With regard to the scouting, it certainly is improving with regard to identifying young players, who we now seem to be able to attract. Not a short term fix but promising for the future. It appears we were tracking Eze and Olise for sometime, so the days of just diving in and panic buying seem behind us (hopefully)

This is true but, if it has any relevance, Edouard has also scored 41 in 48 games for France between U-17 and U-21.
Nketiah seems to be highly regarded for his work ethic and willingness to learn. He also seems to be a player who is actively looking to score rather than waiting for chances which would be a nice change.

I definitely got the impression from the press conference just now that something is in the works with Nketiah. When asked something like how the Nketiah deal was going - PV seemed to suggest the club were working on it before resorting back to the usual 'we don't mention specific players as they are still at their clubs' etc

I've not been overly impressed with what I've seen of him so far tbh but if he's someone PV and the board feel will add quality to the team then so be it and hopefully he'll have a break out season with us after getting out of the arsenal cesspit.

Biggest worry is he's currently reported to have a slight injury which if he does sign probably will mean he won't make his debut until 2023!

Edited by samprior (27 Aug 2021 1.56pm)

Maybe another way to look at it is that he’s a player who might not score against City or Liverpool but may do against Brighton or Watford. So the teams we would be trying to beat rather than survive against. Who knows? He might strike up a partnership with Benteke and bang them in all season.

Glad to see we are looking at other targets and Nketiah is now last resort. Looks like he’ll be carrying an injury and given his lack of 1st team football, he’s very unlikely to make the immediate impact we need.

Edouard has been my preferred target this summer. I think he’ll be prolific in the prem. If Mbappe moves to Real + Richarlison to PSG I fear Everton could pinch him last minute.

Whoever gets him will have a unbelievable bargain. £15m plus add ons likely to be enough. He’ll be worth £50m by the end of the season.

Wouldn't be surprised if we actually got 2 strikers in before Tuesday's deadline.

If so, it would likely mean Vieira has made his mind up on our 2 current strikers (the way Vieira has spoken in the past, I don't think he considers Ayew as a striker) and either JPM will not be made permanent or potentially to move on Benteke either Jan 2022 or Summer 2022 to get some type of fee before his contract runs out in 2023