Of all the signings a club can make, the position of centre forward has got to be one of the most tricky.
Fans expect to see a ‘proven’ striker come in, although quite what that entails is a mystery. Swindon Town found a proven striker last season in Eoin Doyle, but when he appeared for Bradford he looked anything but. John Akinde scored 20 goals a season with regularity for Barnet, but as Lincoln won the League Two title he only managed 75% of that, many of which were penalties.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure is how the saying goes and that is certainly the case in football. How often has a striker had one prolific season and earned deals on the back of that, with each manager hoping he can be the one to unlock the potential, to find the combination of players that spark his number nine back into life.
Swindon, Doncaster and Lincoln are three League One clubs currently on the hunt for a striker. Swindon need to replace the goals of Doyle and Yates, Lincoln only have one dedicated striker on their books and Doncaster have been looking for a striker ever since John Marquis left. All three clubs expect to sign someone in the coming weeks, but with money tight and the transfer market looking very different free agents or loans are the way they’ll most likely go.
That’s not to say they’ll be left with cast-offs though; these strikers are currently looking for clubs and could do a job in the English third-tier.
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