I thought it might be worth speculating if we'll be bringing in a third striker option and if we do, what sort of player that would be.
If we agree that Ross Stewart and Luis "Hemir" Semedo are the only true centre forwards in the senior squad, it's realistic that we could be looking to add one more.
It also looks like we'll be waiting until late September or early October before Ross Stewart will be back in training and you can add at least a couple of weeks onto that before he could even be considered for the match day squad considering that amount of time he has been out in the last 12 months.
With Semedo, although he's an exciting prospect who could hit the ground running we should also be mindful that this is his debut season in football, he's in a new country and has to adapt to a new style of football. There is a realistic chance that he might take a little time to be ready for the rigours of week-in-week-out English football.
Looking at the current u21 squad we've got Max Thompson, Harry Gardiner and Timur Tutirov. I'm under the assumption that whilst all of those are considered prospects, they're not considered close to being first team ready.
So what sort of player would we be looking at? Firstly, it would likely need to be a player who is willing to be the third striker, third strikers in teams that play 1 centre forward barely touch a dozen appearances, sometimes much less. Budget wise I'd not expect us to dish out much cash here unless we're looking at another young striker with a big future. However I don't think this is the route we'll go. Considering Bailey Wright has already gone, Batth has been linked with a move away, Corry Evans is still out and there are whispers that Stoke want Pritchard, it's entirely plausible that we could look to bring in an older player with a reputation for professionalism to come into the squad.
In my opinion if we do decide to go back into the market, it is that sort of signing I'd expect the club to make, additionally I'd also expect to see that happen close to the closure of the transfer window when clubs are panicking and trying to offload players for cheap, free or loan (to get wages off the books).
So which sort of players fall into that category? Here are a few:
Billy Sharp (Free Agent).
Cauley Woodrow (Luton), Loan or free or nominal fee.
Charlie Wyke (Wigan), Loan, free or nominal fee. CONTROVERSIAL
Gary Madine (Free Agent).
Jordan Rhodes (Huddersfield), Loan or free.
Martyn Waghorn (Free Agent).
Sam Smith (Free Agent).
Tom Eaves (Rotherham), Loan or free.
Tyler Walker (Free Agent).
I understand that the counter to these suggestions is most likely that they're not good enough and that we would need a much better 3rd choice striker, please keep in mind players will not come to play a meagre amount of games unless they're being compensated more than they can get elsewhere. Having a £10K-a-week striker play 10 games a season is poor business.
If we agree that Ross Stewart and Luis "Hemir" Semedo are the only true centre forwards in the senior squad, it's realistic that we could be looking to add one more.
It also looks like we'll be waiting until late September or early October before Ross Stewart will be back in training and you can add at least a couple of weeks onto that before he could even be considered for the match day squad considering that amount of time he has been out in the last 12 months.
With Semedo, although he's an exciting prospect who could hit the ground running we should also be mindful that this is his debut season in football, he's in a new country and has to adapt to a new style of football. There is a realistic chance that he might take a little time to be ready for the rigours of week-in-week-out English football.
Looking at the current u21 squad we've got Max Thompson, Harry Gardiner and Timur Tutirov. I'm under the assumption that whilst all of those are considered prospects, they're not considered close to being first team ready.
So what sort of player would we be looking at? Firstly, it would likely need to be a player who is willing to be the third striker, third strikers in teams that play 1 centre forward barely touch a dozen appearances, sometimes much less. Budget wise I'd not expect us to dish out much cash here unless we're looking at another young striker with a big future. However I don't think this is the route we'll go. Considering Bailey Wright has already gone, Batth has been linked with a move away, Corry Evans is still out and there are whispers that Stoke want Pritchard, it's entirely plausible that we could look to bring in an older player with a reputation for professionalism to come into the squad.
In my opinion if we do decide to go back into the market, it is that sort of signing I'd expect the club to make, additionally I'd also expect to see that happen close to the closure of the transfer window when clubs are panicking and trying to offload players for cheap, free or loan (to get wages off the books).
So which sort of players fall into that category? Here are a few:
Billy Sharp (Free Agent).
Cauley Woodrow (Luton), Loan or free or nominal fee.
Charlie Wyke (Wigan), Loan, free or nominal fee. CONTROVERSIAL
Gary Madine (Free Agent).
Jordan Rhodes (Huddersfield), Loan or free.
Martyn Waghorn (Free Agent).
Sam Smith (Free Agent).
Tom Eaves (Rotherham), Loan or free.
Tyler Walker (Free Agent).
I understand that the counter to these suggestions is most likely that they're not good enough and that we would need a much better 3rd choice striker, please keep in mind players will not come to play a meagre amount of games unless they're being compensated more than they can get elsewhere. Having a £10K-a-week striker play 10 games a season is poor business.
