The Euros have finished and clubs will immediately focus on strengthening their teams ahead of their new season. There’s already been a huge buzz of transfer activity, some major transfers have already gone through with teams determined to complete their squads.
For clubs on the lookout for quality forwards, it’s not an easy market to deal in by any means. Michy Batshuayi signed for Chelsea for a fee rumoured to be around €40 million and Romelu Lukaku, another Belgian striker targeted by several clubs isn’t said to be available for anything less than €60 million. Both of them are certainly talented goalscorers but it’s clear that those fees are massive amounts that clubs are having to shell out in today’s market.
Increased revenues have played a big role of course, but the growing powers of intermediaries and agents, more widespread marketing have also played a role. There was a time when €46 million bought you Luis Ronaldo, the best forward and player in the world, but now all it gets you is a promising 22-year-old with one 20 plus goals season in a league of some repute. Even Alvaro Morata, while one of the most promising forwards in the world, has a massive price tag at €60 million, which is rather steep.
In this piece, we’ll look at forwards who have done enough to show they’re capable of taking the goalscoring burden at the top level, and are available for reasonable fees, at least for the time being!
#1 Andrea Belotti (Torino)
The 22-year-old Italian striker has been on the radar of Italy’s finest clubs for a while. Though he hasn’t convinced enough to make the big clubs swoop in for him yet, they’ve kept a close eye on the talented forward.
He scored 11 goals in 32 Serie A appearances for a team that often struggled in the division and eventually finished 12th. Belotti has shown tremendous improvement year on year, he’s getting better at his finishing, and already has fine technique and strength to play in the center forward role. He has 9 goals in 18 appearances for the Italy U21 side and should get a national
He has 9 goals in 18 appearances for the Italy U21 side and should get a national call-up soon. He was signed by Torino from Palermo a year ago for a fee of €7.5 million and should be available for double that amount or less.
#2 Islam Slimani (Sporting CP)
Slimani would have a steeper price tag in comparison to the other players here, but his £23.5 million release clause should be well negotiable. He’s not particularly young at 28, but that also means he’s at the peak of his powers and would be an immediate goalscoring solution.
23 goals in 43 appearances for the Algerian national team, 31 goals in 44 games for Sporting in the recently concluded season shows that he’s in stellar form. Strong, prolific and pleasing on the eye to watch as well, the 6 feet 2 inches striker would be a great signing for several teams.
Leicester City and Arsenal are said to be tracking him very closely at the moment. He probably won’t spend another year in Portugal.
#3 Artem Dzyuba (Zenit Saint Petersburg)
Russia were pretty awful in the European Championships, but in Dzyuba they certainly have a center forward with a lot of quality. The 27-year-old forward stands imposingly tall at 6 feet 5 inches and is unsurprisingly superb in the air.
He’s great at laying the ball off for the wide players as well, and with 15 goals and 5 assists in the last Russian Premier League season certainly knows where to goal is.
He’s scored 7 goals in his last 10 games for the Russian national team, and made an impression in the qualification stages for Euro 2016. A move to the English Premier League might be on the cards in the near future.
#4 Antonio Sanabria (Roma)
Sanabria is owned by Roma but he’s caught the attention of world football because of his performances in La Liga. With 11 goals for Sporting Gijon in the league, the 20-year-old forward has lived up to the hype generated around him at an early age.
Trained at La Masia, Barcelona’s much-famed training academy, Roma had to beat off a host of competition to snap up the talented teenager and will be looking to sell him on this summer to invest the funds elsewhere.
Real Betis and Tottenham have already made a serious approach for the Paraguay talent and any interested club will have to move in for him soon. €15 million plus a percentage of his future resale should be enough to seal his signature.
#5 Abel Hernandez (Hull City)
Hernandez netted 22 times last season to fire Hull back to the Premier League and at 25 years old is just entering the peak years of his career. The Hull player already has 11 goals in 27 games for Uruguay as well and is apparently already being pursued by Fiorentina and Sampdoria.
Steve Bruce, the Hull manager is desperate to keep hold of him after the magnificent season he’s had, but keeping him away from the prying eyes of other English and European clubs won’t be an easy task. His price tag is believed to be around £15 million.
