As it seems as though Wilf is probably off at the end of the season I thought it would be interesting to keep an eye on his potential replacements.
As his replacement is going to have to be someone who is already somewhat proven at a decent level and we probably won’t spend big money on anyone over 25 it should be pretty easy to identify the players we are/should be interested in.
Here’s a few of the candidates I think we should be interested in, in order of who I currently think are the best replacements:
1. Ismaila Sarr
I think the no.1 choice should be Ismaila Sarr.
He's Premier League proven and in his 2 Premier League seasons his stats were almost identical to Wilf’s despite playing in 2 awful Watford teams. He’s also the most proven goal scorer as well:
In a better team where the manager doesn’t change 3 times a season, it's difficult not to believer he won't be a better player than what he was at Watford.
With him only having a year left on his contract we may be able to sign him for less £20m if he only wants to come here.
Biggest question mark is his fitness as in his Premier League seasons he only managed to play 59% and 54% of the available minutes whereas Wilf has never played less than 74% of minutes. This season however he’s played 77.6% of the minutes and some of those minutes missed may have been due to the World Cup.
This season he’s having his best season of his career with 8 goals and 4 assists in 26 games.
Stats:
Highlights from this season:
2. Kamaldeen Sulemana
He’s only 20 and unproven but I think he might have the highest ceiling among all the prospective replacements. At the World Cup he was clocked as the fastest player at the tournament (yes, faster than Mbappe). Against Wolves at the weekend he completed 8 dribbles which is more than any other player this season in a game (Yes, it helps that Wolves had 10 men but he’s still got to past them).
Last season for Rennes he had 4 goals and 2 assists but missed February onwards with a back injury and has struggled to get back in the team. He has only 1 goal and no assists this season so there are maybe question marks over his end product and fitness but looks to me to have the technical ability to score and assist.
Here are his highlights from Saturday, Southampton fans have been saying on Twitter he’s the best talent they’ve had since Mane:
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I think he’s one to watch and if he adds end product he may be out of our reach come the end of the season.
Given he signed for Southampton when they were bottom you would imagine there is a clause that allows him to leave for what Southampton paid for him if they are relegated.
Stats:
Highlights:
3.Callum Hudson-Odoi
He’s had a bit of a stop/start career due to injuries and struggling to nail down a starting place in the Chelsea team and his lack of end product in the last two seasons is a slight concern. In the 2019/20 season he did score 1 and had 5 assists in 863 minutes and also had 2 goals and 3 assists in 1,059 minutes in the 2020/21 season which would see him get 12-18 goals + assists if he was able to play 75% of the available minutes which suggests he does have the potential.
With only a year left on his contract he will be able to dictate where he goes and so perhaps a return to Croydon would be the perfect place for him to get back on track. He has a high pass completion rates and a high percentage of successful take-ones which would indicate he has good decision making and is maybe more polished than the others.
Stats:
Highlights:
4. Jeremy Doku
Doku was who Southampton reportedly tried to sign before they signed Sulemana. Another one with a very high ceiling, extremely explosive and an excellent dribbler with a style similar to St-Maximim. Injury record is a big concern but he is already one of the elite dribblers in Europe and if he can stay fit and get a few goals and assists before then maybe they would be less of a concern.
He will have 2 years left on his contract in the summer and with his injuries Rennes my look to sell but you would think they would at least want back the £24m they paid for him.
Stats:
Highlights:
5. Luis Sinisterra
He has missed a lot of this season due to injury but his 12 goals and 7 assists in the Dutch league last season suggest he has the propensity to score and assist. Statically it seems most of his game has transferred over to the Premier League, as he has completed a high number of dribbles has a high pass completion rate so perhaps the goals and assists might come soon as well.
Will probably need Leeds to be relegated to have a chance to sign him as he’s already on a long contract.
Stats:
Highlights:
6. Armand Lauriente
This guy looks to be a safe bet without perhaps as high of a ceiling as some of the others. Only not available due to injury for 4 games since the start of last season and has a decent goals/assists return in both Ligue 1 last season and Serie A this season suggest his game is adaptable. His 4 goals and 3 assists in Serie A this season is probably more impressive than it appears as he’s playing for a struggling Sassuolo team who are currently 15th.
Looks technically very tidy and his high shot volume and accuracy indicates he’s not only has the ability to create his own shot but he’s also a good finisher as well. Seems to take a nice free kick too. He doesn’t look the quickest so might lack the pace to be a real top player.
Issue might be that Sassuolo only bought him last summer for €10m and may be reluctant to sell him.
Stats:
Highlights:
7. Dango Outtara
Although he’s left footed and has played a lot of his games on the right, 5 of his goals 4 of his assists came from playing on left for Lorient this season. His passing accuracy and successful take-on percentages are quite low but his goal and assist output so far this season indicates he already has an end product. He already has 2 assists from his Premier League starts for Bournemouth although not sure how much he knew about one of them but seems to have started well.
Stats:
Highlights:
8. Samuel Lino
Signed by Atletico Madrid last summer after 12 goals and 5 assists in the Portuguese league. Hasn’t produced much at Valencia this season but they are currently 18th in La Liga so it might be difficult to judge him. Seems strong, quick and 2 footed and as Atletico are reportedly in financial trouble they might take the chance to make a quick profit on the €6.5m they paid for him last summer.
Stats:
Highlights:
I also had a look at Gnonto at Leeds, Jota at Celtic, Zaroury at Burnley, Edozie at Southampton and Anthony at Bournemouth but they all seem a bit too unproven at the moment. That could change by the end of the season though.
Anyone have any other suggestions we should be looking at?
As his replacement is going to have to be someone who is already somewhat proven at a decent level and we probably won’t spend big money on anyone over 25 it should be pretty easy to identify the players we are/should be interested in.
Here’s a few of the candidates I think we should be interested in, in order of who I currently think are the best replacements:
1. Ismaila Sarr
I think the no.1 choice should be Ismaila Sarr.
He's Premier League proven and in his 2 Premier League seasons his stats were almost identical to Wilf’s despite playing in 2 awful Watford teams. He’s also the most proven goal scorer as well:
In a better team where the manager doesn’t change 3 times a season, it's difficult not to believer he won't be a better player than what he was at Watford.
With him only having a year left on his contract we may be able to sign him for less £20m if he only wants to come here.
Biggest question mark is his fitness as in his Premier League seasons he only managed to play 59% and 54% of the available minutes whereas Wilf has never played less than 74% of minutes. This season however he’s played 77.6% of the minutes and some of those minutes missed may have been due to the World Cup.
This season he’s having his best season of his career with 8 goals and 4 assists in 26 games.
Stats:
Highlights from this season:
2. Kamaldeen Sulemana
He’s only 20 and unproven but I think he might have the highest ceiling among all the prospective replacements. At the World Cup he was clocked as the fastest player at the tournament (yes, faster than Mbappe). Against Wolves at the weekend he completed 8 dribbles which is more than any other player this season in a game (Yes, it helps that Wolves had 10 men but he’s still got to past them).
Last season for Rennes he had 4 goals and 2 assists but missed February onwards with a back injury and has struggled to get back in the team. He has only 1 goal and no assists this season so there are maybe question marks over his end product and fitness but looks to me to have the technical ability to score and assist.
Here are his highlights from Saturday, Southampton fans have been saying on Twitter he’s the best talent they’ve had since Mane:
To view the link you have to Register or Login
I think he’s one to watch and if he adds end product he may be out of our reach come the end of the season.
Given he signed for Southampton when they were bottom you would imagine there is a clause that allows him to leave for what Southampton paid for him if they are relegated.
Stats:
Highlights:
3.Callum Hudson-Odoi
He’s had a bit of a stop/start career due to injuries and struggling to nail down a starting place in the Chelsea team and his lack of end product in the last two seasons is a slight concern. In the 2019/20 season he did score 1 and had 5 assists in 863 minutes and also had 2 goals and 3 assists in 1,059 minutes in the 2020/21 season which would see him get 12-18 goals + assists if he was able to play 75% of the available minutes which suggests he does have the potential.
With only a year left on his contract he will be able to dictate where he goes and so perhaps a return to Croydon would be the perfect place for him to get back on track. He has a high pass completion rates and a high percentage of successful take-ones which would indicate he has good decision making and is maybe more polished than the others.
Stats:
Highlights:
4. Jeremy Doku
Doku was who Southampton reportedly tried to sign before they signed Sulemana. Another one with a very high ceiling, extremely explosive and an excellent dribbler with a style similar to St-Maximim. Injury record is a big concern but he is already one of the elite dribblers in Europe and if he can stay fit and get a few goals and assists before then maybe they would be less of a concern.
He will have 2 years left on his contract in the summer and with his injuries Rennes my look to sell but you would think they would at least want back the £24m they paid for him.
Stats:
Highlights:
5. Luis Sinisterra
He has missed a lot of this season due to injury but his 12 goals and 7 assists in the Dutch league last season suggest he has the propensity to score and assist. Statically it seems most of his game has transferred over to the Premier League, as he has completed a high number of dribbles has a high pass completion rate so perhaps the goals and assists might come soon as well.
Will probably need Leeds to be relegated to have a chance to sign him as he’s already on a long contract.
Stats:
Highlights:
6. Armand Lauriente
This guy looks to be a safe bet without perhaps as high of a ceiling as some of the others. Only not available due to injury for 4 games since the start of last season and has a decent goals/assists return in both Ligue 1 last season and Serie A this season suggest his game is adaptable. His 4 goals and 3 assists in Serie A this season is probably more impressive than it appears as he’s playing for a struggling Sassuolo team who are currently 15th.
Looks technically very tidy and his high shot volume and accuracy indicates he’s not only has the ability to create his own shot but he’s also a good finisher as well. Seems to take a nice free kick too. He doesn’t look the quickest so might lack the pace to be a real top player.
Issue might be that Sassuolo only bought him last summer for €10m and may be reluctant to sell him.
Stats:
Highlights:
7. Dango Outtara
Although he’s left footed and has played a lot of his games on the right, 5 of his goals 4 of his assists came from playing on left for Lorient this season. His passing accuracy and successful take-on percentages are quite low but his goal and assist output so far this season indicates he already has an end product. He already has 2 assists from his Premier League starts for Bournemouth although not sure how much he knew about one of them but seems to have started well.
Stats:
Highlights:
8. Samuel Lino
Signed by Atletico Madrid last summer after 12 goals and 5 assists in the Portuguese league. Hasn’t produced much at Valencia this season but they are currently 18th in La Liga so it might be difficult to judge him. Seems strong, quick and 2 footed and as Atletico are reportedly in financial trouble they might take the chance to make a quick profit on the €6.5m they paid for him last summer.
Stats:
Highlights:
I also had a look at Gnonto at Leeds, Jota at Celtic, Zaroury at Burnley, Edozie at Southampton and Anthony at Bournemouth but they all seem a bit too unproven at the moment. That could change by the end of the season though.
Anyone have any other suggestions we should be looking at?
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