I doubt he'll be a back up player. He'll be part of the LW/CF rotation (in-game and for injuries, resting). I can see him getting just as many games / starts as Gakpo and Isak.
EDIT. That twat Stevie beat me to the post again.
Isakly what we need
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EDIT. That twat Stevie beat me to the post again.
Yeah - I guess it does depend on how well he can compete at LW and our shape - which with Kerkez providing width and Wirtz drifting wide in a deeper area could mean Ekitike going narrow towards the centre - dunno - but he seems like he has the skill set to play as a left forward rather than a more traditional “winger”.
It’s much of a muchness isn’t it - I don’t see 2 players for CF as overstocked, more like a minimum - we have more options at LW if you include the kids like Rio & Doak, with only really Danns in the centre.
Not sure about the “cheaper” striker - for me it’s a question of quality and there’s not a lot available out there - Ekitike may not be the one, but he looks a better bet than all the other available options a bit cheaper and then there’s the cost of a new LW’er - they aren’t likely to be any cheaper than Ekitike was and still be as good as Diaz.
If they take some of @Woland's ket.
We were not "unlikely" to get Isak, per se; more I think it was a belief by the club "well if we can't get him because he doesn't fancy the move, we need to have our ducks in a row".
We've tried to mitigate the risk of not getting him ahead of actually trying to get him. I'm fine with that. It's a little overcautious, but if getting Ekitike doesn't stop us getting Isak I don't overly mind it.
Equally if we don't get isak now, I'm sure we will go for a LW like rodrygo and another st, possibly a mateta.
I think there's a legit scenario where Slot watched Ngumoha in training and thought balls to Mateta (there was reports we met him) divert the chunk of the Diaz money towards two quality strikers instead, especially with Isaks niggling injuries. We'll never really know, but I do find it unlikely the club would release such enormous funds for Isak and operate in such an unplanned way. We've only been known to do that really with Caicedo out of desperation at the end of the window.
Alternatively they might have an eye on a cheaper winger that represents some serious value.
Alternatively they might have an eye on a cheaper winger that represents some serious value.
To me that reads like a fan putting themselves in the shoes of Slot having just watched Rio in pre-season.
I would hope Slot & co see Rio regularly and that the role of youth players factors into transfer plans much earlier.
It’s weird how that fee is inflated when someone wants to argue against the signing
Or denigrate the player (cf. Nunez)
Isak is excellent & is absolutely the best option now & for the foreseeable, there really isn't any perhaps about it. He's the ready made package. 54 goals in 86 Premier League games & I'd expect his numbers to improve with the quality he has around him here.
We're not sacrificing other positions to buy Isak. There are no eggs all in one basket or anything reckless here. We're one of best run clubs in the league with very shrewd & capable people behind the scenes. We're in a very strong position on & off the field which we're capitalising on. There's no way Fenway are putting us in financial jeopardy.
You say Salah won't last forever. Wirtz & Isak are the replacement for his output but for a while we'll see them all together, hopefully anyway.
Let’s talk after his hat trick tonight…
