kingfox

If we can’t get Wimmer… Cyril Ngonge - Napoli 🤔 Hardly getting any game time. Napoli supposedly looking to bring in a couple more wingers. Hasn’t hit it off at Napoli but did well at Hellas Verona beforehand. Has played in the Eredivisie including a spell at PSV when Ruud was in their coaching setup.

To get a better picture, it’s probably best to delve back to his days at Arminia Bielefeld in the 21/22 season, he ranked 1st in the Bundesliga for take-ons. We are in desperate need for someone to fill Fatawu’s void, I can see why we’d be interested in Wimmer 👍🏻

You won’t be laughing when we turn our attentions to Oli McBurnie.

Very difficult to paint that picture when looking at stats, FBref and even Wyscout don’t give you much in that regard. I very much agree though, I view him more of an Iheanacho type, a second striker kind of player. Looking into certain articles paint a better picture for me https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/chuba-akpom-fulfilling-his-potential-on-teesside/ https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/inside-story-chuba-akpoms-incredible-26534637 https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/2023/february/06/chuba-akpom-talks-goals/#:~:text=“I'm over the moon,to stay hungry and ambitious. And a few comments from Middlesbrough fans regarding his operation as a “10” https://fmttmboro.com/index.php?threads/an-akpom-style-nr-10.65551/ NO NEED TO READ THESE ARTICLES NOW RIC

As I mentioned earlier when he was posted on the Twitter thread. He ticks all the required boxes that we need right now. Pace, 1 vs 1 ability, ball-carrying ability and his defensive numbers are not too shabby either. There’s probably more realistic targets available right now, but if we can somehow do a deal, then it’s a yes from me.

This is what Akpom was producing last season compared with strikers. Personally I think we need a different option, someone with the ability to hold up and link play which are probably his best attributes. Personally I think he’d fit in like how Carrick used him at Boro, interchanging between the 10 and 9 positions. We’d be mad to play him out wide tbh.

Depends which seasons you focus on when it comes to Akpom. The 22/23 season at Middlesbrough and 23/24 season at Ajax, his underlying goalscoring data were some of the best in those respective leagues. For instance, he ranked 2nd for goals per90 in the Eredivisie last season. Of course it’s extremely unlikely he’ll replicate those numbers if he does join Leicester, but if he can chip in with 5+ goals for us, that could be a difference maker to us staying up. I can understand why fans would be underwhelmed, but unfortunately January is usually an underwhelming market. You look around at strikers not getting game time in the better leagues across Europe, unsurprisingly it’s not a very attractive list. Even if we went for a striker in the £5-10 million range, you’re probably looking at a pool of strikers who are probably not quite established yet.

Hopefully they don’t go over the final seconds of the window like they’ve done before

Fits the exact profile of the type of winger we need right now. Pace and ball-carrying ability, his defensive numbers are also solid, especially when he was at Arminia Bielefeld. Realistically though, there’s a bunch of wingers in the Bundesliga, Serie A and Liga Portugal that are probably easier to attain right now.

A special article focusing on Scandinavians.

What’s Jimmy Kebe and Craig Mackail-Smith up to nowadays 🤔

Knew we’d be after him, but thank fvck for that.

Think you’ve just described Oli McBurnie.

Good looking striker. Was very prolific at Man City away if I recall

You look at that profile of player though and the question will always come back to, how much will they actually cost? I’ll use three strikers with attributes that I think we need as examples, Evann Guessand, Ricardo Pepi and Vladyslav Vanat, but like Emmanuel Latte Lath, they’ll probably all fit in the £20 million bracket. Then you come to the pool of players like Richard Kone and I’ll throw Stefanos Tzimas in there as an example. Tzimas would cost way more than Richard Kone, but very much like Kone, you’d be asking a very inexperienced striker at top level to bail you out of a shit situation. We need a striker with pace, who can drop deep and link play, but who is there that would fit the £5-10 million price bracket that is more ready right now? You’ll be left scratching your head. Maybe Chuba Akpom is a more understandable solution after all.

What type of player is the answer right now then Finners?

I kind of share the same sentiment Ric and definitely understand where you’re coming from with this view. I’m not totally against Akpom for one particular reason, because he has certain attributes that we really need from a striker right now, link up play in particular which he was getting praised for at Boro. Yes January is a difficult window, you look around the likes of Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, Eredivisie. The strikers that aren’t currently getting any game time is unsurprisingly not a very appealing list. You’ve mentioned both Andre Silva and Luka Jovic in recent weeks, but very much like Akpom, they come with one big question mark of whether they can rediscover some form. Personally though like yourself, I’d much prefer a permanent and long term solution, especially if we do go down and are hit with an embargo. At least then we’ll have someone ready, especially if the likes of Vardy and Daka depart in the summer. The tricky thing is though, who on earth do you get in this window for a low fee? Clubs aren’t going to want to sell their starting strikers, even look at Middlesbrough for example and Emmanuel Latte Lath, they want about £20 million for him. For this particular time with the situation we find ourselves in, is a gamble on Richard Kone for example better than Chuba Akpom on a loan deal? Long term yes, short term maybe not. I’m so conflicted

I won’t be sharing any negativity in this thread

Thought we may have signed him in the summer tbf. He was quality in the Championship for Middlesbrough in the 22/23 season. Even last season for Ajax despite not being a regular starter, his underlying goalscoring data was some of the best in the Eredivisie. Has dropped off again this season though, while throughout his career you never really knew what to expect from him, a lot of ups and downs. Wouldn’t be surprised if he does sign as he has certain attributes that I think we need, but can understand why fans would be underwhelmed by him.

Things will ramp up tomorrow when Tier 4 merchant John Percy drops his bomb stating that Oli McBurnie will be signing on loan.

Exactly the type of profile of player we are in desperate need for tbf. A winger/striker with pace, 1 vs 1 ability and ball-carrying ability 👍🏻