Good article narrowing down who the new strikers could be!

Just wrote out a massive report on El Arabi only for the page to refresh and lose everything. Damn iPhone - FML.

I'll rewrite it at work tomorrow.

 

That seems to be a Russian thing. I remember Odemwingie being racially abused following his transfer to West Brom.

 

Rondon the best out of that list IMO. Highly-rated but no chance of getting him.

 

Rivière is going for a medical at Toulouse tomorrow according to Francefootball.fr so we can chalk him off!

 

Jo was good in Russia scoring 30 goals in 53 apps for CSKA and look how he turned out..

 

No chance whatsoever?

 

Lucky they got the world cup 2018 then!

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&biw=1280&bih=699

 

Hard to tell with Jo though, it's not like he had a good run in the team is it?

 

Aye, I was thinking this! Wonder what he coulda been like if he had a chance in a team like, say, us!
(Not saying I want him like)

 

I'd give him a shot like, I wonder how much he'd cost...

I'll ring big Mike, tell him to buy Jo. Sorted.

 

doesn't necessarily mean he'll be **** just cos jo couldn't cut it,so working on that theory why did we buy french when we had a **** player like Guivarc'h how silly of us he was **** so it follows they're all ****

Guivarc'h record before we signed him
1996–1997 Rennes games 36 goals (22)
1997–1998 Auxerre games 32 goals (21)
every player from abroad is a massive risk that's why proven prem players are twice or three times the price but for every jo/Guivarc'h etc. there is a tiote/ginola

 

well he's one of the players man city left behind personally wouldn't have him ...not for being **** as i think he's ok but he's had a lot of trouble with injuries

 

Eh? What are you on about? Did you read the article all the way through?

They've based their guesses on perfectly reasonable assumptions (Pardew has said they are continental, more trustworthy journalists have said france and spain, need to be in a certain "mould" i.e. fast paced to play up with a targetman such as Ba/Shola, within what seems to be our required age range at the mo), so YES, it is a bit more thought out than plucking random strikers names out of thin air like most people on here do.

 

Theres no way Ashley would go for JO as we have BA. Thats not going to make him much in shirt printing, he is a business man after all!!!

 

Right, as I was trying to say yesterday, about Youssef El Arabi, before my phone decided it was a good idea to refresh the page and lose everything I had currently written…

I think he's a great little player. I started paying a lot more attention to him after we were linked with him back in January. Up until then I hadnt noticed him too much other than the fact that his name was always in the top scoring charts for Ligue 1, mostly due to the fact that he played for Caen. At that point I think he had scored 10 (im not sure how many assists) and then added another 7 or 8 to his tally after January which goes to show he was consistent, at least last season, rather than a 'half season wonder' which the Premiership seemed to have quite a few of last year.

At that point I know he had been watched in the stands by Stoke at least, plus there was reports linking him to Wolves, ourselves, Sevilla, Marseille and PSG. The latest one being Genoa, who as of a few weeks ago were said to have agreed a fee of around £5M for him, but its gone a bit quiet on that front, so im not quite sure whats happened there.

He's quite a versatile player, having played on the wings last season, as a striker and through the centre. Chipping in with goals and assists, im pretty sure Caen would have struggled to stay up without him. I think he'd be great playing off a stronger striker, such as Ba, maybe in the role that Pardew has said he'd like Ben Arfa to play in next season. Although, he'd do equally as well pushed up high on one of the wings or as part of a front three in a 4-3-3 formation where theres a midfield of maybe Tiote, Barton and Cabaye to anchor the team and set up attacks, leaving the front three to play with a bit more freedom.

He certainly seems to suit the profile for NUFC targets, he was born in France, he's young (just turned 24 this year I believe), he's fast and technically gifted. Most of all, he should be relatively cheap. Like I said before, I think Genoa had a bid of around £5M accepted and Caen got the lad for next to nothing from a local amateur side, so its all going to be profit for them. They could be willing to cash in on him, although they’ve also got another young forward that Liverpool are reportadley after.

As for adapting to the premiership, he's similar to most French lads that come over, in the fact that he prefers to take defenders on with skill rather than power. He used to be part of the France U-21 Futsal team, which has come in handy for him getting past defenders. Whether or not that'll be as easy against English defences as it is in France is another matter though. Having said that, he seemed quite up for going to Genoa and playing against Itallian defences, so its nothing that worries him obviously… He also managed to score against the best teams in France, not just against the lesser ones. Personally I think he'd adapt well.

Although he was born in France and played for the French futsal team, he represents Morocco at international level, so he'd be another one away to the ACON. As long as we're not just left with Lovenkrands and Ameobi, I cant see that being a MAJOR problem Although, I'd prefer someone who wasn’t.

I cant remember anything else I had written from yesterday anyway… I'd much rather take the risk on this guy for around the £5M mark than pay over the odds for someone like Shane Long.

In all, Rondon would be the best suited out of them for the Premier League, but he's also the least likely to come. El Arabi and Roux are both cheap alternatives and exciting prospects but El Arabi has probably proved himself a little more.

 

Good info - lets hope he's one of the targets then! - seems to fit the description of Pardew is looking for pretty well.

 

Well what a bloody waste of time typing that up twice was!

For someone reason (f*ck knows!) El-Arabi has joined Saudi club Al Hilal for a reported €7Million.

What an absolute waste of talent.

 

you mean we won't have "Ba n' Jo" upfront?

 

I still can't believe Sturridge is not on our radar! A gamble at £15m - £20m granted, but he would be a class above what we already have!

Oh well, I can dream....at least its not Carlton Cole or Jay Bothroyd

 

Shane Long apparently back on the Radar

Long Ba upfront