Opinion: We Need A Striker

At first glance, Birmingham City seem to be covered in the striker department. But when I have delved deeper, it seems as though the quantity is there but the quality is not. Every team that gets promoted out of the Championship seem to have dominated the league in terms of goal scoring, rather than a necessarily tight defence and therefore it is pivotal to get the strike force right. Dwight Gayle with Newcastle last season is a perfect example and the partnership of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo also come to mind for Watford a couple of seasons ago. So we do need to improve this area of the pitch if we have any chance of making it into the Premier League.

Firstly, Clayton Donaldson. He has had a few remarkable seasons with the club and we relied on him to be our only striker for a spell which must have been a lot of pressure but he thrived on this. He has won the Player of the Season during his spell with the Blues’ so I can’t say that he hasn’t made an impact. However, I don’t feel that he is the man that we need. He is a poacher and will often get into the six yard box to poke him. All of the best strikers do this but we can’t just rely on this as defenders get wise to it. The likes of Tammy Abraham for Bristol City next year not only had this intelligence but he also was able to dribble past players and even shoot from outside of the box. In this modern game, you need an all round striker, not just some poacher. He also does have injury problems quite frequently so can’t be relied on as a main man.

Lukas Jutkiewicz on the other hand is much more of a target man and he is needed in the fold. He has scored a lot of pivotal goals for us last season and has the ability to feed others into the game. I think that he can still do a job for us especially if Che Adams stays. Che I believe is our best striker. He has the finishing ability but also the pace and strength to really worry defenders and we haven’t have someone like that at Blues’ in quite some time! However, we can’t rely on just two decent strikers playing every game. Injuries occur but also fatigue especially around Christmas and we need the attack to be continuously at the races because then it means we are not putting pressure on our defence.

I don’t know how realistic this is but I would love to see Dom Solanke at the Blues’ having recently moved from Chelsea to Liverpool. He may not be ready for first team football at Anfield. He is the best young striker I have seen in recent years. He is too good for the youth leagues so I think that a loan move would be best for him. He can score with any part of his body and he has the awareness of where the goal is at all times. I would be delighted if we were able to get someone like this albeit on loan. I would prefer a permanent signing but loans do have a place too. Who would you like to see as a striking option? Please comment below!