Top European Clubs All in Race For £43m Rated Striker
Enzo Maresca inherited a Manchester City squad from Pep Guardiola on June 29, and the early results have been solid rather than spectacular. City sit second in the Premier League with seven wins from nine games, three points behind Arsenal. A single centre-forward still carries the attacking structure, so an injury to Erling Haaland would test the squad’s depth more than any other absence.
Chelsea face a different question. Xabi Alonso took charge this summer and has produced a side that beat Bournemouth 5-1 on October 10, yet lost 3-0 at Brentford in September. João Pedro scored 18 goals in all competitions last season, and Danny Welbeck, 35, arrived from Brighton for a reported £5m as an experienced alternative. Alonso needs forwards who link play and rotate with the creators behind them, so a new number nine would need to do more than finish.
Both clubs need forward options for different reasons. City want insurance for their best player, while Chelsea want a number nine who suits Alonso’s patterns of play. Scouts from each club have spent the autumn watching strikers in Europe, and one name has now emerged.
Brugge’s striker draws interest from numerous big European clubs
🇩🇪 Nicolò Tresoldi (Club Brugge, 22) ◉ 99th percentile for non-penalty xG ◉ 93rd percentile for non-penalty goals ◉ 85th percentile for touches in box ◉ 82nd percentile for goal conversion 📊 In the Belgium Pro League this season: 🥇 Goals – 1st 🥇 Non-penalty goals – 1st 🥇 Expected goals – 1st 🥇 Non-penalty xG – 1st 🥇 Goals + assists – 1st 🥇 xG + xA – 1st 🥇 npxG + xA – 1st 👉 https://t.co/0pW4pGTBzc
— DataMB (@DataMB_)
Pretty impressive stats from the Brugge man. According to Sport Witness, citing Italian newspaper La Stampa, Chelsea and Manchester City lead the race for Club Brugge’s 22 year old striker Nicolo Tresoldi. Both have asked for information on the German youth international, which puts them ahead of Juventus and AC Milan, while Arsenal showed earlier interest.
Brugge refuse to sell in January and want a club-record summer departure, having already rejected a Roma approach worth about £30m in July. They set the starting price at about £43m and expect it to rise after Tresoldi’s hat-trick in a 4-3 Champions League win over Inter Milan. He contributed 32 goals and assists as Brugge won last season’s league title.
Which Premier League clubs will chase Tresoldi?
City should look for him; Chelsea should not. Maresca’s positional play asks the nine to pin centre-backs and attack the front post, which suits Tresoldi’s finishing, and he would give City a credible deputy for Haaland without a change of shape. About £43m is fair insurance for a title challenge this season.
Alonso needs a striker who drops into midfield and combines in tight spaces, and Tresoldi’s link play is unproven at this level. Chelsea would pay auction prices for a player who doesn’t match his demands. Tresoldi suits Maresca’s system far more naturally than Alonso’s, and that gap should decide who spends the money.
However when you look at the state of Manchester United it’s hard not too see them being interested in signing the Italian hitman due to the long-term injury to Benjamin Sesko and their season so far.
Arsenal too have been monitoring the situation given their lack of a prolific goal-scorer so far this season with most of their wins coming off the back of their superior defensive performances and clean sheet productions. Arsenal have been linked with Gustavo Varela but he does not have the credentials that Tresoldi does.