5 lesser-known Premier League strikers who could be on the move next transfer window

So the 2015/16 Premier League season has kicked into full swing. With the majority of teams in England’s top-flight having reached the ten game mark, it is becoming apparent which clubs are on for impressive campaigns and which have an arduous, tiresome nine months ahead of them. The transfer window is a long way off yet, so clubs struggling may have to look for solutions closer to home if they are to steady the ship before Christmas, but this does not mean individuals themselves can’t start angling for big money moves elsewhere come January.Forwards especially tend to snatch the headlines at this early stage and are among the individuals more likely to have a chance taken on them. It only takes a string of solid performances and a handful of goals and an individual scrambling around at the lower end of the league ladder could be well on their way to a multi-million pound move at the half-way point in the season.Here’s a look at five individuals who could be doing just that.

#1 Jamie Vardy

Where better to start in a list of overachievers than with the romantic tale of Jamie Vardy. The most expensive non-league player in history, after signing from Fleetwood Town in 2012 for £1-million, Vardy was rotting in the depths of the conference before he flourished with the Cod Army and, in the process, earned a switch to England’s second tier.

A meager return of 4 goals in 26 appearances in his debut season for the Foxes prompted heavy disapproval from the media but, after netting a sound 15 goals the following term, the Englishman began to grow in confidence. Such fine form helped catapult Leicester City into the Premier League and the Ranieri revolution seems to be doing wonders for Vardy’s game.

Rather incredibly, the forward is the leading goal-scorer in England’s top-flight at present with 10, four more than his closest rival Alexis Sanchez. It’s been a truly astonishing ascension from the Sheffield-born 28-year-old. Initally rebuffed for being “too small” to play as a front man and having announced he pondered giving up the game not too long ago, the system at Leicester now caters for his fantastic work-rate, blistering pace and fine eye for goal.

A small, industrious individual, Vardy has reportedly been on the radar of Jurgen Klopp’s Reds ahead of the next transfer window, while I would not rule out a move to any club expected to finish in the top seven. You never know though, the incredible displays from Vardy recently may even warrant a move abroad.

#2 Odion Ighalo

Four loan spells in five years and Odion Ighalo may have felt he’d never settle down at a football club. In his three seasons at Granada he scored on 33 occasions – not bad, but given the lamentable, modest background Odion flourished from, the fact he’s playing football is a positive.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, the forward endured a childhood in the ghetto where the closest he came to playing football was knocking around old tin cans with his bare feet. For his first club in his home country, Ighalo played to the backdrop of gun-fire and teenagers selling marijuana, before he was snapped up by Norweigan club Lyn Oslo at 17-years-old which acted as a platform for his transition to Italy with Udinese.

Ighalo quickly became a part of the catalogue of Udinese players loaned out to Watford, due to the owners holding power in both parties, and his move was made permanent in 2014. The story and motivation of Ighalo installed in Watford renewed hope for promotion and his goals towards the back-end of last season helped them clinch second spot.

Now an established Hornet, Ighalo has taken the Premier League by the scruff of its neck and has been clincial since opening his account for the season on the opening day against Everton. All fairy tales need a happy ending and, while finishing his career at Watford wouldn’t be the worst decision, if a big club were to take a punt on the 26-year-old, who knows how far the innocent boy from Lagos could go.

#3 Saido Berahino

Having been so strongly tipped for moves to Manchester United and Tottenham respectively last window, it was somewhat of an anti-climax when it was confirmed Saido Berahino would remain a Baggie on deadline day. After numerous loan spells at lower league clubs including Brentford and Peterborough United, Berahino laid down his marker with a hat-trick on debut against Newport County in the League Cup, before he bagged a vital winning goal at Old Trafford a month later.

Steve Clarke began deploying the Englishman as West Brom’s primary forward instead of the club splashing out on a new boy and the decision paid dividends. At just 22-years-old, Saido scored 22 goals for the club and has thrived through the middle, rendering him a promising prospect for the national set-up.

At the time Berahino broke into the first-team frame, the Black Country side were lacking weaponry in attack; Lukaku’s loan had expired and the once reliable Peter Odemwingie was a fading figurehead. Fast forward to this season and Berahino’s started well, having scored 3 league goals, but the arrivals of Rickie Lambert and, perhaps more notably, Salomon Rondon in August hinted that Berahino could find game time more difficult to come by.

More often than not Saido now finds himself stuck up-top with another forward or isolated on the flank where he’s far less effective, so if the inevitability of a bigger move were to finally come to fruition, it could do his career wonders.

#4 Bafetimbi Gomis

It may seem bizarre to include on this list of players striving to earn transfers to big clubs a forward that has bagged well over 50 goals for French giants Olympique Lyonnais in his career but, nonetheless, Bafetimbi Gomis’ form at the start of this season warrants first-team football with one of England’s elite crop.

As mentioned, Bafi’s past is impressive. Following a five-year spell at St-Étienne, where he scored 40 goals, Gomis made the switch to bitter rivals Lyon in 2009 for a fee of €13-million, where he went on to become a permanent fixture in the side. In 2012, Gomis left behind a career in France blessed with accolades, including the record for the fastest Champions League hat-trick at approximately seven minutes, to join Welsh side Swansea City in 2014.

Granted, more recently, Gomis has slumped in form but Swansea’s poor run of form has mirrored that, highlighting what an important player he is, when playing at his best. For me, if Gomis were to regain that stellar form he possessed in the opening quartet of Premier League fixtures, many a big club will be knocking on his door.

Boasting an unrivalled physical presence and thus the opportunity to hold up the ball, Gomis has all the makings of a player capable of slotting into one of the more successful sides in England’s top tier. He has a proven goal-scoring record, experience at the top level and he always creates opportunities in games.

#5 Riyad Mahrez

Although not strictly an out-and-out forward, Algerian Mahrez has undoubtedly been the pick of the expectation-defying bunch so far this season and this acts yet again as a testament to the effectiveness of the Claudio Ranieri reign.

According to ‘Squawka’ statistics, the 24-year-old has the second highest performance score in the Premier League this season, having scored 5 and assisted 5. The versatile virtuoso has a very modest background, with stints at fourth division French club Quimper and Le Havre. In his time at the latter, he scored 30 goals before being snapped up on a three-and-a-half-year contract with Leicester City in January 2014.

Mahrez showed glimpses of his capabilities in the closing stages of last season but highlighted what he was really capable of at the birth of this campaign, scoring a brace against Sunderland on the opening day of the season. Since then, the Algerian has been dubbed frequently as the face of the 2015/16 season and was nominated for the August Player of the month award.

His desire to get on the ball and make things happen has been refreshing and he’s unsurprisingly caught the eye of a couple of the nation’s finest sides, namely Arsenal. Of course, a switch in January relies heavily on whether or not Mahrez’s form is maintained and if he can stay injury free. Since international duty, Riyad has been rested but, after playing an important role in Saturday’s victory over Palace, he is sure to anchor down his spot once again and begin eyeing a move soon enough.