Rafa Benitez has warned Mike Ashley that we must break our current transfer record this summer if we’re to sign a proven striker who will guarantee goals in the Premier League.
With Joselu, Gayle and Perez scoring four, five and six goals respectively all season, the biggest weakness in our current side is clearly the lack of goals – and addressing this will be his top priority this summer.
They’ve scored a combined 15 goals between them all season, however we’ll be needing a forward capable of reaching those numbers on his own if we’re to threaten the top 8 anytime soon. The issue is, a striker capable of doing this won’t come cheap.
Rafa realises this, and has warned Mike Ashley that he MUST be willing to spend ‘more than £16m’ if he’s to be handed the proven goalscorer our team craves this summer:
‘If you want to bring a striker with a guarantee of more than 10 to 15 goals per season, you have to pay money for him for sure,’
‘In this market, that is more than £16m. We have a lot of scouts watching games and we have all the software, all the stats, everything that you can have on any team.
‘We have all these things in place and we have meetings and we talk about players, then after you can achieve this or that.’
The market has gone crazy, so you’re probably looking at fees in excess of £20m if you want a striker who’s proven at Premier League.
For example, Andre Gray only scored 9 goals at Burnley last season, yet he (in the final year of his contract) still cost Watford a stunning £18.5m – and he’s managed to score just 5 all season. The same applies to Kelechi Iheanacho, who cost Leicester £25m last summer.
We may have to look abroad, but either way, it goes without saying that our current transfer record of £17m (spent on Michael Owen back in 2005) must be smashed this summer if Rafa’s to get his man.
Ashley may love a bargain, but you get what you pay for when it comes to goal-scorers. They don’t tend to come cheap..
The highest signing under Ashley has been Wijnaldum, for £14.5 million. Let’s just absorb that fact – as he cost £0.5 million less than Shearer …did 22 years ago!
Ashley is a bargain basement owner and businessman. He’s never going to spend more than Owen cost on one player. His philosophy is why buy one, when you can get 2, 3 or even 4 for the same money.
Players have as much value to him as socks do in his SD stores. Profit margin, end of.
sickandtired(Quote)
Owen 2015?
Trottz(Quote)