Fabio Borini

[john316]

Lukaku doesn't fit into that Suarez/Sturridge type of player. No way we'd be interested in him.

[Patricks_Berger]

But what if sometimes we want a different option? A player who has different attributes to vary the approach.

I'm not saying we need a carthorse like Carroll. Lukaku has the pace, power, aerial dominance, scores goals AND is a good enough footballer to fit within Brendan's philosophy.

Martinez has similar ideas to Brendog and he has used Lukaku effectively.

[Pablo]

Also for those saying we don't need another striker, or won't be in the market for one, don't forget we went hell for leather to get Diego Costa in the Summer.

[Roboklopp]

But what if sometimes we want a different option? A player who has different attributes to vary the approach.

I'm not saying we need a carthorse like Carroll. Lukaku has the pace, power, aerial dominance, scores goals AND is a good enough footballer to fit within Brendan's philosophy.

Martinez has similar ideas to Brendog and he has used Lukaku effectively.

And it'd piss off the Bitters no end.

[Patricks_Berger]

And it'd piss off the Bitters no end.

The cherry on the cake

[Gibbo]

Also for those saying we don't need another striker, or won't be in the market for one, don't forget we went hell for leather to get Diego Costa in the Summer.

He was going to be a replacement for our number 7, no doubt.

[Pablo]

He was going to be a replacement for our number 7, no doubt.

There's clearly doubt. We never had any intention of selling him. Apparently. We've since claimed the two deals were not related.

[danperkins]

Ok, back to this.

‘Top class’ is always going be subjective. If we are talking about genuine top class, I dare say we’d struggle to agree on many clubs that have even 2 top class strikers (bar us of course ).

This discussion was about getting a 3rd striker for us, so we were never going to be talking about the Aguero’s or Ronaldo’s of this world, but more if we could attract a proven quality player in one of the lower brackets or if we have to accept someone of Borini’s quality as nobody good enough will be willing to play second fiddle.

So using your example of Carroll, if we went out and spent £35m on him, of course we would be expecting a ‘top class’ player and one who would be fighting for a first team spot. Because it didn’t pan out that way, doesn’t mean we weren’t in the market for one when we bought him.

Likewise with Chelsea (who I only added as a caveat as it is still debatable), when they signed Torres, they thought they were getting the best striker available and with Ba they signed one of the top scorers in the PL at the time, so they hoped these were top class signings. Mourinho if he has his way, would also have added Rooney or Falcao to the mix, so that would be another top class player as that’s what we’re competing with.

So my take on the discsuuion is can we go out and get a quality (or top class) player who is willing to fight for his place or do we have to accept a lesser player in the hope he grows into the role (Borini)?



Again, I think you are over emphasizing the top class thing. Hernandez is a proven International scorer with a decent record in the PL. If he became available, there would be plenty of clubs willing to pay a bit of money for him and offer him first team football. So although he may not be considered what you feel is top class, it’s unlikely that we’d be able to tempt a player like him to become our 3rd choice striker.

Now, I could also have got this all wrong. Tripendicular could well have been asking which clubs have 3 genuine top class strikers, in which case my answer is zero.

[Gibbo]

Where was that? I must have missed it?

I think the fact that the players we went for after we got knocked back for Costa pretty much tell a story, Mickey Ryan and Willian are both attacking midfielders, so my guess was that we decided to keep Suarez cos we got knocked back for Costa and then went in for other positions.

Of course there is always the possibility we looked at Costa as well, of corse there is, we could of played a 3 up top with Sturridge and Suarez out wide, similar to what we do now... Hmm, got my thinking now this.

Who knows? If we sell Aspas we will still need another forward. I just don't think it'll be one that costs a bomb, and Borini still has a part to play.

[danperkins]

Please god let us sell Aspas! The under 14's in my local area.. are looking for a squad player, he might fit the bill.

[Gibbo]

Now, I could also have got this all wrong. Tripendicular could well have been asking which clubs have 3 genuine top class strikers, in which case my answer is zero.

Yeah, see this is how I interpreted it.

I agree with most of your points, but maybe Brendan bought Borini in the hope of him becoming world class. At the end of the day it's a lottery isn't it football, this time last season I'd be begging for is to sign Cisse from Newcastle, now... Not so much.

[RedReet]

Yeah, see this is how I interpreted it.

I agree with most of your points, but maybe Brendan bought Borini in the hope of him becoming world class. At the end of the day it's a lottery isn't it football, this time last season I'd be begging for is to sign Cisse from Newcastle, now... Not so much.

There is no doubt Brendan rated him very highly when we signed him and he was probably confident of making him into a better player. The signing was made before Sturridge and Coutino though, who have proven to be better players, which is why I predicted in the summer he wouldn’t be here this season. There was always a chance that if he proved to be a big hit at Sunderland that he could come back and stake a claim for a first team spot, but I don’t think he’s done enough. I think we’ll be in the market for a better player in the summer and if we’re successful, he’s off. If we fail to conclude the deals as we’re becoming accustomed to these days, he might have a chance of staying.

[RedReet]

Also, the biggest argument for Borini seems to be that he’s still young and could come in useful next season when we are in Europe. Well we let a younger player than him go in the summer who has scored 2 more goals and got 3 more assists from midfield this year and also scored 4 goals in 7 starts in Europe for us last year. If he wasn’t good enough, not sure how much of a case can be made for Borini.

Jonjo.

[baitman]

if we could sell borini and aspas, maybe 15m ish...

what would danny ings cost...
he will score goals. he can play from the wings and add plenty of assists, often does much of his own graft, tackles and creates. a perfect team player, will not let us down if called on to play up front in lesser cup games and could more than adequately play in the league if needed.

[Daffy Duck]

In light of recent 3rd/4th striker discussions, would anyone consider Demba Ba for less than £5m? He recently said he's leaving at the end of the season, although to be honest I don't know anything about his wages or recent injury record.