Martinez to swoop for Bony

I was castigated earlier this season when I suggested that us spending £20m+ on Lukaku may not be a good idea. His all round game is still not good enough in my mind to be worth that. Bony for £12m looks like great business for Swansea though.

Sam, Bony scored his 10th PL goal this season today. Lukaku scored his 12th PL goal today and, let’s not forget, Lukaku didn’t start this season with us and has spent time out of the team injured. Bony’s all round game is nothing cracking either.

Mark Frere, Bony had never played in England before this season and I think his 11 Premier league goals come from 20 starts. He’s also been injured.

The point is that he looks just as if not more capable than Lukaku and cost £12m. Of course Lukaku is young and may get better. But there’s no guarantee.

If Lukaku isn't going to be around next season, I think that Bony would be 'the man' for us.

Can we get him on LOAN?

Hes alright but £15mil! No thanks, with that kind of money i'm sure our scouts could find a player in another league much more skilled than Bony and actually good value not overpriced.

I'm sure Swansea paid a lot for him in the first place ?
Now he's proven in the prem his price will be a big one.

I'd sooner have Nuremberg's Swiss international Drmic

He has very big thighs.

I think Bony cost Swansea £10m but he's proved himself in the Prem now so I suppose another £5m for him is about fair.

Thought he played really well yesterday. If we could get overall performances like that out of Lukaku between now and the end of the season, I'd be well happy. Chipped in with 18 goals in his first season too. Reckon Swansea would have to go down to get him at that price though, as they paid £13 million themselves.

Glad we are at least looking at bringing in a striker(s)
It is the position we need to sort out most urgently.

I like Bony and would be happy enough if we signed him. I think we have to take it with a pinch of salt though as it is an isolated story in the Daily Star.

Remy would be my first choice but it looks like he wants to go to Arsenal. Mourinho is determined not to sell Lukaku to another Prem club so he's out. Unless Roberto has someone else in mind, I can see this Bony deal happening in the summer.

I wouldn't mind Benteke. His value must have dropped a bit, but there's deffo a player there.
And he's Belgian !

More lazy journalism I suspect. Bony looks like a decent striker but he's the type of striker (like Lukaku) who thrives on getting on the end of crosses into the box. He doesn't look to be blessed with technical ability.

Personally, I think we need a striker who is comfortable with the ball at their feet - a striker like Rooney or Suarez which can get involved more with our passing style and create goals for others. I don't think the Bony/Lukaku types really suit our style of play, we simply don't get enough balls into the box and play to their strengths.

For £15 million, I'm sure there's more suitable strikers out there to play our brand of football. I also think we need a midfield creator to play behind the striker. I hate to admit it, but Coutinho at RS looks like the kind of player we are crying out for.

Colin 664 haven't heard that before regarding Lukaku but he doesn't hold all the cards, he'll only have 2 years left on his contract so that's going to be a factor as well. Even more so if Lukaku is determined to stay in the Premiership.

I'm very wary of any investment of more than £10 million in any one player. It's money the club can't afford to lose, generally I'd rather see two cheaper players with potential brought in at about £5 or £6 million each & hopefully, if we've bought wisely, we'll see both develop & increase in value. Together with astute loan deals, it's the only way we can afford to build a competitive squad whilst also replacing ageing players.

I'm very wary of any investment of more than £10 million in any one player. It's money the club can't afford to lose, generally I'd rather see two cheaper players with potential brought in at about £5 or £6 million each & hopefully, if we've bought wisely, we'll see both develop & increase in value. Together with astute loan deals, it's the only way we can afford to build a competitive squad whilst also replacing ageing players.

You've got to think Chelsea will ship out Torres and Ba this summer.
Room for Lukaku then.
Torres to Athletico and Ba back to Newcastle.

Dennis #650
Shane Long would have fit that Bill perfectly.

Mark - you must have seen a different Bony to the one I’ve been watching this season - lacks technical ability - not in my opinion he doesn’t and he links up the play as well as knowing where the goal is. But yeah let’s get a player like Rooney or Suarez we just need to find a £100m and wages of £300k a week - after all our war-chest must be bulging at the seams.

Bony or somebody similar at around £12 - £15m will get us the type of striker we have been crying out for...for over a decade. Mess about with £5m - £8m players and we are only getting what we have already got rid of at best.

£15 to £20 million is exactly the calibre of striker we need. The higher the value the more pressure to perform. Problem is can we afford this.

Mark 646, most teams could use a Suarez or Rooney type but I guess it's extremely hard to find strikers who can link play, set up others and score a bucket load for under £25m.

I think Remy would be great and possibly cheaper than Bony due to a release clause. Certainly I think that there might be better value than £20m+ for Lukaku.

Patrick, I must have seen a different Bony to you. The Bony I have seen is strong, an handful and knows where the onion sack is.... a little bit like our very own Lukaku. I'm not saying he is shite but only saying, there's more suitable players out there to play our brand of football.

I didn't mean we should go out there and buy Rooney or Suarez but buy a striker with similar attributes to Rooney or Suarez. Sturridge didn't cost RS £50 million and £300k a week in wages. There's players out there, its a matter of identifying the right one. The Transfer Market is Global you know!

I agree Sam, Remy would be a better shout. Isn't his release clause dependent on weather QPR make it back to the PL?

Think I read that QPR have to sell him for 10m if they don't go up. If that happens though I could see us facing a lot of competition.

That's the trouble Sam, Remy has made a big name for himself. I suspect it would depend on who our competition is. And the fact he signed for QPR when it looked a big possibility that they would get relegated, told me that this guy is a bit of a mercenary. So his wages wont come cheap.

WE need a sneaky predator, an poaching opportunist to hover up the small chances. we have scored some cracking goals this season, but more often than not, its our failure to capitalise on the "little chances" the sort that Jellavic was hovering up when he fist arrived on the scene.
If Javier Hernández found himself surplus to requirements an Man U, and at the right price, it could be decent to place him amongst the right combination.

That said, Bony would not be a bad acquisition, I just could not see Swansea letting him go easy. Agree that Benteke would be a better buy.

What about, Ba?

Remy, may be on his way to Arsenal.

Mark but our brand of football needs a centre-forward who can hold the ball up and as good as Remy is, wouldn’t he be just a higher quality Jelavic type who didn’t fit our style of play.. I suppose we just have to copy the Reds kick and rush team and forget about building a footballing side. ...ironic really when only a couple of years ago Stevie Me labelled us a long ball team.

Steve #668
I'd jizz all over the show if we signed Hernandez.
A proper slotter.

Patrick. I think Remy has very quick feet, bags of pace and can make a goal for himself. He looks a better and cheaper alternative to Bony IMO. Of course we can't shop and sign the 'elite' players of this world. But I'm sure there's young players out there with bags of potential - more suited to our style of play. Its about using our scouting system to identify the right kind of player for the right price. Swansea signed Michu for £2 million and Aston Villa signed Benteke for £8 million....so they is examples of bargains out there.

Bony and Lukaku would be the perfect strikers for many teams....I'm just not sure that would be the case for us.... especially for the £15 million plus they would cost

Sign of a really good player is not what they do in the first season but how they adapt to seasons after. Lots of strikers can have a good first season but the opposition will suss them out and most fade away.

Prices quoted for Bony and Lukaku are crazy — we'd not be able to afford either of them and if so there'd be no-one else coming in.

Bony is lazy and I think his attitude is not right. He is talented player, but if there are any possibilties we should buy Lukaku. romelu is great forward, who would be better with strike partner.

Bony would be very high on my wish list.

I like Bony. But I'm worried £15 million won't be enough.

Bearing in mind Bony is five years older than Lukaku and I don't think there will be much difference in the price it will take to prise them away from their clubs (Swansea paid £12m for Bony and his stock has risen since then) then, if it's a straight choice between the two, I'd rather stick with Romelu. Although, Bony does earn bonus points for looking a bit like Bullhorn from 'Black Dynamite'. Not that it makes much difference if we never provide them with the platform to thrive.

Holding the ball up, bringing others into play, pulling defenders out of position, dropping deep... all desirable attributes I guess but it's all dogs work and only effective if you have the midfielders to capitalise on the hard graft such a striker puts in during his shift.

We don't possess a single midfield player with the ability to score on a regular basis so why the onus should be on the forward to continually link up play, free up space, and create chances for them beats the shit out me. The RS are one of the few who actually set their team and tactics specifically to suit the strength of their front men and have been reaping the benefits of it all season.

John Daley, great Black Dynamite reference. Regarding Bony, I consider him a far more polished product than Lukaku, more consistent and has much better touch in heavy traffic. And 25 isn't exactly doddering.

As to your comment that "We don't possess a single midfield player with the ability to score on a regular basis..." I predict that within a year Barkley will have you eating your words on a regular basis.

I hope he does, Mike. I can see Barkley chipping in with goals now and again but doubt he'll consistently get into double figures. Then again, I don't see him continuing in his current role in the long term as I think his future lies further back, dictating play from the middle of the pitch.

John, you may well be right if we get a classic #10 creator to play in front of him, but that's a big IF. In the meantime, he loves to shoot and can finish with either foot, and I think as his tactical awareness improves he will get into the right positions more and more often.

Certainly very impressed with Bony last Saturday. At one point he was running the game in the last third for them - head up, control, brought others into play from the D - I bet his assists are better than Luk's?

I'm not sure about Bony, there are other players who are more team players than him that Everton could look at. we have not completed this season yet and the rumours are starting!

I didn't read anywhere Lukaka could not go to another EPL club. It was quoted in the Observer on Sunday that Big Head wanted to move Lukaka on as he had identified 2 strikers abroad he wanted. price of £17 million. 2 points, can we afford him and would Lukaka want to stay? I have a feeling that if we get into Europe he will stay.

Remy has stated he wants to go to Arsenal so forget him

All we have to do is sell Lukaku for £20 million and buy Bony.

Of course we'd best not tell Chelsea and, if they come looking for him, just pretend we're not in.

I down know about other people, but while rate Lukaku quite highly, it kinds of puts me of that he sort of gives off the attitude that he feels he is 'a bit of too good us', and that puts me off a bit.

On balance I would like to see us have him, just....... you know, I see a bit of baggage there.

Bony mmmm. No thanks. Sulky and a poser. Keep looking.

Bony scored his 18th goal in all matches on Saturday. Don’t think we’ve had too many in that league lately!

I have seen Bony a couple of times and he has looked useful to me. Clearly can play the lone striker role, is sufficiently mobile and can score all by himself. Hold up and linking play looked ok as well. Excactly the calibre of striker we need.

Also impressed with Jay Rodrigues and Lallana against Tottenham the other day. Very inventive players. Like Pienaar used to be (but with the ability to score goals as well).

There's a lot of players at this kind of level, best of the rest types, who are a fraction of the cost of the Suarez/Rooney types but with 95% of their ability, so no need to obsess about which one we will or don't get - as long as we have a couple on the books come August

I would much rather we splash the cash on Bony, a player who has now proved his worth in England and scored many goals to add to the physical side of his game.

To me he looks further down the line as a player than Lukaku but then Lukaku is not going to be our worry after May anyway.

I would not want us to start spending big money on bringing a player in from abroad who has never played in the Prmeier League.

We only need to look at Van Wolfswinkle at Norwich, one goal all season, not scored since the opening day against you know who?

At least Bony has been here and done it and he looks like he is built to handle the physical battles in this league.

I always think if you buy a striker from abroad with no experience of the English league it is a risk, it can goo the way of Bony and Michu at Swansea or it could go the way of the likes of Van Wolfswinkle and many others that have fallen away over the years.

We need to start buying the proven finished article from now on.

John Daley... I think I'm right!!!