Dušan Vlahović

[RunTheTrap]

Vlahovic reminds me of the old school Serie A strikers of the 90s/00s. Batistuta, Vieri, Adriano, Ronaldo, Bierhoff etc. Big, powerful and a foot that rivals the power of mjolnir. He is rough round the edges but he seems to have that “killer mentality” that I feel Isak lacks. Isak is kinda big for nothing whereas Vlahovic knows how to use his size and speed to overwhelm his opponents. Personally, I don’t think technique for a striker is as important as it is to other positions. As long as they have a good touch and can strike the ball well I’m not too fussed. I mean technically Lacazette is better than Auba but for all that technique he won’t get you that many goals.

 

[MikelHadADream]

The thing that really stands out in clips is how good his shooting technique is. Properly hits the ball with venom in the corners, reminds me a bit of Kane in that aspect.

I wonder if we could make a 442 worth with Auba and this guy up top. ESR and Saka are more midfielders than true wide forwards, so if they could tuck in centrally more often, which they're well capable of doing, it would be a really interesting team.

 

[drippin]

I want a technical striker who is great at combining with others. To me it seems Gouiri with about 2,5 years in contract is a guy we should buy. He can easily also play LW in the ESR mold.

Isn't Vlahovic more of a mule of Giroud's kind?

Actually it seems he has maybe gotten better in other areas now.

(Twitter link. ARGH SHOW)

FFShttps://twitter.com/oh_that_crab/status/1456618487502147588

 

[MikelHadADream]

I want a technical striker who is great at combining with others. To me it seems Gouiri with about 2,5 years in contract is a guy we should buy. He can easily also play LW in the ESR mold.

Isn't Vlahovic more of a mule of Giroud's kind?

Actually it seems he has maybe gotten better in other areas now.

(Twitter link. ARGH SHOW)

FFShttps://twitter.com/oh_that_crab/status/1456618487502147588

He looks miles faster, more technical and a superior finisher to Giroud.

I do think we need a CF that is comfortable with his back to goal, but given it looks like it's ESR and Saka out wide; I think we will need a goal machine up top as well. This guy may give us those things.

 

[Barry]

I want a technical striker who is great at combining with others. To me it seems Gouiri with about 2,5 years in contract is a guy we should buy. He can easily also play LW in the ESR mold.

Isn't Vlahovic more of a mule of Giroud's kind?

Actually it seems he has maybe gotten better in other areas now.

(Twitter link. ARGH SHOW)

FFShttps://twitter.com/oh_that_crab/status/1456618487502147588

Good post. You see I like Vlahovic but then every time you check his stats you start questioning it a bit. He's not very well rounded for starters, and what's up with that xG and nPG stat - bottom 5% is terrible.

Something doesn't quite add up - think he's better than he looks on the stat charts, but regardless Gouiri looks maybe a better fit for our Laca replacement (or Lautaro Martinez maybe?)

 

[GoonerJeeves]

Isn't he turning us down? Waiting for other offers etc etc

 

[Sebastes]

There’s nothing wrong with signing a target man. Great way to evade a press if you knock it to the big man up top and bring forwards into play.

Agree, what makes me suspicious though is that a weaknesses I’ve seen come up in scout reports online are hold up play and passing which together with stats paint a picture of someone who’s quite limited. I haven’t seen a lot of him, majority of a couple of games but not one full 90 mins. Between those and highlights to me it just confirms him being limited on the ball.

 

[Sebastes]

We could perhaps pair someone like Vlahovic with ESR in a second striker/false 9 role in a 4-4-1-1 to get that ball playing ability and link up play in there. Either that with Saka on the left and Pépé (or Raphinha ) on the right or keep ESR and get Gouiri for ss/false 9

 

[A_G]

 

[Rasmi]

He looks miles faster, more technical and a superior finisher to Giroud.

I do think we need a CF that is comfortable with his back to goal, but given it looks like it's ESR and Saka out wide; I think we will need a goal machine up top as well. This guy may give us those things.

He is absolutely not more technical than Giroud. Not even close. Giroud is technically very good

 

[Rasmi]

I love his honesty. Money decide everything

Of course, that can always change, but Pasqualin believes that it is money which is currently ruling the youngster’s thinking.

“The reason is the existence of bigger offers,” he told Firenze Viola.

“Evidently, he has contacts, relationships and prospects with teams that offer more.

“Arsenal is one of the most coveted teams in the world, but if there is Valladolid offering twice as much, you think about it… I see the economic aspect as more important.

 

[MikelHadADream]

He is absolutely not more technical than Giroud. Not even close. Giroud is technically very good

Giroud couldn't turn or run with the ball. He was a good player, but anything outside if 1 touch and he was useless, do not let the odd flick fool you.

 

[Sanchez11]

Might get burned i think

 

[Rasmi]

Giroud couldn't turn or run with the ball. He was a good player, but anything outside if 1 touch and he was useless, do not let the odd flick fool you.

Giroud wasn’t great athlete. But first touch, awareness and ball control was great. He scored so many high level technical goals for a reason

 

[ArsenalInMyHeart]

 

[Heskey]

Hoping there's something serious in this rumor because the manager we get after Arteta is gone will have a gem on his hands.

Those who think Dusan is only a big, strong limited target man are very wrong in my humble opinion.

He's well rounded, has a solid technique, he's still very, very young, and has shown so much potential already.
He carried Fiorentina so hard last season. At the age of 20/21. That's a historic club with a lot of pressure, in a very turbulent period who has just let their biggest star, Chiesa, leave for Juventus.
Huge pressure on him. Last season was anything but a good season for Fiorentina. And he pulled them through at many times.

Look at both of these screenshots from Whoscored.com and the Tweet after.

View attachment 3972

View attachment 3973


His Player goal/Team goals over the entire season was at 45%! He's 21!
Still, he can and will improve on many aspects.

Those comparing to Zlatan or such are a bit too optimistic atm. Dusan doesn't - yet - posses that kind of technique and dribbling skills, but he posseses plenty other skills. Zlatan is a fan though.



What makes me think he will take his career further up regardless is this:


(Clearly he thinks he's Zlatan 2.0 too) but his work ethic is in place. He works hard in games, and outside of games. He is confident - he had him in his own fantasy team and when socring a hat-trick he commented that he was going to score a lot of points -

He's shown promise of being able to add to his game, and with that sort of confidence and edge that a top striker needs, and still having what seems to be his head in the right place you can take your 1.9m body to great heights. Tbh. I do, similar to some of these reports I read on him, see similarities to Kane in Dusan. The style, the movements. He doesn't dive as much luckily and Dusan's dialect isn't as ****ed, but he seems to be able to spread play out well, and I could see Dusan drop deep similar to what Kane did so devastatingly for England during the Euros.

As is probably evident by now, I have a lot of time for this kid, and think we would do a great deal with him - also for around 50M. It's rare that I back someone this hard, but having seen many of Fiorentina's extremely dreadful games the past season (about as dreadful as most of ours tbh) I see a lot of aspects of Dusan that is missed in compilations or in generic reports found. I can't completely put my finger on it (no more than I already have I suppose) I just feel he has it. Think he can really turn big, and would fit in well as the striker with the players we would have around him.

I'll resurface this since rumors are picking up.

Needless to say, the way he has played this season has not changed my mind.
I haven't paid as much attention this season, but I believe he was boo'd by sections of Fiorentina ultras, and pressure after a summer where he wanted a move has been high. Yet he continues to score and perform.

 

[Heskey]

Now, while typing this up I also noticed that there are articles stating he doesn't want a move to Arsenal, and his agent is apparently "blanking" our calls despite us allegedly having an €80M agreement with Fioretina in place.

https://football-italia.net/vlahovic-the-third-serie-a-star-to-snub-arsenal-move/

https://football-italia.net/vlahovic-wont-even-pick-up-the-phone-to-arsenal/

 

[ArsenalInMyHeart]

Now, while typing this up I also noticed that there are articles stating he doesn't want a move to Arsenal, and his agent is apparently "blanking" our calls despite us allegedly having an €80M agreement with Fioretina in place.

https://football-italia.net/vlahovic-the-third-serie-a-star-to-snub-arsenal-move/

https://football-italia.net/vlahovic-wont-even-pick-up-the-phone-to-arsenal/

Vlahovic is a good player. But if he does't want us. We have a lot of options like Gouiri, Isak etc ... If we already spend 80m, it's very easy to get a new striker.

 

[Sanchez11]

Agent driven, he aint coming here!!

 

[Barry]

I think you probably pass for that fee, maybe someone bites but I don't think it's likely. He'll be available for less in the summer with 12 months on contract