02 Nov 2026 22:24:04
We'd all love another striker but the reality is, you look at the strikers or forwards that have moved around the Prem recently and there's been a few really expensive duds.

Marmoush (loan, £60m obligation) Slow start but signs he's warming up.

Fernandez-Pardo (£50m), early days, yet to score, but he definitely hasn't found his feet yet.

Jackson (£45m) big success. But the reality is we couldn't compete at that price.

Delap (£40m) 1 goal from all his starts. An expensive dud so far. Good finish vs Villa. Some sitters including Palace.

Larsen (£43m+) from Jan. Four league goals from 21 isnt good enough. We did well to avoid.

Gonzalo Garcia (£30m+) Just the one league goal for another expensive price.

Flemming (£17m+) Early days as he's behind Emersonn but stuck away two important pens already. Arguably one we might have stretched to (but we don't know the finances).

Callum Wilson (free) would have fit the bill admittedly as backup option.

Awoniyi (£7m) Another good price but I dont think he looks the same player as at Forest after a bad injury and he's had discipline issues this year.

Guiu (£12m) left Chelsea hasn't really played so not sure.

There's ofc more Lankshear (£20m, but a risk with no prem history, hard to predict the tear he's gone on) Troy Parrot similar. Promise David at Brighton hasn't started too well either.

Worth noting we did sign one forward in the summer, very much a prospect in Ditmir Hodja, but he isn't expected to feature this year at 18yrs. But they are looking at it.

1.) 03 Nov 2026
03 Nov 2026 07:13:56
Great post again, Ealing, and defo some big duds that we dodged potential bullets on.
From a current form perspective tho, we still wouldn't be banging the goals irrespective of who we bought as back up to DCL, because we just ain't creating sufficient clear cut chances.
I agree with Devon's opening statement below, that our MF is looking stale (right now) .


I'd defo be looking to add someone for the middle of the park in Jan, who can do the dirty work as well as pick a pass thro lines. Caveat to that being I'm not ruling out returns to form for those guys currently in the middle.

2.) 03 Nov 2026
03 Nov 2026 08:36:15
Fair dos but slightly worry that we put bid in for strand.

3.) 03 Nov 2026
03 Nov 2026 11:52:31
Agree to a degree Aus, but Larsen isn't a terrible player. The point was the scouting department liked the player but rightly put a price tag on him and if went beyond that it was too much.

Had we got him for £25m in Jan that would have looked good. Palace paid an initial £43m +5m in add ons. They thought they were losing Mateta to Milan, did lose Guehi to city and their form was in freefall, at one point getting sucked into relegation fight after they lost to us 4-1 was a very real possibility.

They got themselves in a position where they decided they couldn't afford not to get him so effectively let Wolves name their price.

So they did Larsen at £43m and Johnson at £35m. So call it £80m and four goals, paying £20m per goal. They've then flipped Johnson for Mcneil at a book value of £22m for each i think. So in six months they accepted a loss of £13m just to get rid of Johnson.

There's more than one way to get things right and wrong ofc, and Larsen and McNeil could yet come good. But on current basis, the panic buying last Jan for Palace has set them back and if they didn't end up in relegation trouble last term they might well do this.

4.) 03 Nov 2026
03 Nov 2026 12:17:17
Rumour now linking us with Balogun, but as he's valued at circa £50M it'd have to be a loan - other clubs also interested.
In July we were also linked with Tresoldi at Bruges who could've been available then for £20M, but has since shot up in value with some of the big names linked, so prob out of our price bracket now.

5.) 03 Nov 2026
03 Nov 2026 19:04:02
Larsen is a good striker in the tight team. Would that right team have been us? Dunno.
Nit even sure we were really in for him at anywhere near the asking price.

6.) 04 Nov 2026
04 Nov 2026 16:45:28
I'm sure we weren't in at what the final price was. I think my suggestion of £25m was probably a base fee and wolves and Leeds were interested in the nature of add ons etc taking it about £30m.

Our recruitment aren't stingy. They did pay big money for Trafford and Muharemovic. That looks money well spent so far. It's similar to what palace paid for Larsen and Johnson and it's no contest.

With Larsen, Shea Charles etc it shows when there's a player we want we have a very clear idea what we percieve a fair price to be wont go above it. Fair enough. The desperation has doomed many a club including us before.