I'd be very happy with Benteke and Alderweireld. Both have proven themselves in the Premier League and they play in positions that we need to strengthen. Vertonghen's history with the latter is a bonus, too. Kane might be knocked down the pecking order at the start of the season, but he needs a rest. He's versatile enough to play in the same side and we'll probably play enough games to need at least two quality strikers.
Kane certainly needs competition, given last season Adebayor talked himself out of the side while Soldado is damaged goods, but having two strikers expecting to start yet only having one spot on the pitch is not the solution - just like having Berbatov, Keane, Defoe and Bent vying for the two starting spots wasn't a solution, but a hell of a lot of problems. Unless, of course, Poch is having us play 442 next season, in which case Benteke is certainly a player we should sign to make that happen.
Benteke scores a lot of goals when he is fit, but how often is he fully fit? For the fee we'd have to put out for him, it would be a risk IMO.
Risk?!? I'd have Benteke in a heartbeat. He would be an inspired signing, exactly because he's slightly injury prone and Kane isn't. With all the competitions we have it'd be ideal. One other striker who can play a few positions, like Martial, and we'd be set for attacking options. I don't see it happening though. Man U and or Chelsea would jump in to hamper that deal.
I actually think having those four strikers wasn't the problem. It was that our midfield was poor. By the time we'd even slightly sorted the midfield out, Berbatov had gone.
I don't think that having four strikers for two positions or two strikers for one position is a massive issue. The Bent signing was a poor one for a wide variety of other reasons, in my opinion. He's lazy, he didn't pair up well with any other striker we had, he expected to start and we needed strengthening elsewhere far more. Keane/Berbatov & Defoe/Mido gave us variety and options. Bent was actually a worse match than the Egyptian. I think that Benteke and Kane would work individually in the lone striker role and could also work as a pairing. The Belgian's lethal in the air, quick, strong and holds the ball up well. Kane in behind him would be a nightmare for defences. Having the option to pick either of them and both where needed would be a massive improvement, for me. Kane's going to be knackered at the start of the campaign, if we don't give him a rest. Being able to slowly reintroduce him and still have the rest of the side be quick off the blocks would be a massive boost.
Yes, its a risk. My perception of his injury record might be wrong but Spurs can't really afford to stump up a Lamela/Soldado-esque fee and get a player who is out of the team a lot due to injury, or because he's finding form and fitness again after an injury. Also there is of course no guarantee that his injury spells will sync up with Kane's periods of injury or poor form. If we could get the fee knocked down due to his problems then he'd be fantastic but there'd be a lot of competition for his signature in any case as you say. Sky Sports report a buy out clause that is above what we paid for Lamela even. http://www1.skysports.com/football/...y-out-clause-in-contract-tim-sherwood-reveals
Ideally we'd have a situation that matches Bayern with 2 really good strikers, one of which can play elsewhere very effectively too and then a third choice that's decent but pretty much just along for the ride. We can't afford to do what Chelsea do which is just to sign 2 quality, experienced strikers and make them sit on the bench as backup for the main striker. I'm a big fan of Benteke but if it's £30mill I think we're best off staying clear. Some can afford to gamble that much on an injury prone player to add competition but if we're spending that kind of money I think we'd be much better off buying a player that will go straight into the first 11 and doesn't have any injury problems.
There is never a guarantee with players injury spells, regardless of who, but I hear you. The question is, who do we get? Austin? Berahinho?
Either of them could be strong options. Berahinho has the advantage of having played with Kane with the England U21s. When I've seen them together there one tends to start on the LW and one as a striker and they interchange - Kane likes to drop into the inside left channel and Berahino has the pace to cause problems down the left too, so they can play that way well. Austin is more of an out-and-out striker IMO and might cost a bit less, Kane could potentially play well off him but I think pairing Kane with another player who has an outstanding physical attribute (like Berahinho's pace) as well as being a good finisher is the better option. Austin would not be a bad signing though, for the right price of course. So the WBA man would be my call out of those two, although his price and competition might work against us again. The potential for the Martial move is an interesting one - him and Kane would work together in a similar way to Kane and Berahinho IMO. I actually think we will still have Soldado or Ade here by the end of the transfer window, so we will have Kane, 'New Striker' (remember him?!) and then Ade/Soldado as a strike force, in that order of preference. Personally I hope Ade leaves.
Sky are reporting that we've begun negotiations with Monaco for Anthony Martial, while Bild are reporting that Stuttgart have rejected a £10m bid for Timo Werner. Given the similarities between the two, notably their pace and their ability to play up front or on the wing, it does look like Martial was the preferred signing and Werner the backup plan.
I'd be happy with those two, plus Martial. Unfortunately, it seems that'll either be too costly, or the four teams above us won't let it happen. As with Schneiderlin, they'd probably sweep in and sign 'em up. It's gonna take real creativity in the transfer window to improve the team.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/...league-player-released-list-for-201415-season Some interesting names
I'd take Benteke all day long if the price was right - which for me is no more than £20m. On his day he can destroy a defence single handed but his injury record would put me off wanting to break the bank for him. £20m I feel is good business, it's a lot of money but not breaking the bank for us (taking into account transfer kitty plus funds made from sales) while Villa receive more than double what they paid for a player who's missed a lot of games over the past two seasons. Alderweireld looked great for Soton and his history would suggest he and Jan will do well together, though my only concern of him joining is the amount of CBs we'd have that'd all want first team football. If we had Jan, Toby, Dier, Wimmer and Faz as our 5 CB's (presuming Younes and Vlad are goners), it means one maybe two being left out of match day squads in the league, only featuring sparingly in cups (the new Vlad) and one likely to barely feature at all in any competitions (the new Kaboul). Dier in my opinion is too good to be benched, his age and performances lead me to believe he'll be a great player in the future and so the last thing he'd need is to play less games than he did last season, something which would likely happen if Toby joins. Then we have Faz, who in my opinion was dog **** most of the time but I can't see us selling him after his first season and I'd also like to think he'll want to prove himself, though would find that tough if another CB joins. Finally, Wimmer joins with a growing reputation, he was part of the Koln defence that had the best defensive record in the Bundesliga outside of the top 4 sides, so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be overly happy at joining a club where he could be 4th or even 5th choice. I think there needs to be the right balance of personnel and five CB's doesn't make much sense to me, especially as none are massively injury prone so it's not as if we've got the numbers just for cover - like we did when we had King, Woody, Daws, Kaboul and Bassong - and so all that'd happen is one or two get pissed off, ask to leave and then likely sold down the line for a fee a lot less than what we paid having barely contributed on the pitch. If Alderweireld is a genuine target then I think the club would have to shift Faz, which I wouldn't be bothered about in all honesty but just think it'd be unusual to ship a player out so quickly.
i've heard that every time Fazio is named in our team that the oppo manager has a little bit of excited wee come out. Any truth?
