Striker chaos: Irons going back to the future!
Our mate and partner Gonzo from Hammers Chat suddenly gets hit by a wicked realisation ….read on!
I spoke to Hugh on the phone today and whilst discussing our striking options the realisation and full implications of our striker situation hit me full force.
We are simply no better than we were before. We really are going Back to the Future!
We were chasing Michy Batshuayi all summer as if he was the chosen one but I’m not sure it would have made any difference even if we had signed him. He’s third choice for Belgium and a Chelsea reserve yet rumour had it we were willing to cough up £30m for the bloke.
Then there was Carlos Bacca who was supposed to be a brilliant striker. However, Milan want to sell him in the New Year which says rather a lot. Granted, he has scored six Serie A goals this season but Edin Dzeko has 10 and even Mental Mario Balotelli has plundered eight.
My point is that £25m doesn’t get anyone decent these days, it merely gets somebody else’s cast-off. The truth is that we can’t afford a good striker and I’m not even sure we can afford a good RB (the two positions needed to improve imo).
People will mention Lacazette when he regains fitness but he is totally unproven and was not even included in the France squad for the Euros so we can only assume he’s not as good as Olivier Giroud.
The truth is that Griezmann is world class . . . . .. . he’ll get you the 20 goals needed to improve but good luck getting him for south of £70m particularly when Higuain cost £80m.
We’re nowhere close to challenging for top four and now Chelsea & Liverpool have sorted themselves out and hired world class coaches we’re even further behind. We’ve plateaued and it will require an awful lot of money to take us to the next level because to put it plainly and simply it’s a money game.
We may eventually sign a player for £30m but don’t expect him to be the messiah . . . . . . . that’s about a third of the going rate for a player with divine genius.