It’s worth choosing wisely.
Sporting d’Amorim is a phenomenon. An unknown coach manages the flagship club of the Portuguese championship – and quickly leads the team to the title. And with such confidence that Liverpool immediately set their sights on him. Ruben finally went to nuclear submarine – but not to the Merseysiders, not to West Ham, but to Manchester United. His favorites remain Sporting, for whom demand is enormous. The most notable is Victor Győkeres, who is the top scorer in the championship (for the second consecutive season). The Swede has definitely become the striker of a big club from a strong European championship. All that remains is to choose – it has many offers.
Barcelona
The Catalans assume they will soon need reinforcements at the central striker position. However, Robert Lewandowski is not getting any younger and there is no full-fledged replacement for him (young graduate Marc Giou could have arrived, but Chelsea took him away). The pole is already unstable; rejuvenation cannot be delayed.
Joan Laporta chooses between three candidates: Darwin Nunez (Liverpool), Victor Osimhen (loaned to Galatasaray) and Győkeres. Barca’s reason is clear: the club needs a striker who will score goals and fit into the star attacking group with Raphinha, Yamal and Olmo.
There are only two key questions: will they be able to resolve the financial problems and will the Swede himself want it? There are huge doubts about both. It is not for nothing that huge problems arose when recording Olmo – only recently they agreed to temporarily record him while the appeal is considered. At the same time, there is no agreement on the future of the two leaders of the team: de Jong and Araujo. Both are in no rush to renew their contracts. Barcelona is in a deep crisis, so even Sporting is now a more reliable project. Victor needs a team in which he is guaranteed to fight for titles, and not to pay back part of his salary so that the club avoids financial problems.
“Bavaria”
Munich wants to diversify the selection of players in the offensive group. They found a replacement for Lewandowski by signing Harry Kane – and spent a lot of money on it. Now, apparently, they want to have a strong competitor so that the Englishman has the motivation to always stay on his toes. Kane is 31 years old, he has not participated in the most competitive championship, so the only strong motivation is the Champions League.
For the Swede, Bayern is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the status of the team and its prospects. Munich is the hegemon of the Bundesliga, despite last year’s failure. In addition, the club has selected a coach with whom the project restarts – and is already showing a good image. The chances of increasing your trophy collection are extremely high. On the other hand, Harry Kane is in competition. He’s not such a veteran striker that he can count on being a main player in a few years. Here you will either have to sit on a bench for a long time or jump over your head. Given the qualities and status of an Englishman, it is unclear how often and how superior he is. Victor needs a team where he will be considered the main attacker.
Manchester City
At first glance, this option should have the same characteristics as Bayern. But for several reasons, it is more interesting to move to City. Yes, City are experiencing the worst decline of the Guardiola era (and then some). But this is only a signal that the project requires updates, a partial restart. Given the resources of the owners, this does not present serious risks: it is unlikely that the city will transform into a middle peasant. There will be a fight for the titles. Pep remains the team’s coach. He will probably do the same thing as Klopp has done in recent years at Liverpool: he will breathe new life into the club independently and only leave when he is convinced that the mechanism is working.
The most sensitive moment for Győkeres is the competition with Erling Haaland. The example of Julian Alvarez showed that no matter how good you are, the Norwegian will have an advantage. But City’s failure clearly demonstrates that you can’t just rely on a small group of players who have earned your trust. There must be a wide bench and a quality rotation. Otherwise, there will simply be no plan B in the event of force majeure. Besides, Holland doesn’t rock nuclear submarinelike the first year. It got off to a good start, but then implementation problems returned. He needs a dangerous competitor. Győkeres will have more chances than it seems.
Manchester United
Initially, the Mancunians did not look at Győkeres. Rashford was already in the team and Høylund was signed last season. Now, for the Dane to prove himself in competition (and have variety), they took Joshua Zirkzee. There were questions about the brigade’s effectiveness, but there were still glimmers of hope for the new arrivals’ progress.
Rather, the driving force behind the Swede’s interest was Amorim (rumors began to surface as the new year approached). Ruben arrived at the club in the fall, when Ten Hag was dismissed. The coach understood the essence of the problems: he removed Marcus from the team and asked the management to transfer him to the forefront. Given that Ruben was working with a goalscoring striker at Sporting, it was easy to piece together the puzzle: they turned their attention to Victor.
For Victor, there are as many doubts about this option as in Barcelona. A club that has no sustainable project. There is money – it is only every year that this project restarts, a massive purchase is made. And the efficiency of the transfers themselves is quite low. In the red part of Manchester you can’t compete for titles now.
In fact, each of the current options can be considered dubious. In some places the project prospects are unclear, in others there is competition. You will have to choose the lesser of all evils.
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