WHO doesn’t love a bargain?
With the likes of Kylian Mbappe (£7.5m) and Harry Kane (£7.5m) requiring serious investment, a cheap striker might bring it all together for Dream Team Euros managers ahead of the Matchday 1 deadline.
Let’s analyse the viability of five value-for-money options.
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Benjamin Sesko (£2.5m)
The Slovenia forward is currently being linked with a big-money move to the Premier League and a bright showing in Germany this summer would only raise his stock further.
Sesko is a tall, rangy striker with a few skills in his locker and he’s a confident shooter with both feet too.
Having just turned 21 years old, it’s clear that RB Leipzig may have a tough time holding onto their prize asset, especially if he lights up Euro 2024.
Slovenia will compete against Denmark, Serbia and England in Group C and their chances of progressing to the knockouts hinge on Sesko, who has scored ten goals in his last 16 outings at international level.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (£3m)
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Similarly, Georgia’s hopes of making waves this summer rest on the shoulders of their superstar forward.
Napoli may have followed up their historic title win with a bitterly underwhelming campaign just passed but Kvaratskhelia remains one of Serie A’s most exciting talents – he registered 11 goals and eight assists in the league this term.
The 23-year-old has scored ten goals and provided four assists in his last 16 appearances for Georgia at the time of writing.
Kvaratskhelia should also earn his fair share of bonus points as he’s a natural dribbler and tends to draw a lot of fouls.
Predominately a left winger at club level, he’s been deployed as a centre-forward for Georgia recently with fruitful results.
Artem Dovbyk (£3m)
The Girona poacher heads to Germany having just outscored everyone else in La Liga this season.
Dovbyk claimed the Pichichi with a hat-trick in his last game of the campaign to finish above the likes of Jude Bellingham, Robert Lewandowski and Antoine Griezmann.
He scored 24 league goals in total, propelling his side to Champions League qualification.
Focuses now switches to Ukraine, who were dealt a relatively favourable group draw in the form of Belgium, Slovakia and Romania.
Serhiy Rebrov’s side qualified through the play-offs but they actually finished level on points with Italy during qualifying in a group that also featured England.
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Gianluca Scamacca (£3m)
It’s not all that clear who will lead the line for Italy but if the former West Ham target man gets the nod then he would have to be considered very affordable.
Scamacca finished the season in fine form for Atalanta and was a key contributor to the club’s Europa League triumph – his brace against Liverpool at Anfield being the highlight.
Generally, he’s been unable to transfer his club form to the international stage having scored just once in 15 caps to date but his main rival up top, Giacomo Raspadori (£3.5m), hasn’t scored all that many goals either of late.
If the Atalanta version of Scamacca shows up this summer then Luciano Spalletti will be delighted but that’s no sure thing.
Dream Team Euros bosses should perhaps file this one under: wait and see.
Andrej Kramaric (£3m)
The 32-year-old has not always been the most prolific finisher but he’s turned up for Croatia since the most recent World Cup with six goals in his last 11 outings.
And his record for Hoffenheim across the last eight and a half years is more than respectable.
Kramaric doesn’t always play as an out-and-out striker but he’s no less effective in a more withdrawn role and he has a good understanding with his country’s other long-serving stars.
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It will be interesting to see how Zlatko Dalic sees things come Matchday 1 as Ante Budimir (£3m) scored 17 La Liga goals with Osasuna this season but Kramaric is an expected starter.
More broadly, while Croatia are generally a team that saves their best performances for major tournaments, they’ve been dealt a tough hand in Group B alongside Spain, Albania and Italy.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
