Tammy Abraham - almost done

[olaftab]

There is lot of revisionism here. Tammy is decent but a championship player in England who probably did no more than OK in Serie A. He is nowhere near Ollie level. He has very limited PL performance stats or experience. Roma have been farming him out for the last couple of seasons for a reason. He replaces a regular Champions League performer, Malen. So it's a massive gamble at this stage

The same regular CL performer we didn't even put in our CL squad a week after signing him?
Let's not rewrite history when it comes to Malen's impact with us. There's a reason Emery was happy to let him go.

He didn’t because we had Asensio and Rashford. And it’s a bit rich to say Unai “was happy” probably similar happy to when we lost Jacob.

[brontebilly]

I think we got the best of Durán. His form since has been erratic at best, despite generally playing against far inferior competition.

Agreed, he's a phenomenal talent. In that hot streak he had with us his goals were unbelievable. But talent alone isn't enough.

He was a ready made replacement for Watkins though, we are still looking for that. Not the only club considering what the likes of Arsenal and Man United spent last summer on far inferior forwards.

[VILLA MOLE]

Duran was always better as an impact player .  I don’t think he will ever be a team man who links up play

[N'ZMAV]

Duran will end up as a bit of a journeyman, similar to Abraham, but for different reasons.
I wish we'd somehow had kept Duran, but with him acting up at times and Watkins sulking it was never going to be possible.

[PeterWithesShin]

Duran will be a player that fans at every club he ever plays for will love because of what he can do, and they'll all say he could have been a great. And he'll have a lot of clubs, I wouldn't be surprised if he never does 3 years at one club.

[Pete3206]

Duran will end up as a bit of a journeyman, similar to Abraham, but for different reasons.
I wish we'd somehow had kept Duran, but with him acting up at times and Watkins sulking it was never going to be possible.

I agree with that. If Duran had stayed, he would improved under Emery. On Thursday, he drifted offside, wasn't on the same wavelength as his team mates, marked out of the game for long spells and lost his rag when things went against him. After being nervous about him before kick, he hardly worried me at all  during the match.

[nigel]

Comparing recent goalscoring records there’s also no comparison really. Would prefer to have kept Malen but this is clearly a financial decision.

I am feeling slightly more upbeat about him now though.

I'm not sure it is entirely financial, obviously we've had to stick to a budget but I think it's driven by thinking those wages and fee are more use on an outright centre forward than a Malen type.

Tanswell in that Athletic said Emery wants the tactical option of playing both Watkins and Abraham together.

Maybe, but he said the latter about Watkins and Duran and never got it close to working, before completely giving up on it. Hope it does though.

Duran, for me, wasn’t a team player.
Yes, he was great but he was certainly frustrating

[Crown Hill]

Duran will end up as a bit of a journeyman, similar to Abraham, but for different reasons.
I wish we'd somehow had kept Duran, but with him acting up at times and Watkins sulking it was never going to be possible.

I agree with that. If Duran had stayed, he would improved under Emery. On Thursday, he drifted offside, wasn't on the same wavelength as his team mates, marked out of the game for long spells and lost his rag when things went against him. After being nervous about him before kick, he hardly worried me at all  during the match.

I don’t think they were compatible after he refused to follow instructions in Monaco!

[john e]

I loved Duran when he was with us
but also knew he was bonkers and would never fulfill his potential he will earn a lot of money but won’t become the great he could have been