Just seen it flash by on the SSN ticker that we're interested in signing striker Mbaye Diagne from Galatasary. He's currently on loan at WBA and has scored 3 goals in 14 apps.
He seems like a slightly bigger Andre Gray but with better hold up play. Whenever I watch him he gets himself into decent areas fairly often, but usually ****s it up when he gets there. Another in the list of strikers to date who might do an okay job as a back up but I wouldn't want anywhere near our starting line up. At 29 he also doesnt seem the best investment unless he is fairly cheap / on loan.
Be some kind of threat for West Brom but that isn't saying much. Seems to be a big physical striker as Barely says.
I think he'd be OK, 3 in 14 (should be 4 really after that VAR howler against Southampton) is OK and he's always a threat. From what I've seen, he struggles to stay onside, maybe the likes of Ugbo and Santos Borre might be better in time, but someone like Diagne might be a safer short term bet
Honestly wouldn't mind having Niang back! Best mates with Sarr and actually a very good player when he can be arsed.
Did seem to have an attitude problem when he was here, but in fairness Mazzarri was a big reason he came, when main man Troy gets the hump and gets him kicked out of the club I can kind of understand why he'd half-arse it. He's gone from strength to strength since, winning the French Cup and qualifying for the Champions League with Rennes, although he didn't feature much this season and went on loan to the Middle East...I wonder if those issues resurfaced again?
This from you know who's write-up on the failure of West Brom's season earlier does not speak particularly well to the prospect:
Depends how you slice it. Of all WBA players, Diagne has the second highest xG, the fifth highest xA and the second highest xG+xA (overall, not per 90) despite only being there since the end of Jan. The much vaunted Matheus Pereira - whom many on here want to sign - has 8.7 (non-penalty) xG + xA this season, while Diagne has 6.7 - despite Pereira playing more than twice as many minutes. Even if his finishing is a little below par this year, that hasn't been the case throughout his career so his finishing is more likely to revert to something more similar to his xG numbers. He'd be an ok signing - nothing to set the world alight but there is a reason why lots of bottom half clubs want him as one of their striker options.
I get your point, but in fairness, comparing Pereira and Diagne purely in terms of expected goals and assists is a little reductive, is it not? They are not the same type of player and don't play in the same position.
Why? Sometimes strikers just go off the boil at some point in their career and stop being able to score as many as they previously could any more - see Ighalo for another example.
Don’t disagree. I’m not really comparing them but just highlighting how productive he is in terms of output and expected output relative to all his teammates.
Didn’t Ighalo perform fairly well in terms of goal scoring in China and (when he played) at United? Generally, though, or at least so the conventional xG wisdom goes, until strikers age such that they lose the pace and strength to create/receive opportunities from open play (e.g Deeney) few strikers have a goal output vastly inferior/superior to their xG. I think the best finishers (Kane, Mbappe, Greenwood) have an output across their career that’s maybe 10% above their expected output. But finishing is a confidence skill, so it ebbs and flows in short spurts, which makes it hard to extrapolate from short periods. There are players who are exceptionally bad finishers - Andre Gray of late is a good example - but they are few and far between and Diagne’s numbers from earlier this season and the past few years in Turkey (a very good goal scoring record including 11 goals in 1100 mins earlier this season and 31 goals in 18/19) suggest that it is much more likely that he’s going through a slightly cold streak.
https://twitter.com/footyinsider247/status/1391999938213650435?s=21 Article above claims Galatasaray want £8m. Let Palace pay that. He’s not worth that much. I don’t really think he’s worth half that even. £3.5m maximum I’d say. Less than that even if you can tempt them with taking Isaac Success in P/X.
I think he’s looked good since he joined West Brom. He makes good runs, holds up the ball well and threatens with both his feet and his head. I don’t mind when strikers go through bad scoring patches if they have decent pedigree, create the chances they miss to start with and contribute when they’re not scoring. We’re hardly flush with strikers and I think he’s a good option to rotate up front, if we can get him for less than 6 million.
Lots of chatter on the twitter tonight that we've agreed a fee of 8m euros with Galatasary for this geeza, now awaiting a decision from the man himself
Not a bad player, certainly better than what we have, I wouldn't be moaning if we get him, but he's far from top of the list of strikers I'd like us to sign
Fletcher, Diagne and Cucho in. Gray, Success, Perica out. I'd view that as a decent swap. Would still need a goalscorer to come in though.
If true it’s something at least, but I think the money could be better spent, or if you’re spending £8m on a nearly 30 ok-ish forward why not just spend a bit more and do it properly. One thing is for sure Gino doesn’t really have an concept or concern that a players value and ability can often fall away quite rapidly after 30.
