20 years old
Striker
Danish
6′ 3″
9 league goals
Am I describing Manchester United’s new big money money signing? Or Lord Bendtner? The reality is, the above can be used to describe both.
Nicklas Bendtner, at 20-years-old, scored 9 Premier League goals in 31 games. At the same age, Højlund scored 9 goals in 32 games for Atalanta. Bendtner played 1,757 minutes for his 9 goals. Højlund 1,834.
Whilst Man U fans might celebrate the signing, believing him to be a Danish Erling Haaland, Højlund is actually a clone of the former Arsenal player.
In Football Manager terms, Højlund is basically a re-gen of a 2008/09 Bendtner. The fact that both men are also from the same country and are the same build makes the comparison even spookier.
I have long said that those that cry “Arsenal need another striker” are misguided. And the fact Man U have spent so much on the next Nicklas Bendtner proves me right.
Those options that are better than Gabriel Jesus (only really Victor Osimhen) are out of our price range this summer.
The level below Jesus, but above Eddie Nketiah and Flo Balogun (Dušan Vlahović, Ollie Watkins, Tammy Abraham) would probably not move from where they are to sit on our bench. And I would back that if Eddie played for Aston Villa or Roma, he would score just as many as Watkins or Abraham.
Ivan Toney is one that would have been of interest to us. But he is “banned from all footballing activities” and my understanding is this includes a transfer. If we did get him, we would have to wait until his ban is over in January.
Finally you have the likes of Gonçalo Ramos, Elye Wahi, Jonathan David and Højlund.
These are all untested at the top level, all playing in a lesser league or just had 1 season of top football. I question whether they are better options than Nketiah and Balogun.
Balogun, Wahi and David all scored a similar amount of goals last season in the same French league, whilst Ramos scored around the same aat a similar level in Portugal.
Højlund scored 10 goals in all competitions in Italy, Nketiah scored 9.
Finally, for those saying we should sign Aleksandar Mitrović. No. Just no.
I do think Chelsea have got a player in Nicolas Jackson. But having signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and David Dstro Fofana, it is a case of “third time lucky” for Todd Boehly.
Jackson’s acquisition is certainly not the result of great scouting. It is simply a case of them buying as many talented, young players as possible in the hope that a few of them might turn into stars. Throw 12 eggs at a wall and one will not break…
And even then, I would rather we “give Balogun a go” than recruit Jackson. They are probably similar level. Although I do understand that Balgoun wants to be first choice. He would not want to sit on the bench behind Jesus.
So Man U’s 5-year search for a new striker might now be over.
Since Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan in the summer of 2019, there have been 9 transfer windows where they could have bought a new striker. They have got through Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wout Weghorst in that time. They have now signed the next Nicklas Bendtner.
So apologies if I ignore calls from Arsenal to buy a new striker. Man U (and to a lesser extent Chelsea), have shown over recent years how hard it is to find a good one.
And you can also perhaps understand why Daniel Levy is so keen to keep Harry Kane. He knows there really is no one on the market at Kane’s level. Spurs will probably end up with Mitrović!
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Reductive, childish drivel. Arsenal standard.
LikeLike
Some good points there. I don’t think we need a new striker as such anyway. More that we need to add players all over the pitch who can join in with scoring so we’re not reliant on 1 or 2 players.
LikeLike
Pingback: Are Arsenal underselling Folarin Balogun? – Premier League Football