World-class strikers look set to dominate the transfer window once again this summer as the Premier League's 'best of the rest' play catch up with Manchester City and Arsenal.
The hardest position to play and the most expensive to fund, 20-goal-a-season forwards have always been a rare commodity and the number of teams desperate for one is ever on the increase. Manchester United's desire for a leading man has been well documented in recent months, with loan signing Wout Weghorst proving little more than a stop-gap as Erik ten Hag eyes a big-money move come June.
Similarly, Chelsea seem to have been on the search for a frontman since the departure of Diego Costa in 2017. The Blues are currently shoe-horning Kai Havertz into an unnatural position while the £97.5million Romelu Lukaku is on loan and struggling. Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Timo Werner, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi have all come and gone in the past eight years.
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Such is the demand for strikers this summer - across Europe as well as in the Premier League - that prices for those worth buying have sky-rocketed. Harry Kane will enter the final 12 months of his contract at Tottenham and is expected to tell Daniel Levy he wants out, but the 29-year-old will still likely cost more than £100million.
Victor Osimhen's form for Napoli this season has been outstanding, his 21 goals in 23 Serie A appearances placing Luciano Spalletti's side 19 points clear at the top and on course for a first scudetto since 1990. However good the Nigerian has been, this is his first truly prolific season and yet there is suggestion he could cost up to £150million.
The hunt for a world-class striker this summer will border on chaotic but luckily City won't be involved as they already have one. In fact, they have two.
People had run out of superlatives to describe Erling Haaland by Christmas and the Norwegian looks set to break countless records in his debut season. 42 goals is already the most a City player has scored in one campaign. His six hat-tricks at home mean he is statistically more likely to score three at the Etihad than score none - he has blanked just five times.
The fact he cost just £51million has almost been forgotten in the fervour, but it was an incredible piece of business when it happened and looks even more so now.
And if £51million for him looks shrewd, the £14.1million paid to River Plater for Julian Alvarez has proven to be a masterstroke. The Argentinian has gone somewhat under the radar amid Haaland's form but he still has 12 goals to his name - not to mention a World Cup winners' medal.
City have often been mocked for their transfer business, rival fans somewhat lazily attributing their success to an endless stream of wealth. Sometimes that has been true, but in landing both Haaland and Alvarez for £65million they have in this case got it right.
While their Premier League rivals are set to endure a summer of desperation as they try and win the lottery of identifying the next elite centre-forward, City have already hit the jackpot.
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