We need two strikers in and the manager will need options. A big lad who can still finish, in the mould of Slimani, but probably not him, and a pacy fox in the box clinical type of striker, in the mould of Sturridge at his best l, but definitely not him. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rafa go back in for Abraham on loan to help his limited funds stretch as far as possible.
He clearly has issues as he has had bother everywhere he’s been. However Hughes got a great tune out of him for a number of years. He has undoubted ability, it’s just ego and attitude for him and Shaqiri. I saw a disgraceful few performances for West Ham earlier in the season when things weren’t going right. Definitely a fair weather player. Can’t comment on position too much. Every game I’ve watched him he is playing off a main striker and starts from wide. Then again Henry spent a lot of time out there. The issue is Rafa has always played with a striker on the last mans shoulder. It’s also the best way to exploit Shelvey. Been in great nick again in the 2nd half of the season though.
We're going to play Shelvey as much as possible, so need pace and movement up front. In theory Rafa's got the right players out wide, with Kenedy, Yedlin, Atsu, Murphy. Not his fault they haven't lived up to their promise (aside from Kenedy). But I think a key problem in not being able to exploit our wide pace is twofold - first, not having a proper No.10. Perez works hard to close down up front, but for me is the pacey fox type striker we should be using INSTEAD OF Gayle (not a footballer). Second, not having a mobile target man to take a) the focus of defenders, to free up space for wingers, and b) finish the chances we then create from crosses. If we're doing two up top, Perez could work with a decent big fella. If we stick with the 4-2-3-1 then we need to improve on the No.10 and consider Perez a forward. Certainly the likes of Arnautvic or Shaqiri just aren't right in this system - unless we bin off Shelvey and change our play entirely. But this is built around Shelvey, like it or not, for the moment. So I'd sign a striker as an absolute priority - with someone better than Gayle or Joselu (not a Mitro discussion, he doesn't play for Rafa so moot point) we would have picked up more points, wingers and Perez would have worked better, so it's the one big weak spot. As said earlier, Davie Selke looks like a really solid prospect and in our price range. Secondary to that is a deeper playmaker type. If we're going to want to control some games more, we need more than Perez running around after defenders. Someone like Dennis Praet of Sampdoria would again be the right area. With question marks over Allegri, Juve may be caught napping - if they're even interested. Tough position to fill, but we could do it. From there it's about budget allocation. Need a better RW than Ritchie, but I think Rafa will stick with Atsu and Murphy - his signings after all. Kenedy will need to be loaned in, or replaced, though. Then it's about upgrading on full back (we'll need at least a backup LB) and Hayden, and replacing Mbemba. Mitro needs to be either used or replaced. Depending on outgoings it's around 5-7 in we need and with our budget of, what, £50m that's achievable. Everyone, including Rafa, should be content with that outlook.
Rafa will never play with a target man type striker. Or at least history suggests he won’t. He likes to have one in the squad but prefers a pacey last shoulder man. I think he should or should try the Davie Selke/Welbeck type for the reasons you suggest. But he’s had a lot of success his way. He likes a Gayle or Torres. I think he will just want to upgrade Gayle for another of similar ilk. Then again he seemed to want Jorgensen for some reason. Selke, Hernandez would be good moves for me. Hernandez could buy Selke time to settle. No.10 is tricky. I like Praet too. Maddison looks handy but Spurs etc are looking. If you were looking down the English route I wonder where Ross Barkley and Tammy Abraham stand in the grand scheme of things at Chelsea. Rafa is the type who could resurrect both.
Agree Germany is a good league to look at as is better suited to a transition to the Prem. We should also look at what is happening in south America. I always think there is good potential there as in general they seem tough. The leagues out there are very physical.
