The question is: Loan whom, who'll be better than Torres, Jesus or Delap? It's not like we haven't got options, it's just we don't have a proven world class option. To be honest, this might be the ideal opportunity to see the value of our options, & whether they're worth bothering with.
Most competing clubs buy the ready made product from the chasing pack clubs who have the scope to allow talent with potential to develop in a big league, without the weight of trophy expectation.
As I said yesterday, I'm less concerned about a replacement for Aguero, than I was for Kompany. I knew not replacing Vinny would be a massive fuck up, & so it proved. As it stands I really can't see who's realistically available for the right price & is better than the options we've already got.
In this respect, going balls deep for Haaland is about the only deal which makes any sense. He's proven himself, he's young & even at £150m on a 5 year contract & £350k per week, he'll cost us £50m per season amortised.
If he fulfills his potential, he'll still be young enough to have a massive resale value, & if he extends his contract, we'd be looking at up to £25m per season for one of the world's elite strikers. I've no idea how these figures fit into our financial model, but after the initial transfer fee hit, would £20m - £25m per year for a young superstar striker seem excessive?
Only Mbappé would come close in that respect & he only wants Real Madrid. Unless there's another star striker option I don't know of, or Torres/Delap turn out to be the real deal, I've no idea what other sensible & realistic options are available to us....