From Darwin Nunez to Sadio Mane, the five forwards clubs are battling to sign this summer
Perhaps we should blame Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.
“Haaland going to Manchester City for £51m was a remarkable piece of business – but it has definitely distorted the market if you want to buy a striker this summer,” one Premier League executive told i.
“Haaland’s probably something like £100m below his market value, so you’re not seeing any of that liquidity going back into the transfer market. It’s the same for Mbappe. The assumption was that he’d leave Paris Saint-Germain last summer, that money would then flow back into the market.
“As it is, he’s re-signed for them and that has made it even more difficult for clubs trying to sign strikers.”
In a summer transfer market that experts are predicting will bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, a substantial premium is being placed on strikers.
Prices quoted so far have been astronomical and insiders speak of it being a “challenging” market for forwards, with “everyone waiting to see if Liverpool blink on (Mohamed) Salah and (Sadio) Mane”.
Part of that is simple supply and demand. There are a clutch Premier League clubs casting around for a front-line forward this summer. Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham, Newcastle, and most intriguingly Manchester United, are all putting out feelers. You can add Liverpool to that number if Mane goes to Bayern Munich or they cash in on Salah as his contract enters its final year.
These are big, ambitious clubs with money to spend but there are only so many high-calibre strikers to go around. When you add European heavyweights Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich into the mix the asking prices start to multiply.
Coveted by Manchester United, watched by City before they signed Haaland and attracting interest from Liverpool and hopeful glances from Newcastle United, Nunez is almost certain to end the summer in the Premier League. But where he ends up going is less clear cut.
Preliminary talks have centred on a valuation that ranges somewhere from £60m to £100m, depending on which agent you talk to. Nunez is understood to be “intrigued” by Erik ten Hag’s project at Old Trafford.
But one recruitment chief reckons there are still some question marks about him. “His profile is perfect for the Premier League and he has Champions League experience but there are a few aspects of his game that need honing – and the biggest question mark is whether he’ll be able to cope with the intensity of a Premier League season,” they told i.
“The sort of money being asked for him is huge and no club wants to do what Arsenal did with Nicolas Pepe, grossly over paying for someone because of the hype around the number of clubs interested in him.”
Five forwards who could be on the move this summer
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Bayern Munich’s opening gambit was a derisory £25m but Julian Ward faces a big decision in his first summer as sporting director. Mane has 12 months left on his deal and wants to leave if Liverpool aren’t going to meet his wage demands. His departure would spark a striker scramble.
Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
Arsenal and Real Madrid are keen on Jesus, who may be allowed to move on now that Manchester City have Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez. The Brazil striker is rated at £40m.
Darwin Nunez (Benfica)
The summer’s hottest property, Benfica want to maximise their profit on the Uruguay striker if he leaves. Every club in the Premier League would take him – Manchester United appear favourites.
Recruitment experts believe Nunez could go for £100m this summer (Photo: Getty)
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
A real talent, the France international is another who looks destined for the Premier League. His club hold all the aces at the moment, but interest from Manchester United and Liverpool is intriguing.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
The Toffees don’t want to sell but if the right offer came in they might be tempted. Arsenal and Newcastle have an interest but would they go to Everton’s price, which is “north of £50m”.
Newcastle’s answer to this problem appears to be to sign the next Nunez before he gets to that level. A move for Reims forward Hugo Ekitike – likened to Mbappe by some observers – is at an advanced stage and represents a deliberate policy of signing potential rather than proven players.
Ten Hag cannot take that route at Old Trafford and Uruguay striker Nunez feels like the most natural fit now that the Harry Kane trail has gone cold.
The Tottenham striker was last summer’s big transfer saga but there’s little noise around him this summer. Those in the transfer business believe Daniel Levy’s approach when confronted with Manchester City’s interest is informing the attitudes of many Premier League clubs this time around.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, for example, is being priced way north of £50m by Everton, who don’t want to sell their England striker. The reasoning for the big price tag? If Kane is a £150m striker, Calvert-Lewin is one of the next cabs off the rank in terms of English forwards.
Ivan Toney’s breakthrough season has piqued the interest of some but Brentford just won’t sell. A source in west London says it would cost £40-50m to replace him, so this simply doesn’t make sense with three years of his contract left.
So the big money is set to go abroad. RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku is another who looks like a good bet for Manchester United and one analyst believes he would be more suited to the Premier League than Nunez. Again, he’s open to Premier League offers. Sassuolo striker Gianluca Scamacca, already an Italy international at 23, is another being mentioned after 16 Serie A goals last season.
At the other end of the market, Ousmane Dembele, the Barcelona forward whose stock has fallen dramatically of late, is at the head of a queue of strikers with pedigree being touted around with, so far, few takers.
The upshot of all of this? A Premier League executive believes that more of the best players in the world are going to be prepared to let their contracts run down or insist on the type of clauses that allowed Haaland to have his pick of the best clubs in Europe.
Kane, it’s worth noting, now has only two years left on his contract. His England colleague Raheem Sterling’s deal expires in 2023.
“Everyone is watching what is going to happen with Salah and Mane,” one agent says. “Who can blame players for letting their contracts run down when clubs are putting such big prices on their star men?”
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