Maxi Gomez
- Thread starter DonAK
- Start date
Is Mbappe really the only one? The market is terrible but on the other hand, playing a 33 year old Suarez as our only option up front next season is probably out of the question.
To be honest, I do not know who is there to take over Suarez right now. I do not even know who is a plan B striker that we can use. Over the years Gudjonhsen, Maxi Lopez, Ezquerro, Paco Alcacer, Munir all failed. Others like Jonathan Soriano were not given a chance.
The way I see it is two thing. First is that at the end of the 2019/2020 season Suarez would have been 33 for only the second half of the season (he turns 32 in just over a weeks time). Barring a huge physical break down which I do not see happening in him (but could happen) he is capable of being our first choice striker for the next season and a half.
After that is the second thing. We either have a starting striker ready or we get prepared for Eco-Messi to be false 9 and have Coutinho (or someone else moving into AML) and Dembele taking over at AMR. I am not saying it is the best thing for the first 11, but we could see Messi being our Totti and want to continue until his mid-late 30s.
Who is there capable of replacing Suarez next season? Griezmann but that won't happen now. Icardi but that won't happen with Messi here. Harry Kane although it will require a huge style overhaul. Mbappe is the only name that right now would have allowed us to continue our current style seamlessly.
Pepe is killing it at Lille but he is playing RW and we have seen how Malcom got lost in the shuffle. Plus Lille are demanding 70m for him. Can he play CF any better than Dembele for example?
Plan B list for right 2019/2020 with next season ages:
Cedric Bakambu - 28 - 1.81 - Sinobo Guaon
Lacazette - 28 - 1.75 - Arsenal
Morata - 26 - 1.87 - Chelsea
Alassane Plea -26 - 1.8 - Mochengladbach
Anderson Talisca - 25 - 1.91 - Beijing Evergrande
Nicolas Pepe - 24 - 1.83 - Lille
Maxi Gomez -23 - 1.86 - Celta Vigo
Timo Werner - 23 - 1.8 - Leipzig
Luka Jovic - 21 - 1.81 - Frankfurt
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Alik
Moderator
If we are listing names, what about Aubameyang?
Also Krzysztof Piątek.
There is also Firmino, which has around the same chances of coming as Kane or Mbappé.
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
Apparently RM and Milan are competing to get him, likely out of the market soon
Fantastic player, but Arsenal's first choice striker and 30 by next season. I do not think he would neither be a sub for Suarez nor a replacement who would give us many (if any given his style) more years than Suarez. While asking price would be very high.
I meant to include Piatek on my list but didn't want to create too many edits by adding him in.
Firmino is a good shout. Not to necessarily buy him (because of the reported Liverpool clause, his age by the time that expires and what they will ask for him), but because Firmino @ Hoffenheim is the type of profile we should be aspiring to find.
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Firmino doesnt score enough goals, he's not a striker with a killer instinct at all. The Messi goal dependency is already a problem.
Leo_Messi
New member
Firmino is not fit to even clean the boots of Luis Suárez. The Uruguayan is arguably one of the best strikers in football history and certainly one of the very, very best in this century while Firmino will be very lucky to be remembered as a great 10 years down the line. Firmino never was and never will be the right replacement for Suárez. The club needs to replace Suárez with a talent with a higher celling than that or an established world class striker.
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FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
So he is coming. Interesting. Rather him than Morata.
You are right. What I mean by Firmino at Hoffenheim is someone who has his proven level for 3/4 seasons in Bundesliga, Ligue1, LaLiga, maybe Portuguese Primeira. That is not at a big club and is within the 22-25 age gap. Not specifically Firmino playing style.
But to go with a Firmino style striker then it would be better to play Messi central until 34/35 and surround him with pace, power, movement and goals on both sides of him. We already have that with Dembele on one side. So perhaps a Dembele-Messi-Pepe for example or Mane-Messi-Dembele type of forward line.
BarçaBarça
New member
Yes, he really seems like the best option for us. He has been consistent over more than 1 season, and we need players like that, not one-season-wonders like Jovic, Piatek etc. Belotti scored in nearly every match 2 years ago and people would be happy if we signed him then, but now it looks like it was a one time thing. We don't have that much time to experiment, so I think Gomez is one of the safest options for now.
To the first thing: Suarez will need more rest at least. Age isn't the only thing that counts - his bodytype also does, and he loses speed quicker than more natural-fit bodytypes. Therefore we need to act sooner rather than later.
To the second thing: A Coutinho-Messi-Dembele looks good on paper but puts a lot of pressure on Messi, because CB's will be able to go at Messi and not concern themselves with a true number 9. If we want to distract them from Messi we need Dembele and Coutinho as a kind of striker-pair, which is totally unproven and maybe not even utilize their greatest strengths. I'm not totally against it, and Messi will still be a goal-threat for years to come, but a natural-instinct goalscorer will flourish with all of Messis assists. Maybe Dembele and Coutinho can step up to consistently deliver the 15 goals each every season in both lesser and bigger games, but we need to be deadsure they will, if we opt for that option.
I will add one more to the list if Aubameyang, Kane and the like are being thrown around anyway (I would prefer Kane, but we can't afford 350M€).
Rashfords contract expires in 2020. Manchester United maybe don't want to sell this summer, but 1 year left is a very weak negotiation-position. He is young, expirienced, his ceiling hasn't been reached and he performs like a star in one of the best leagues. Best of all: He is a natural number 9.
In 1 year! we can negotiate a deal to get him for free, so it would be wise to contact his agent and say that Suarez is getting old. Maybe he is too much of a ManU-fan, but is he so romantic that he believes ManU will compete for CL/PL every year during his next possible extension? We can guarantee titles. Of course money is no problem for ManU, so the possibility of getting him relies on how sure he will be to get titles.
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