Sky Sports News understands there could be up to 12 clubs in the market for a centre forward this summer; Sky Sports takes a look at some of the best options, with Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyokeres and Jonathan David - both linked with a transfer to the Premier League - among those assessed
Thursday 1 August 2024 09:21, UK
Strikers are expected to be in high-demand this summer, with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Tottenham among the Premier League clubs understood to be on the lookout for a new forward.
In fact, Sky Sports News understands there could be as many as 12 clubs in the market for a frontman this summer.
Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Everton, Ipswich, Leicester, Southampton, West Ham and Wolves are also considering varying profiles of strikers.
Some clubs have already got theirs, such as Brentford and their £30m January signing Igor Thiago, while we have seen one Premier League target - Benjamin Sesko - decide to stay at his club RB Leipzig already.
In the current transfer window, there appears to be a few tiers to what is on offer at centre forward, depending on their quality and market value; from the top strikers in the world such as Victor Osimhen - who Chelsea are interested in signing, but who is valued at £100m by Napoli - to potential bargains such as Cercle Brugge's £17m-rated frontman Kevin Denkey.
Here, Sky Sports takes a look at the best strikers out there in 2024 - some very much available, others near impossible to get - and uses Wyscout data to showcase their potential for the Premier League.
Club: Cercle Brugge
Age: 23
Approximate market value: £16.9m (€20m+)
Contract expires: 2026
Belgium is usually a cheaper market for Premier League clubs to shop in and has an increasing number of exciting young players, Denkey being one who is banging in goals in the Jupiler League for fun.
There is yet to emerge a firm Premier League suitor for him, but he is undoubtedly one that the majority of clubs have been watching considering his strong data set. According to Wyscout's rankings, he is the best striker in Belgium currently.
He is also the fourth top-scorer with 31 goals and has the second-best xG rating (35.04) of all the strikers in this list. He is also second on this list for shots per 90 (3.52). He has speed and power going for him.
Club: Lille
Age: 24
Approximate market value: £34m-£42m (€40m-€50m)
Contract expires: 2025
With just a year left on his contract, Jonathan David is another seemingly affordable option for a Premier League club, and a good one after his exploits in the French league over the last few seasons.
He was behind only Kylian Mbappe for goals and assists among centre forwards in France last season, with 19 and four respectively. In 2022-23 season, he was top of the combined xG and xA metric for any striker across the top-five leagues, according to Wyscout's data.
This season, David has the second-best xG (30.15) of the strikers in this list, hits more than half of his shots on target in all competitions and again in Europe's top-five leagues, David was second only to Jean Philippe-Mateta in terms of shot accuracy, with 60.5 per cent of his Ligue 1 shots hitting the mark.
France's leading newspaper L'Equipe seem to be aware of the Premier League interest and have also mentioned Atletico Madrid. Further reports say Lille want €50m, but with only a year left on his contract that seems optimistic.
Club: Girona
Age: 27
Approximate market value: £34m+ (€40m+)
Contract expiry: 2028
Ukraine international Dovbyk scored 24 goals in 36 LaLiga games last season as Girona - Manchester City's sister club - finished in the Champions League places.
AC Milan have him on their list now that Zirkzee has joined Man United, according to Sky in Italy, while reports in Spain have linked him with Atletico Madrid and Napoli. He is unlikely to be a player for City and their owners are unlikely to want to see him strengthen their rivals, so perhaps a move to the Premier League is unlikely.
Astoundingly, Dovbyk has the third-highest xG (23.87) in top-five leagues behind Haaland (29.04) and Kane (23.9), according to Wyscout data. He is a top attacker, no doubt.
Club: Aston Villa
Age: 20
Approximate market value: Unknown
Contract expiry: 2028
Chelsea have been interested in Jhon Duran since January and he remains on their list of strikers as they re-work the squad for new manager Enzo Maresca.
He has played second fiddle to Ollie Watkins since his £18m arrival from Chicago Fire in 2022, but that is to be expected given Watkins's outstanding form. Duran has nonetheless shown what he is capable of when he is on the pitch, scoring five goals mostly as a substitute. Some of those have been absolute spectacular, though.
Duran is undoubtedly a top up-and-coming striker who needs to player regularly to realise his potential and, given Watkins's status at the club, that may have to be away from Villa Park.
His value has risen and he has a lot of time left on his contract, but Duran's price cannot have increased that much given his lack of playing time and recent move to England.
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
Age: 23
Approximate market value: £42m+ (€50m+)
Contract expiry: 2028
The Nigeria goalscorer netted 19 goals as Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga. He would have scored more had he not missed a portion of the season through injury.
His valuation has therefore increased and following Alonso's decision to stay, it will be harder to prize away players from his team. Leverkusen have a real chance to solidify their place at the top of the Bundesliga and go further in the Champions League next season.
Boniface has the best xG per 90 (0.71) of any player in this list, above Viktor Gyokeres (0.67) and Jonathan David (0.65), and the second-most shots per 90 (4.05) in Europe's top-five leagues behind Kylian Mbappe.
Club: Feyenoord
Age: 23
Approximate market value: £42m-£50m (€50m-€60m)
Contract expiry: 2027
The Mexican had a sterling season in the Eredivisie under Arne Slot, whose move to Liverpool has raised inevitable speculation that the striker could follow him to Anfield.
Gimenez was also spotted watching a Tottenham game this season and they are among the Premier League clubs who are on the lookout for a young striker they can develop.
He is highly rated by scouts and sporting directors at a number of Premier League clubs and his relative affordability makes him a likely proposition to come to England. However, the record that precedes him for players making the jump from the Eredivisie to the Premier League is not a great one and does create reservations among scouts.
Gimenez's xG is good at 26.39, but he has not provided many assists over the past season. He very much leads the line, plays on the shoulder of the last defender and is devilish in the box, even with his head.
Club: Bournemouth
Age: 26
Approximate market value: £65m release clause
Contract expiry: 2027
Dominic Solanke is understood to have a release clause that can be activated by only the 'big-six' clubs, reportedly to the tune of £65m.
Andoni Iraola has helped develop him into a prolific Premier League goalscorer and that is what is attracting top clubs to his name again after it did not work out for him at Chelsea and Liverpool earlier in his career.
Inevitable speculation has been made linking him to Eddie Howe at Newcastle, given they worked together at Bournemouth, but Alexander Isak is clearly the first choice there. The top clubs looking at strikers appear to be after someone younger than 26, but if they do not get their first choices, could Solanke come into their sights?
According to Wyscout's index based on performance data, Solanke was the fourth best-performing centre forward in the Premier League last season, behind Ollie Watkins, Heung-Min Son and Jarrod Bowen. That's quite something.
Club: Brentford
Age: 28
Approximate market value: In the region of £70m
Contract expiry: 2025
If not for his ban from football last season, Ivan Toney would undoubtedly already be at a top club. He was the coveted centre forward, newly in the England setup and of interest to Arsenal and Chelsea last year, but instead spent most of last season on the sidelines and was not quite the same player after he returned.
Sky Sports News understands Arsenal have turned their attentions away from Toney and Isak and towards a younger profile of striker they can develop, and Chelsea too seem to be looking at younger players like Duran.
In January, Toney's valuation at Brentford was £100m and that has dropped somewhat, as he enters the final year of his contract at the west London club and he now needs to show his best again.
Brentford have been preparing themselves to lose Toney this summer, signing £30m striker Igor Thiago from Club Brugge in Belgium [although he will now miss most of the rest of 2024 after suffering a nightmare meniscus injury on his debut] but they will not let Toney go on the cheap.
Club: RB Leipzig
Age: 24
Approximate market value: £67.6m-£75m (€80m-€88m)
Contract expiry: 2028
Although Openda's £67.6m (€80m) release clause is not effective until 2025, it does give a guide as to his valuation. Why wouldn't Leipzig argue he is worth that much now given the campaign he had last season?
Twenty-four goals in 34 appearances in the Bundesliga and four in the Champions League saw him form a formidable partnership with Benjamin Sesko in a very exciting RB Leipzig team that finished in the Champions League places in a very competitive division.
Openda is up there among the best performers for xG (22.98), goals per 90 (0.67) and shots per 90 (3.37) - and he has, of course, been linked with all the top Premier League clubs over the last 12 months or so.
Club: Napoli
Age: 25
Approximate market value: £100m+ (€120m+)
Contract expiry: 2026
Only a handful of clubs in the world can afford to spend £100m on one player, which limits the market for strikers such as Victor Osimhen. With two years left on his contract, a move is more practical, but Napoli will not let him go for less than his value.
That is surely a reason why the prolific goalscorer is still at Napoli despite speculation that he would move elsewhere nearly every season.
Most top clubs have been linked with him at one stage or another, with Chelsea now interested in signing him as negotiations continue over Romelu Lukaku heading in the opposite direction.
However, at such a high price, there are only a handful worldwide that could spend that kind of money - and most already have their centre forwards.
Reports earlier this year claimed he was high on PSG's wishlist to replace Mbappe, but Antonio Conte will be hoping he sticks around for his first season in charge in Naples.
Club: Sporting CP
Age: 26
Approximate market value: £84m (€100m+) release clause
Contract expiry: 2028
The Sweden striker only signed for Sporting last summer from Coventry and is thought to have had a €100m release clause inserted into his contract.
He has found the step from Championship to the Portuguese top flight and European competition a relative breeze, scoring 29 in 33 league games and five more in the Europa League, which is what has alerted clubs to want to bring him back to England.
It will be an expensive job though and only one or two clubs could afford to do it, making it unlikely, especially given the current PSR rules.
Gyokeres's stats are really strong; he has the best xG (36.94) and xAssist (8.8) of any strikers in this list over the course of last season, according to Wyscout data.
Club: Newcastle
Age: 24
Approximate market value: £100m+
Contract expiry: 2028
There is no sign that Newcastle would consider selling their star striker - only speculation that he is of interest to top clubs, which is inevitable given his record and performances last season.
Again, only a handful of teams in the world could afford Isak and the market is just not fluid enough at the moment for a credible bid to appear on the horizon.
According to Wyscout data, Isak has the best goal conversion rate (28.9 per cent) of any of the strikers in this list.
Club: Aston Villa
Age: 28
Approximate market value: £100m+
Contract expiry: 2028
Again, Watkins is another player nigh-on untouchable at his club unless there is a stratospheric bid for him, and those buyers are just not out there at the moment.
Watkins is central to Aston Villa's push to join the elite clubs and he has been superb under Unai Emery last season, scoring 27 times in all competitions, while he also made an impact for England at the recent Euros. coming off the bench to score a late winner in their last-eight victory over the Netherlands.
And with Villa also in the Champions League now, the list of reasons to go elsewhere is shrunk.
According to Wyscout's index based on performance data, Watkins was the best-performing centre forward in the Premier League last season.
