Liam Delap

He's a good player Delap, The one thing you'd say about him is he does give centre backs a really tough time, His hold up play is really good, I like that side to his game.

Not sure if he's cut out for a top team...Yet.

I think he'll move from Ipswich in a year or two and make the next step to a bigger club as in a Newcastle or Aston Villa...

I wouldn't be surprised to see Chelsea going in for him to be honest, They could do with a centre forward.
 
blueparrot said:
Yes, but it's exactly the same problem with Rodri and Haaland, to get a player good enough to play when they aren't available,but also good enough and versatileenough to play with them when they are available.
In the case of Haaland from what others are saying Marmoush sounds like he could be that. I wouldn't know never seen him play.
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I disagree. If a player doesn't have the confidence in his ability to prove himself at City, then he's not for us. Pep has proven time & time again he'll opt for the best player in that position. We only have to look at Cancelo, Laporte & currently Grealish.

Rodri has proved we desperately need a Haaland backup, before he gets rinsed out too.
 
Dribble said:
I disagree. If a player doesn't have the confidence in his ability to prove himself at City, then he's not for us. Pep has proven time & time again he'll opt for the best player in that position. We only havevto look at Cancelo, Laporte & currently Grealish.

Rodri has proved we desperately need a Haaland backup, before he gets rinsed out too.
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It's a big issue isn't it, We've seen with Alavrez he's not happy to play second fiddle to Haaland and didn't want to be playing out of position which is completely understandable that he wanted to move on.

We'll struggle to get another striker because they'll be doing with Alvarez was doing and that's mainly playing out position, Personally I think our best bet is to find that player who can play anywhere along the front line.

We were linked with Kyogo from Celtic last summer, He's not someone who everyone wanted although he's the type of player who can play that role, Whether he's good enough is another thing, It's a problem that we do need to solve so we can rest Haaland.
 
SWPISHOME said:
It's a big issue isn't it, We've seen with Alavrez he's not happy to play second fiddle to Haaland and didn't want to be playing out of position which is completely understandable that he wanted to move on.

We'll struggle to get another striker because they'll be doing with Alvarez was doing and that's mainly playing out position, Personally I think our best bet is to find that player who can play anywhere along the front line.

We were linked with Kyogo from Celtic last summer, He's not someone who everyone wanted although he's the type of player who can play that role, Whether he's good enough is another thing, It's a problem that we do need to solve so we can rest Haaland.
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Alvarez has scored 5 in La Liga & 4 in the CL, with 2 assists. He's young & it's his first season in Spain, but sometimes the grass isn't always greener...
 
Dribble said:
Alvarez has scored 5 in La Liga & 4 in the CL, with 2 assists. He's young & it's his first season in Spain, but sometimes the grass isn't always greener...
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He's getting roughly a goal every 2 matches and Athletico are right up there in this years La Liga.
For him, that grass looks fairly green.
 
Definitely need a back-up for Big Erl. He could easily get injured or suspended.
Would forget Delap as he is now accustomed to being the centre forward for his club.
I would take a punt on Semenyo from Bournemouth.
He is strong, fast and mobile, perhaps even playing off Haarland if required.
Perhaps give Bournemouth a sweetener with selling Academy player(s) ?
 
Dribble said:
Alvarez has scored 5 in La Liga & 4 in the CL, with 2 assists. He's young & it's his first season in Spain, but sometimes the grass isn't always greener...
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Definitely not, It's just tough trying to find another striker that's happy enough to sit on the bench most weeks.

Hopefully something happens in this window.
 
SWPISHOME said:
Definitely not, It's just tough trying to find another striker that's happy enough to sit on the bench most weeks.

Hopefully something happens in this window.
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We've been playing 60+ games a season for years. I'd rather play in 40 of those for an elite team, than 50 in a team not expected to challenge on all fronts regularly.

Any player who's afraid to challenge himself against the best team mates & opponents, wouldn't have the requisite mentality to success here anyway.
 
Dribble said:
He's roughly 1 in 4 in La Liga, with 5 goals in 19 matches & 2 assists. Not exactly tearing it up in a 3 team league
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He has 12 goals in 27 games including champions league and Copa del Rey. Not sure how many of these are full games
I didn't say he was tearing it up but he may be happy with that move.
Possibly on more money , less language issues.
 
Dribble said:
We've been playing 60+ games a season for years. I'd rather play in 40 of those for an elite team, than 50 in a team not expected to challenge on all fronts regularly.

Any player who's afraid to challenge himself against the best team mates & opponents, wouldn't have the requisite mentality to success here anyway.
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Out of curiosity, Do you think Julian Alvarez was afraid to challenge himself at City?

He played the most minutes for us in the season before he left, Yet that still didn't keep him happy as he wanted to play as the main striker.

I wouldn't say that lad has a poor mentality, He was successful with us although he was obviously unhappy hence why he left to go to Atletico Madrid.

No matter what he done as a centre forward at City when given the opportunity as soon as Haaland is fit again he's going to start and that goes for any other striker we sign because Haaland is the best in the business at scoring goals.

I understand your points, I think your missing my point, Personally I think it's a problem we will have getting another top striker in because we've Haaland, Unless we play a 4-4-2 which won't happen, If we sign someone who can only play centre forward he's going to struggle massively getting game time that's just my opinion.
 
SWPISHOME said:
Out of curiosity, Do you think Julian Alvarez was afraid to challenge himself at City?

He played the most minutes for us in the season before he left, Yet that still didn't keep him happy as he wanted to play as the main striker.

I wouldn't say that lad has a poor mentality, He was successful with us although he was obviously unhappy hence why he left to go to Atletico Madrid.

No matter what he done as a centre forward at City when given the opportunity as soon as Haaland is fit again he's going to start and that goes for any other striker we sign because Haaland is the best in the business at scoring goals.

I understand your points, I think your missing my point, Personally I think it's a problem we will have getting another top striker in because we've Haaland, Unless we play a 4-4-2 which won't happen, If we sign someone who can only play centre forward he's going to struggle massively getting game time that's just my opinion.
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Yes & no. Julian rightly wanted to be the main striker, but was facing the prolific Viking Meat Shield. Pep tried to accommodate him on the right, left & as a No 10, but Alvarez saw himself as a No 9.

With City recently playing 60+ games per season, opportunities to perform were abundant, but whether that will trump performing in your preferred position is another matter. It seems that's what mattered more to Julian.

Players at City need to see themselves as squad players, with some being preferred in the biggest games if everyone's fit & in form. It's whether some players considered the backup choice would rather be the big fish in a smaller pond, or the smaller fish in the ocean that's Manchester City.

I suppose it's a personal call that only the players can make.
 
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Xhavenjoe said:
He has 12 goals in 27 games including champions league and Copa del Rey. Not sure how many of these are full games
I didn't say he was tearing it up but he may be happy with that move.
Possibly on more money , less language issues.
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He was reported as being unhappy with his game time & positioning a few weeks back. Of those stats, it's the bread & butter La Liga ones that are most telling.

However, like I said, he's young & it's early days, but you have to consider how he'll react if Atletico deem they need another elite striker. If they don't go 4-4-2, what then for Julian if he's facing another Haaland scenario?
 
Centurions said:
Can you buy and sell a player in the same window still? Looks like you can't buy and then loan out a player to another PL club in the same window. Whether he would come back for 6 months to play backup to Haaland would be an issue.
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Yes. Persuading him is the issue but in theory it’s a no brainier money wise.
 
Dribble said:
We've been playing 60+ games a season for years. I'd rather play in 40 of those for an elite team, than 50 in a team not expected to challenge on all fronts regularly.

Any player who's afraid to challenge himself against the best team mates & opponents, wouldn't have the requisite mentality to success here anyway.
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That player would have to be happy sitting on the bench and not playing in the biggest games though. Most footballers want to play, with Haaland that’s not going to happen.

A young striker makes more sense as they’d be more willing to develop.
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
That player would have to be happy sitting on the bench and not playing in the biggest games though. Most footballers want to play, with Haaland that’s not going to happen.

A young striker makes more sense as they’d be more willing to develop.
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We play enough high profile games to satisfy most players. Aside from Rodri, Haaland, KDB & Ederson, the rest of the squad have shared the big games between them, with no issues to my knowledge. It's a squad game nowadays.
 
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