Even after beating Newcastle, Brighton still need a new striker
Do Brighton & Hove Albion really need a new striker? That was one of the questions doing the rounds on Twitter after Neal Maupay and Aaron Connolly put Newcastle United to the sword at St James’ Park.
Maupay had just scored his first Premier League brace, Connolly an excellent effort when cutting in from the left which had shades of a young Wayne Rooney about it.
Those two goals offered Graham Potter some ammunition for his argument that Brighton do not necessarily need to sign a new striker before the transfer window slams shut next week.
Potter has frequently said that he does not subscribe to the view that a magical 25-goal striker is going to come to the Amex and solve all of Brighton’s problems, as he told the recent Fans’ Forum when the subject of attacking reinforcements was broached.
More recently, the buzz term “silver bullet” has been doing the rounds. Potter used it in his press conference before the 3-1 defeat to Chelsea, saying: “Rather than look for the silver bullet that is out there, can we improve the guys we have and help them score more?”
The implication was that Brighton will not be signing a new centre forward; Potter will instead be looking to improve the goal output of Maupay and Connolly as well as the contribution from midfield. Pascal Gross aside, no central player has managed more than two goals for the Albion in their three Premier League seasons so far.
Whilst Maupay and Connolly scoring all three goals in Brighton’s 3-0 win over Newcastle augurs well for the season ahead, it should not be allowed to mask the fact that the Albion still need striking reinforcements for two very obvious reasons.
The first is that the Albion will not come up against opposition as accommodating as Newcastle every week. The Toon Army back line were ill equipped to deal with two centre forwards in the mould of Maupay and Connolly, whose skill sets seemed perfectly suited to wreaking havoc upon those in black and white.
That won’t always be the case. There will be occasions in the 2020-21 season when Brighton will face defences who eat players like Maupay and Connolly for breakfast.
Brighton as a result will struggle to make much headway against those opponents and with Maupay and Connolly as the only two senior strikers on the books, Potter has no way of introducing a different threat – such as a target man – to try and find a way through.
Now, you might point to Viktor Gyokeres and say that he provides the answer there. The Swedish striker scored a very well taken goal against Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup which had shades of Glenn Murray about it in the way that he rolled his man and buried a clinical low shot past Craig MacGillivray in the Pompey goal. Good luck saying that name after 12 pints of Tennents.
As impressive as Gyokeres’ finish was, he was a peripheral figure in the win over Portsmouth at times. If he cannot take a game against League One opposition by the scruff of the neck and dominate, then is he really ready to be leading the line in the Premier League?
What Gyokeres needs at this stage in his development is a season in the Championship. Swansea City are said to be interested and that would be a move that suits all parties, especially if Gyokeres goes onto take to the second tier as Ben White, Jayson Molumby and Matt Clarke did in 2019-20 and Leo Ostigard has so far in the current campaign.
Gyokeres surely cannot depart though unless Brighton manage to bring a striker in themselves. And it is the numbers situation which is why the Albion have to find attacking reinforcements before the transfer window closes.
Maupay could score a brace in the next 10 matches and Connolly keep netting brilliant finishes when cutting in from the right. None of that answers what happens if injuries and suspensions strike and Brighton suddenly find themselves without one – or in a nightmare situation, both – of their strikers for a significant period of time.
Should Maupay and Connolly be ruled out, Potter is left with no senior strikers to choose from. It is astonishing that any Premier League club would consider putting themselves in a position where they could, in a worst case scenario, spend months without a recognised centre forward to lead their line.
The transfer window closes at 11pm on Friday 16th October. Imagine if on Saturday 17th October, Maupay does a knee away at Crystal Palace. Connolly then tears a muscle in training on Monday 19th October.
Both are ruled out for six months, leaving Brighton to go three months until the January transfer window opens with no striker to choose from.
When Potter talks about a “silver bullet”, he is referring to a new centre forward who would cost a club-record fee and would be expected to come in and start banging in 25 goals a season.
Those sorts of players are ridiculously hard to find, especially for a club like the Albion working within a very strict budget. Most Brighton fans are realistic enough to acknowledge that if that sort of player exists, we will be competing with a lot of other clubs and getting a deal over the line is notoriously difficult.
A “silver bullet” would obviously be a lovely signing to make, but the more pressing issue is the lack of numbers. A half decent back up striker would be as shrewd an acquisition as a £30 million marquee signing right now.
If that scenario we have laid out ever came to pass, then the Albion would be in big trouble. We have enough problems scoring goals as it is, let alone trying to do it without Maupay, Connolly or any sort of striker in the starting line up.
Two centre forwards is not enough to try and get through a Premier League campaign with, even if they do end up playing as well as Maupay and Connolly did away at Newcastle.
Do not let what happened at St James’ Park fool you into thinking we have enough firepower, because we do not. Brighton still need a striker.
