Diego Forlan

[Holtspur]

Forlan has come back into the picture a bit. Athletico Madrid are happy to let him go. He's had another good season and was ace at the World Cup. Was crap at Man Utd, but was it to do with their style of play or is he another foreigner that can't hack it in the EPL? If we can get him for £7/8m, would be worth a punt!

[aspursfan]

I'm not sure about Forlan at this point. I'm not doubting his talent, but he didn't have the best of seasons. He's certainly got the experience.

32 games
8 goals
5 assists

[Metalanimal]

Hardly prolific stats in a league that is less competitive than ours!

Steer clear would be 7 or 8 mill wasted IMO

[ugs]

I would personally prefer a younger player but if the price and wages are right then why not, we need someone who can put the ball in the net and has experience of the EPL.
 
 

[millers-tach]

Apart from the Spanish guys a lot of the players at last years WC had a poor season probably down to such a short period of rest.
 
I have to say i dont think he is the answer, we have enough players that do the good stuff up to the box, we just dont have someone to keep sticking it away in the net.
 
Depending who the Chavs buy i can see us actually having Drogba next season. Hate the guy but if the 'right' Drogba turns up at WHL then i will be very happy.

[YankSpur703]

Drogba would be nice, I'd also like to make a run at Falcao. He's only 25, so theoretically entering his prime, and while not huge (listed at 5'9.5" on wikipedia) he is very good in the air, and is dangerous with both feet. He's not that big, nor that fast, but he just scores bags of goals. Well, our side is set up to provide plenty of opportunities, what we lack is a cold blooded finisher to pop in 20+ per season. Falcao could be that man. He has 41 goals in 50 career appearances for Porto.

[COYSacrossthepond]

I really do like Falcao, i just can't see us prying him away from Chelski since his old coach is there, and he's said he wants to play for them. As much as I agree that Forlan is past his prime a touch, he is a proven finisher at the highest levels, and he'd be a massive improvement over who we've got now. I agree it's not a long-term solution, but like with Friedel he can buy us the time we need to find a long-term solution, because as with Friedel vs younger keepers; who is available, in their prime, for any reasonable amount of money? Put it this way; is Forlan 1/5 the player Andy Carroll is? because at 7m, he'd be 1/5 the cost l'pool paid for Carroll. I'd say 7m for Forlan would be a steal.

Oh, and the other issue with Falcao; he's never played in England, and with his lack of size could be very affected by the physical play here. IMO, unless he's on fairly low wages he's just not worth the risk since we'd have to push out 32m+ to get him.

[Holtspur]

His experience will push the other strikers. As said here, because of our midfield, our strikers get plenty of opportunities on goal - didn't we break the record with the number of attempts last season without scoring? With first class assists, he could net them for us. Falcao is my preferred choice, but he will probably end up at Chelsea now. Still think £7/8m will be good for us to push for CL next season then get a younger star.

[ugs]

If we can't get Forlan why not Drogba or Anelka, either one would do a job for one or two seasons and I'm pretty sure they would put away the chances we create
 
 

[aspursfan]

I'd be thrilled if we get Drogba.

[dimexi]

Forlan is not the answer to our goal striking problems, but he could add a different dimension to the team. If he replaced Pav and then we brought in someone who is more prolific then that could work.

[Holtspur]

I'd keep Pav and offload Crouch if someone had to go

[dimexi]

I'd keep Pav and offload Crouch if someone had to go

I think the opposite. Reason being that Pav is not of a high enough standard to command a starting place. Neither is Crouch if we buy in quality. However, Crouch offers a different dimension to a side. Against certain opposition or late in the game he can cause lots of problems. If Pav was more consistent then I would agree with you.

[COYSacrossthepond]

Have to agree with you, Dimexi; the difference between Crouch and Pavs is that Crouch does one thing (head the ball) very well and is only so-so at everything else; Pavs is just tolerable at everything. Pavs isn't even a cold-blooded finisher, so while I wouldn't mind keeping him around, I wouldn't mind seeing him leave for a reasonable fee; no idea how much we paid for him, but i think we could recoup our output and get a few mil on top.

[aspursfan]

Honestly, I don't even think Crouch is that great with his head. I have nothing against him and don't mind if he stays or goes. But that's mainly because he at least always gives 100%

I wish he'd stop with the Ronaldinho moves at times though.

He'll probably do well in Europa when we need to rest the unidentified amazing goal machine that we're going to sign (in my dreams).