Erling Haaland

[Jase 43,479]

4 minutes ago, Vesper said:

its more than just 3 positions

we are not going to play a rigid double pivot with just 2 wingers and one CF every game

I will be shocked if that happens

Based on what we have seen under Tuchel so far, it's 3 attackers upfront in a 3-4-3 or 2 attackers upfront in a 3-5-2. So, it's either 7 attackers for 3 positions or 6 attackers for 2 positions.

5 minutes ago, Vesper said:

we need a scorer, BADLY

Maybe but I'd also like to believe that there is more to come in terms of finishing from the current group of players that we have. 

[Vesper 30,085]

14 minutes ago, Jas said:

Based on what we have seen under Tuchel so far, it's 3 attackers upfront in a 3-4-3 or 2 attackers upfront in a 3-5-2. So, it's either 7 attackers for 3 positions or 6 attackers for 2 positions.

Maybe but I'd also like to believe that there is more to come in terms of finishing from the current group of players that we have. 

so (and this is not a trick or a gotcha question)

who and what positions should we be addressing via an inbound transfer(s)?

[Jase 43,479]

13 minutes ago, Vesper said:

so (and this is not a trick or a gotcha question)

who and what positions should we be addressing via an inbound transfer(s)?

The midfield and defence.

As for the offence, have long said it that I don't think we necessarily need a big name striker - we need one if only because both Abraham and Giroud are likely to leave - but someone low key, reliable and can work with the rotation. Basically, am in a similar train of thought with Tomo here...

16 hours ago, Tomo said:

I'm not as fixated on a striker as many despite the records of our players last season.

I think there's a lot of mitigating circumstances. Havertz with very bad Covid then returning when we were at the meltdown period under Frank, Werner having a few weeks of bad misses which then escalated, Pulisic injured for most of the early part of the season and then returning in the Frank meltdown period, Ziyech losing his momentum he was building before injury, and not to mention three were in their first season and before Tuchel arrived weren't getting coaching to the required level they needed at this level. I don't think it's unreasonable to think those four and Mount (possibly CHO too) will all improve by atleast 4/5 league goals next season which will effectively be new striker numbers.

I have enjoyed the fluidity that's been building with Kai as the false 9 and I think we are onto something going forward. An out and out striker could potentially put us backwards in our evolution even if he offers impressive numbers, ofcourse the main person I'm referring too is Lukaku but even with Haaland I can't help but look at the fact BVB have got worse despite his unbelievable personal numbers.

 

[Artandur 939]

I still can't see it, just feels like everybody jumping on the bandwagon atm. Romano has been completely quiet on it so far, so i'll be very interested to see what he has to say about the situation.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Artandur

[LAM09 7,043]

I can only see this being feasible, if a number of first teamers are on their way out. 

[Rekin 835]

I know the usual argument is "It's not your money", but I can't help but feel that a transfer this gigantic would have a strong impact on future transfer windows.
Haaland is a brilliant player with heaps of potential, but do we really want to make such an enormous investment should the opportunity be there? 

For this kind of money you would expect basically the next coming of Messi, and is Haaland that? He is an amazing goalscorer, but I am personally not 100% convinced he would do well against the very packed defenses we often encounter in the league. 

I think that if the question is put as "Would you like Haaland?", it is easy to say "Yes, big time".
If the question instead was "Would you like Haaland, but then not get other players such as Varane, Rice etc" it would be a bit tougher (at least for me).  
 

A big question for me is also what this transfer would entail for how we play. What would the formation be, which of our more regular starters would become rotational players etc. 

This is even not considering the almost guaranteed drama a few years from now where the flirting with other clubs begin so that Mino can get his latest cut. 
 

 

 

 

[R2D2 368]

 

[Superblue 6,372]

3 hours ago, Jas said:

The midfield and defence.

As for the offence, have long said it that I don't think we necessarily need a big name striker - we need one if only because both Abraham and Giroud are likely to leave - but someone low key, reliable and can work with the rotation. Basically, am in a similar train of thought with Tomo here...

I too agree with this. I believe that Werner and Havertz could be significantly better next season, especially Havertz. I wouldn't write Ziyech off either, he's in the same boat as Havertz and Werner having to adapt to a new league and he arguably had things worse as the Eredivisie closed down after Covid and then he got injured so he effectively missed 6 months of football. Pulisic and Mount are both young and there's plenty of space for both to improve also.

The issue here though is there may be an opportunity to buy one of the absolute top young talents in world football and somebody who looks primed to be one of the best strikers of this generation for the next decade or longer. With the current situation we're in compared to almost all other clubs we could really set ourselves up for another period of dominance.

People questioned in the same way buying Havertz last season as we'd already signed Werner and Ziyech and had the likes of Pulisic and Mount, but I think it was a big and correct call to identify him as a superstar in the making and to get him when we had effectively a free run at him. If Haaland represents a similar opportunity this summer then I think we should try and get him. 

However if Haaland doesn't materialise, then I'd rather run with what we have then just buying any striker for the sake of it.

[King Kante 1,643]

17 minutes ago, R2D2 said:

 

Another person that knows nothing 

[R2D2 368]

9 minutes ago, iceboy said:

Thisss...

Fucking crypted articles, you can't even read without paying.

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

Both Sterling and Silva rumored to be unhappy. 

For Haaland to happen, I reckon both Ziyech and CHO need to go. Preferably the latter on loan if possible. 

[Strike 7,474]

Guardian has an article saying BVB are prepared to sell Sancho this summer and Haaland next summer.  

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jun/08/dortmund-plan-to-keep-haaland-amid-Chelsea-interest-but-ready-to-sell-sancho

[Fernando 6,585]

55 minutes ago, Rekin said:

I know the usual argument is "It's not your money", but I can't help but feel that a transfer this gigantic would have a strong impact on future transfer windows.
Haaland is a brilliant player with heaps of potential, but do we really want to make such an enormous investment should the opportunity be there? 

For this kind of money you would expect basically the next coming of Messi, and is Haaland that? He is an amazing goalscorer, but I am personally not 100% convinced he would do well against the very packed defenses we often encounter in the league. 

I think that if the question is put as "Would you like Haaland?", it is easy to say "Yes, big time".
If the question instead was "Would you like Haaland, but then not get other players such as Varane, Rice etc" it would be a bit tougher (at least for me).  
 

A big question for me is also what this transfer would entail for how we play. What would the formation be, which of our more regular starters would become rotational players etc. 

This is even not considering the almost guaranteed drama a few years from now where the flirting with other clubs begin so that Mino can get his latest cut. 
 

 

 

 

To be fair I would like to spend that money on Mbappe. For me Mbappe is in that bracket of the hire to Messi. 

But I don't see that feasible, so right now Haaland is the best second option out there. So worth the money as we are in another top generational talent. Like Kai. 

I repeat for me Mbappe tops them all, but I find much easier to deal with Dortmund for Haaland then PSG. 

[Jype 6,398]

5 minutes ago, R2D2 said:

Fucking crypted articles, you can't even read without paying.

Telegraph paywall is a joke, you can always bypass it and read the full article by stopping the page refresh before the log-in window appears. 

Says there the club are also exploring the idea of negotiating a deal for next summer in advance if Dortmund are holding firm in not wanting to sell this summer. Similar to the Pulisic deal when he stayed in Dortmund till the rest of the season but everything was agreed in the January window. Haaland has a release clause for next year but I'd imagine in that case the club would pay more than the release clause now in order to clinch a deal before others can come compete for his signature, a little bit like Naby Keita to Liverpool a few years ago.

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Artandur said:

I still can't see it, just feels like everybody jumping on the bandwagon atm. Romano has been completely quiet on it so far, so i'll be very interested to see what he has to say about the situation.

Is there anything in Germany on this, apart from any story that's quoting Christian Falk and/or Fjortoft?