoring LW.

 

[serghei]

Lautaro can play 9 imo. Besides, there is not a single clear centre forward on the market, it is a reality we have to accept.

Also, everybody agrees we need a true winger, but Neymar is not the answer. The problem is who do we sign?

Maybe do a bit of proper scouting for a change. Neither Salah or Mane were anywhere near world class when Liverpool signed them.

I want our management team to start being smart. Everybody can sign 4-5 100m. players with a success of 50% or thereabouts.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Like I said, I wouldn't sign him this summer. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't sign any CF this summer unless Suarez leaves as we could sign the best player available, but Suarez would still start thus pushing that player out of position or to the bench.

In that case I would sign a goalscoring LW.

We never had a better option than Suarez to say a better player won't start over him. This seem like a far fetched theory.
For me CF isn't a priority because I think we have bigger needs.
Regarding the winger, I am not sure I agree with that. We need to know what is our game plan going to be
I honestly still think 442 is the way to go if Messi continue to play the way he is, and we expect him to continue being a starter her for next 3 seasons. In that case we need a striker who can score and make things easier for Messi, and a midfield that can play with 4 players rather than 3.
If we decide we stick to 433 (on paper, we haven't been playing it since start of 2016) then yes, a winger is a necessity.

 

[DonAK]

We never had a better option than Suarez to say a better player won't start over him. This seem like a far fetched theory.
For me CF isn't a priority because I think we have bigger needs.
Regarding the winger, I am not sure I agree with that. We need to know what is our game plan going to be
I honestly still think 442 is the way to go if Messi continue to play the way he is, and we expect him to continue being a starter her for next 3 seasons. In that case we need a striker who can score and make things easier for Messi, and a midfield that can play with 4 players rather than 3.
If we decide we stick to 433 (on paper, we haven't been playing it since start of 2016) then yes, a winger is a necessity.

I just don't see a manager like Setien or someone else unless they have the personality of Pep or Lucho, dropping Suarez with him having such a big, vocal voice in the dressing room.

For me the best move when it comes to Suarez is simply moving on from him this summer. His knee issues is only going to get worse with his age and there's no point renewing his contract so why not try to make something off him with a year left on his contract?

Worst case we get rid of his massive wages and use that to help fund a move for another player.

 

[KingLeo10]

Stop gaps are not something a serious project employs.

Is that you, [MENTION=19661]Jair Ventura[/MENTION]?

 

[Andresito]

No player is guaranteed success. But to pay 100M we have to be 100% sure on what kind of player we get. Lautaro is a 70M max player at the moment.

We shouldn't buy Lautaro because there aren't better options on the market, it's a huge risk and a lazy thing to do.

100M is an amount for a proven player. Lautaro is far from proven, even the people who want him aren't 100% convinced.