Following the departure of their star striker, Lorenzo Lucca, who has joined Napoli, Udinese’s technical director, Gökhan Inler, has recently stated that the team is actually searching for alternative strikers to try replacing Lucca with a striker who has similar attributes and can lead the team to a higher spot than last season in Serie A.
Given that Inler expressed the clubs desire to sign a striker and that they are monitoring the situation of approximately five or six, the idea of this data analysis will be to “help” Udinese pick the most adequate choice regarding the replacement of Lucca based on numerous criteria.
In fact, this tactical analysis and scout report takes into account the clubs financial situation and value.
Given that Udinese are neither one of the biggest clubs in Europe nor one of the richest, our research avoids focusing on players from the top tier, excluding all of La Liga, the Premier League, and the German Bundesliga.
Only one player from the French Ligue 1 and two players from Serie A were picked in the data analysis, knowing that Udinese are capable of negotiating with French clubs or specific Serie A players like the ones mentioned in the chosen list of the potential Udinese strikers.
The rest of the names are good enough strikers to suit Udineses level and provide the needed attacking addition, as Udinese cannot really negotiate with much better players.
That’s why it was more realistic to opt for the best candidates from the leagues just behind the top three ones, as players from the big teams would automatically refuse Udinese’s offers, especially if they are starters in their respective teams.
Udinese Potential Strikers Similar To Lorenzo Lucca
This list was created through Total Football Analysis’ xGold tool, which generates a list of players who resemble the chosen player (in this case, Lucca) while considering all the desired criteria.
In our case, the focus was on selecting strikers who play in good enough championships, such as Serie A, Serie B, EFL Championship, MLS, French Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, Argentina’s Liga Profesional, the Brasileirão Serie A, and more.
In the following findings, it is essential to note that Rodrigo Castillo was excluded from the comparison mainly because he has recently moved to Lanús; therefore, it would not be possible for Udinese to buy him during this transfer window.
At the same time, we kept Inter Milan’s Francesco Pio Esposito on the list even though the Nerazzurri decided to keep him within this season’s squad and avoid loaning him out again.
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