Summer transfer window 2018

[donlocatelli]

I'm with Slifersd, there doesn't seem to be significant benefits in getting Mandzukic in place of Kalinic, even if I do agree with those who say he's better. If that's the case I'd much rather see us go for Belotti who's been linked, as he's a similar type of forward and is on course for the third year running since he broke through as a starter in Torino to reach 10+ goals in a Serie A season. The key difference is Belotti has the ability and potential to be a prolific goalscorer, whereas Mandzukic has never been one (even during his time with Bayern) and has only scored more than 10 goals in a league season a handful of times.

We need someone who scores goals.

we should get both belotti + mandzukic if possible. let's take a leaf out of lazio's book who never get transfers wrong! a few seasons ago immobile was in belotti's position. he was topscorer in the league playing for torino then flopped after a big money move abroad. lazio signed and resurrected him and now he's broken 25+ goals for the second season running. obviously that's largely down to his manager and teammates too but there's no reason belotti can't replicate that here. i actually think belotti is the slightly better player too.

as for mandzukic, not sure where you're getting your stats from but he's no kalinic. according to wikipedia he scored 33 goals/54 games for bayern and 12 games/28 games for atletico. that's when he was playing in his preferred position (cf) instead of on the wings which is why he's scored less for juve.

however, the fact he can play any position across the front line well and is affordable (20m) makes him an important target. he would be a very good starter or backup for cf/wings. he would also take the burden off belotti's shoulders to score goals. another key point is his experience. he's played for the worlds top clubs (bayern, atletico, juve) and has won/nearly won everything so would be great for the dressing room. just like reina. we have too many inexperienced players who need a reference point other than bonucci. he's also a very hard working player which gattuso would love.

if we can ship out kalinic for 15-20m i would take mandzukic in a heartbeat. sell suso and use the 40m to buy belotti.