Goalscorers – every club wants one but they are perhaps the most difficult piece of the jigsaw to find.
Birmingham City could use another centre-forward this summer to lighten the load on Jay Stansfield and ensure they have the firepower to compete at the top of the Championship.
But they won’t be the only Championship club searching for a striker.
What do Stoke City need more than anything else? “A mercurial, powerful, goal-scoring striker who can put defenders on their backsides and get fans on their feet,” says Stoke reporter Pete Smith.
And Derby County? “A new attack,” DerbyshireLive’s Leigh Curtis explains. “The problems Derby had last season wasn't so much defensively, but at the other end of the pitch. John Eustace did a remarkable job when you consider the leading scorer only had 10 goals which was Jerry Yates, who was followed by Ebou Adams with six.
“Nearly half of the goals Derby scored in the Championship last season were from set-pieces and Eustace effectively had to play the hand he was dealt. He wasn't given much in terms of firepower and that needs to change.”
The truth is the art of the goal-scoring centre-forward has been lost in the Championship in recent years. There either aren’t many about, or clubs aren’t getting the best out of them.
The top scorer in last season’s Championship was Leeds United’s Joël Piroe with 19 goals from 46 matches. They aren’t exactly stunning statistics. The next striker on the list is Josh Sargent who managed 15 in 32 for Norwich City. Again, good numbers but not out of the ordinary.
Remarkably, no other centre-forward in the league scored more than 13 goals.
Teams are clearly trying to create attacking units that share the goals, rather than one centre-forward who scores three times as many goals as any of his teammates.
Blues were very much like that in League One. Stansfield got 19, Alfie May managed 15, Keshi Anderson seven and Tomoki Iwata six.
It is a safer bet than lumping on your centre-forward to score 30 goals.
Of course, it would be nice to have one – and half the Championship will be searching for one this summer – but promotion-winning teams have proved that having one isn’t the be-all-and-end-all.
Leeds had three players in double figures, Burnley had two, as did third-placed Sheffield United. Having more than one goalscorer is seemingly the key to Championship success these days.
Still, finding a 20-goal man isn’t going to hurt, is it?
What should be Blues' priority in the summer transfer window? Have your say HERE
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