The evolution of strikers is happening now and there are three names that are lighting up the stage…
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Pep Guardiola is the master - destroying, rebuilding systems and ideas is his mantra. Sergio Agüero hit two against AS Monaco in an unforgettable Champions League night and after the game he has revealed Pep’s obsession: “He asks us to give more. More and more, everyday… It’s not easy to accomplish it, but we are doing our best.” Believe it or not, he has done it! His performance was praised by the manager at Etihad.
Finally playing as a striker 2.0, because scoring is not enough anymore, they must also be multifaceted. There are some strikers, younger than Aguero, on the right path to becoming superstars. We have rounded up the top three and here is everything you need to know about them.
#1 Kylian Mbappé – AS Monaco
Preferred position: Striker in 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2
Market value: €50m
(Video Courtesy: ScoutNationHD YouTube Channel)
A star was born at Etihad, when Mbappe started for the first time in the Champions League and did not disappoint. He scored his first goal on the European stage with a powerful shot after a stunning 20 metres sprint and celebrated à-la Henry, sliding on the grass on his knees. This isn’t the only similarity with the former Arsenal striker.
Both have grown at Monaco and Mbappé’s running style is similar to that of Henry’s: with his high knees and a wide stride, he looks like a cheetah on the pitch. Thanks to his supreme technique, Mbappé is breaking all of Henry’s records in French football. He needed only half of the games as Henry to score his first 22 goals, becoming the youngest debutant and the youngest to score a goal in Ligue 1 history, such a fantastic achievement for someone so young.
With his goal against Manchester City, he became the youngest French player to score in a Champions League knockout game too, while both Henry and Karim Benzema were 20 when they scored their first goal at this stage. When he was 14, Zinedine Zidane invited him at La Casa Blanca in Madrid but Mbappé, a Frenchman of Cameroonian descent, preferred to stay at Monaco. If he continues breaking records, there is no doubt that Real Madrid will try to buy him again soon.
After refusing a whopping €40 million offer from Manchester City and after netting 15 in 28 games, his value is vastly increasing day by day.
#2 Paulo Dybala – Juventus
Preferred position: Striker in 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1 or Advanced midfielder in 4-2-3-1
Market value: €75m
When Paulo Dybala landed in Italy from Argentinian 2nd division club Instituto in 2012, he wasn’t even 19. Internazionale FC’s sporting directors didn’t trust him and refused to complete the deal with his agent. Fiery Palermo President, Maurizio Zamparini, figured out he could become an important player for his team. Dybala scored only three goals in his first Serie A season, which ended up with Palermo relegated in 2nd Division.
After that, the 2006 World Champion and former AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso was appointed as a manager. Before being fired, he taught Dybala how to cope with the defending style of the Italian League. During those years, training with Gattuso as a defender against him, he learnt to protect the ball, to pass quick and to dribble only when it’s useful. He exploded the next year, with Palermo returning to Serie A.
(Video Courtesy: Teo CRi YouTube Channel)
His manager, Iachini, counted on him and Andrea Belotti, but unfortunately, due to many reasons, the duo didn’t work out. Therefore, he decided to cut off Belotti, lining up Dybala as a sole striker, closer to the goal. That was a brilliant idea, resulting in the season ending up with La Joya (The Jewel, as he was called in Argentina yet) scoring 13, before being sold to Juventus for almost €40m.
The evolution has been completed by his current manager, Max Allegri, who asked him to be more involved in the game, with more passes and touches.
Although it wasn’t easy for Dybala to accept playing far from the penalty box, the manager went ahead with his plan. The rising star is now the model of the midfield-to-box striker: he can cover a lot of space on the pitch, and providing assists and goals (22 last year, 12 in the current season so far). As Real Madrid couldn’t convince him to leave Juventus last summer, could his future be at Barcelona, to play in the post-Messi era?
#3 Andrea Belotti – Torino
Preferred position: Striker in 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2
Market value: €100m (buyout clause)
Overshadowed by Paulo Dybala at Palermo, Belotti has stood out for Torino, becoming the 2nd youngest player in club’s history to reach 30 goals. He has scored 22 goals so far in the League, 9 more than his total amount last season, being the current Serie A top scorer ahead of Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus) and Edin Dzeko (Roma).
Torino’s chairman Urbano Cairo, one of the most influential Italian publishers, reached a new deal with his rising star at the beginning of the season, agreeing to a buyout clause of €100M. Just a few weeks after, he revealed to have rejected a €65M offer by Arsenal. After Belotti netted a hat-trick against Palermo, Cairo looked worried: “This clause could be too low now. It should have been €150M”, he said.
(Video Courtesy: Giovadieci Calcio/Football YouTube Channel)
His nickname (Il Gallo, The Rooster) tells us more about himself. It’s dedicated to a close friend of him, Juri Gallo, who bet with Andrea that he would have scored before a game a long time ago. Andrea did it, inaugurating his original celebration, with the right thumb leaning on his fronthead and the other fingers turning rapidly, as it was his crest. It is also a tribute to his rural roots and the habit he had when he was a child, to run after chickens.
Proving himself to be a modern striker, he looks at ease in different systems of play. Being a superstar hasn’t affected his humility, Belotti has remained connected with his background: “One of the most satisfying moments of my career was when I signed an important deal and finally could tell my mum: ok, you can stop working right now. I couldn’t accept to see her coming home so tired everyday.”
Former Torino manager and current Italy coach, Gian Piero Ventura, trusted him last year and considers Il Gallo one of the most valuable players of the national team now.
Antonio Conte didn’t call him for the last European Cup but he has been impressed by the evolution of Belotti. Diego Costa might be on his way to China way next summer and in that case, be sure that Antonio Conte will consider to pay the buyout clause to Torino to attract The Rooster to Stamford Bridge.
