Agree entirely with most of that, apart from the bit on Riola having that say. Stil feels like a sunmer transfer than a mid season one, wherever he ends up, and I don't think we'd rush to sign anyone ourselves unless it was right, having had the nerve to leave it this summer.
Much can change between now and january though. The last three games for example, could have had an impact on behind the scenes thinking. Three high profile games in a row against top teams. Drew one which we should really have won, lost one which we could have won, won one which we could have won a lot more confortably. Had we had a striker. Pretty much the entire footballing world watching agrees and openly says so in all coverage and conclusion material. Surely that surely has to resonate, and those 3 games in a row will have drawn huge focused attention to something thatbwas obvious anyway. And on top of that, just before an international break, when it leaves it hanging on that, rather than a follow-up 5-0 against a lower team to argue we don't need a striker.