POLL: Which Striker Would Best Resolve Our Attacking Deficiencies?

Since Demba Ba's departure, the club have inevitably been linked with a number of attacking players. Even though it looks as though Remy is our top target, it seems as though we could be bringing in another cheaper back-up striker. 

So far, Modibo Maiga, Peter Odemwingie, Jeremie Aliadiere, Danny Graham and Jody Lukoki have all been mentioned.

Most of the players have certain limitations, perhaps explaining why they’ve been made available by their respective clubs. These negative aspects could deter the club from making an offer.

Peter Odemwingie, at the age of 31, is an unlikely option given that Mike Ashley’s policy only allows the acquisition of players younger than 25 years of age. The same can be said for Jeremie Aliadiere, in addition to his reasonably poor scoring record. 

Modibo Maiga, who was set to join Newcastle in January of last year only to fail a medical, is a troublemaker. In his last season at Sochaux he twice went AWOL and completely undermined the leadership of coach Mehmet Bazdarevic. Furthermore, Demba Ba brought a lot to the table in terms of goals, but Maiga has only scored 2 goals for West Ham so far in 15 appearances for the Hammers. It may seem cynical to right him off at such a young age, but we need goals and we need them fast.

In regards to Jody Lukoki, I haven’t seen enough of him to make a judgement on his ability. However, at the age of just 20, he’s apparently already impressing Europe’s finest scouts. Having already scored 5 goals in 16 matches for the Eredivie giants, he is held in high regard in Holland. However, the very thing that makes him appealing could also be a stumbling block- he’s still very young. Many people believe we need experience to help guide the club aware from a possible relegation scrap.

Finally we come on to Danny Graham. The 27 year-old has previously aired his frustration at being asked to spend so much time on the bench after scoring 14 goals in his first season in the top flight. And for the bargain price of just £4 million, he could be just what we need. There are rumours that Sunderland are hoping to capture his signature, but his surely his allegiance to Newcastle United would prevent any sort of move going through. 

Our judgement: In my opinion, Danny Graham would be an ideal signing. Even the he’s not the sort of player we’d usually go for due to his age, his experience and passion for the club could be just what we need. With our current injury problems, the club has been forced to play a lot of our unconditioned youngsters. However, Graham would offer a bit of balance to this problem while also bringing to the table a bit of much-needed heart on the pitch.

As a fan, who would you like to see Pardew bringing in as a secondary striker?

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