I would take Torres on a cheap. He would still be better than Giroud, and I think he will be back to his best in an attacking team.

An attacking team? He spent half the season playing in front of Mata, Hazard and Oscar.

Take Torres out of Chelsea & there might be something left in him. Technically, you can see he's still a good player. Only for very cheap, anyway.

Anyway, Wenger's only getting back from his hols today.

Don't like the idea. The risk of him failing is obviously significant, and if a signing with that profile fails it casts a shadow over the whole squad, just as it did when he failed at Chelsea.

The striker to get at Chelsea is Lukaku. Could turn into a top player and you'd have to wonder what sort of future he has at Chelsea if they're after a big name striker this summer.

So, assuming there was never anything in the Jovetic stuff, Higuain's off the table, and we won't be a factor in the race for any of the 'premium' names, what options are left? Who are the best of the rest? Asked the question on Twitter yesterday & came up with this list, to which I've applied a subjective descending order of preference:

Benteke
Michu
Soldado
Villa

Lukaku would be on the list too, but can't see Chelsea selling him.

asajoseph wrote:

So, assuming there was never anything in the Jovetic stuff, Higuain's off the table, and we won't be a factor in the race for any of the 'premium' names, what options are left? Who are the best of the rest? Asked the question on Twitter yesterday & came up with this list, to which I've applied a subjective descending order of preference:

Benteke
Michu
Soldado
Villa

Lukaku would be on the list too, but can't see Chelsea selling him.

pretty underwhelming list tbh. not sure who i prefer. michu?

asajoseph wrote:

So, assuming there was never anything in the Jovetic stuff, Higuain's off the table, and we won't be a factor in the race for any of the 'premium' names, what options are left? Who are the best of the rest? Asked the question on Twitter yesterday & came up with this list, to which I've applied a subjective descending order of preference:

Benteke
Michu
Soldado
Villa

Lukaku would be on the list too, but can't see Chelsea selling him.

Dzeko?

Love Dzeko 🙂 his lack of pace is the only draw back but if were playing pacy wingers on both sides we could easily get away with it. Seems to have a top mentality to.

Is Dzeko likely to be available, or is he more realistically non-transferable to a club like us due to his astronomical wages at City? I suggested him a while ago, but was vociferously shouted down for that reason!

Otherwise I like him, though I'm not sure he's the sort of player who's going to help us break down the more robust defenses we have to deal with, when the rest of the team is struggling - i.e. I think he's more of a target man, rather than someone who can create a goalscoring opportunity for himself. That's what actually attracts me to Benteke a bit more - he can do a lot for himself, and has more upside than the others I suggested, though probably more downside as well!

Saw that earlier, couldn't even be bothered to post it!

Interesting player Shurrle.

Not impressed by him.

And neither by caughtoffside

Terrific player with plenty of room for improvement.