We all know we could have done with an extra striker in the summer, and some suggested we should take a dip into the free agency market but is there actually anyone worth going for up top?
MATEJ VYDRA
The first option up top wouldn’t fix our immediate striker issues (neither would any other free agent) as he is currently rehabbing his knee from surgery. It looks like he’d be back around the new year which could be when we have Simms and Stewart back up and running but it could be worth it to actually have a backup to prevent any situations like the one we find ourselves in right now. Vydra most recently parted ways with Burnley, who he signed for back in 2018. In all honesty he wasn’t good enough for the Premier League and he only scored 12 goals in his four years there. When he was in the Championship though he looked up to the task, scoring 20 goals or more on two separate occasions. The 30 year old could be worth a look at.
SIMONE ZAZA
You may remember that player who made the silly 100 mini step run up penalty for Italy that went flying over the bar which made him look like a tool, well this is him. Zaza has spent a brief spell in England once, with West Ham, it was a goalless loan spell which saw him feature eight times. Not doing a great job of making him look good am I? His last season with Torino in the Serie A was also another goalless one, but before that he averaged roughly six goals a season and when he did play in the second division of Italian football he scored 18 goals which wasn’t too bad. I think we could do a lot better but we could also do a lot worse too, just don’t give him any penalties…
GRAZIANO PELLE
This man was a delight to watch when he was at Southampton and he took the Premier League by storm. After a good two seasons with the Saints he went to China, no doubt to earn bundles of cash. He scored plenty of goals and even won a trophy but most recently he was back in his home country of Italy with Parma. He contributed to four goals in his 13 appearances, with one goal and three assists. One thing to consider though is that his last stint in football was over a year ago, he didn’t have a club last season and on top of that he’s 37, so this probably isn’t the best move for the Lads.
DANIEL STURRIDGE
On his day he was a fantastic striker, good feet and he couldn’t half hit one. Thanks to injuries and poor personal decisions he never got his career back on track after leaving Liverpool. He joined Trabzonspor after departing from Merseyside on a three year contract but he only played eleven games, scoring four goals before his contract was terminated for breaching betting rules. He then went to Perth Glory in Australia where he only played six times and didn’t score a single goal which led the Australian club to label his signing a ‘mistake’. There are large questions around Sturridge’s attitude and willingness to play so for this one I think it would be best if we stay clear of him.
