Erling Haaland has not kicked a ball at Euro 2020, due to Norway's failure to qualify. Instead, the Borussia Dortmund forward has spent most of his time posting vacation photos from the Greek islands, while he has arguably bolstered his already stellar reputation. Extended.
With the knockout stage due to begin over the weekend, we are still waiting for a striker to emerge as a cheaper alternative to the €180m-rated Haaland, who is still just 20 years old, for clubs who are looking to make a comeback. The heat are looking to sign the reliable centre-forward.
There are a lot of clubs in the market for a striker in 2021. Manchester City want a replacement for Sergio Aguero, who has moved to Barcelona on a free transfer, while Tottenham must plan a life without Harry Kane if the England captain is allowed the transfer he wants. Chelsea are also looking for an upgrade on their attacking options - Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham may both be looking for new clubs - while Manchester United may have delayed the search for a new striker by only 12 months by handing the 34-year-old Edinson Cavani signed a new one-year contract at the end of last season.
The only top clubs that don't really need a goal scorer right now are Real Madrid, the likes of Juventus, Bayern Munich and Liverpool, who already have Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Mohamed Salah. But they will soon be: Benzema is 33, Ronaldo is 36, and Lewandowski is 32, while Salah is 29.
If you take a look at the race for the Euro 2020 Golden Boot at the end of the group stage, it is no surprise to see Portugal's Ronaldo (3) joint top, Czech Republic's Patrick Schick, Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum and the 28-year-old. It's not a matter of. Old Romelu Lukaku. Behind it is Italy's 31-year-old Ciro Immobile, who is among six players to score two goals.
At 25, Bayer Leverkusen forward Schick is approaching the prime years of his career, the same age with Ukraine's Roman Yaremchuk (2) and doing a good job of increasing his chances of a move from Belgian club Gent this summer. are. But Schick and Yaremchuk have been performing for top clubs in Europe long enough to judge their ability to make an impact at the highest level and neither have yet earned a move to an elite team.
A scout at a major Premier League club told ESPN that, within the sport, there are concerns that the pool of top-class centre-forwards is shrinking dramatically. Euro 2020 (and the Copa America) has done little to dispel that notion, which is why every top club wants to sign Haaland, or when Dortmund are ready to let him go.
The dream scenario for every club is to sign a player like Aguero, who gave City 10 years of incredibly consistent serve (with 260 goals in 390 games) since his departure from Atletico Madrid in 2011, and Haaland as that striker. regarded as. Kylian Mbappe is another, but not center-forward in the classic sense of Paris Saint-Germain forward Aguero or Haaland, although his goalscoring record for PSG (111 goals in 127 games) is impressive. And he is also rated above €150m, despite the contract expiring in 2022.
At Euro 2020, the gap between top strikers and the rest is huge; The concern among club scouts is that the best players are too old to sign and the rest are simply not up to the required level.
The game has changed in recent years, and perhaps the centre-forward now takes longer to mature and reach his peak? Haaland aside, there is no youth sensation like Michael Owen or Wayne Rooney, but the names of the leading scorers so far suggest that Europe has had a drought of top-quality centre-forwards.
Ronaldo, Immobil, Lukaku and Lewandowski have all lived up to their reputations at Euro 2020 so far; England's Kane is perhaps the only big-name centre-forward who has had a slow tournament so far, but he has time to improve.
Spain clearly lack an elite striker, as Alvaro Morata has shown - 29-year-old Gerard Moreno is the only other option - while Scotland could already qualify from Group D if they have more than Lyndon Dykes. The striker with abilities, who spent last season in the championship with Queens Park Rangers. It is a similar story for Russia in Group B, which continues to rely on the tough Artem Dziuba.
There have been some surprises: Cardiff's Kiefer Moor is proving important as a target for Wales, while Bayer Leverkusen's Joel Pohjanpalo has impressed with his pace and physicality for Finland. Real Sociedad's Alexander Isak has also shown promise for Sweden through two matches.
But it is an unavoidable fact that pre-tournament concerns over the lack of emerging centre-forwards are proving to be a reality. It also means that the value of the Haaland continues to grow while it enjoys some well-earned time.