Middlesbrough brought in West Ham striker Jordan Hugill earlier today. He’ll join a bristling Boro attack that last week lost Patrick Bamford to Leeds United.
With this news a simple question begins to bubble – is it Leeds or Boro who’ve struck out or struck gold in what is essentially a striker swap.
Obviously you’ll get Boro fans say that they’ve got the best part of the deal getting Bamford off the wage roll and bringing in Hugill as a quasi-replacement. It’s nothing that you wouldn’t expect, that’s the partisan element of football.
Conversely you’ll have Leeds United fans growing that they’ve had Boro’s pants down somewhat in getting Bamford. Yes they’ve had to pay £7million, rising to a possible £10million, for the privilege but Whites fans will still tell you that the Teesiders gave been dekegged somewhat.
Again, partisan opinion is in force when it comes to what Leeds fans think, and you’d expect no less. It’s a bit like watching Eurovision…allegedly…according to a friend…you can predict who votes for who…so they say. Middlesbrough or Leeds, Whites or Boro, you’ll never be able to separate the wheat of fact from the chaff of opinions.
Yet the question still remains: who’s struck out or struck gold in this case? It’s still a difficult one to judge when juggling with opinion. However, if it comes down to goals and goal threat then I think that Bamford just edges it over Hugill. Last season Bamford hit 11 and one assist against Hugill’s eight goals and two assists, even though he appeared for less time on the field.
If you look at performance at Championship level, again it’s a plus in Bamford’s favour. Bamford has featured in exactly 100 Championship games, scoring 36 goals and adding nine assists. In perfect comparison, Hugill has also featured in 100 Championship games, yet he’s scored just 23 goals and added four assists.
Now you can wax lyrical about other aspects that a striker brings to a game such as hold-up play, distribution, bringing others into the game etc. Yet when it comes down to it – goals are the cold, hard currency a striker deals in. Goals are what clubs want, goals are what fans expect.
Whilst they may not have had Boro’s pants down with the deal that landed Bamford, goals argue that Leeds United have potentially struck gold rather than struck out.
With Boro and Hugill, the jury’s still out on that one.
