In a summer when all the focus is on the likes of Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko, there are a cast of strikers flying under the radar.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United are all looking at No 9s and trying to find the right deal for them. Chelsea haven’t completely ruled out another striker after Liam Delap’s arrival, either.

But the aforementioned protagonists of the window are being priced anywhere from £70m to well north of £100m. Surely there are some alternatives that wouldn’t break the bank to this degree?

Well, we decided to take a look at the numbers – and this is what we found…

Rodrigo Muniz

Muniz has been unfortunate not to play more for Fulham over the past year – and a post on the club’s social media channels unwittingly shone a light on this at the end of the season.

The graphic celebrated how many Premier League goals Fulham’s two main strikers had scored. Raul Jimenez, the first choice, had 12 in 30 starts, while Muniz had eight in eight.

Considering three of Jimenez’s goals were scored from penalties, and Muniz didn’t take a spot-kick for Fulham, then the Brazilian’s record becomes even more impressive.

Broaden the comparison further and the numbers will shock you: excluding penalty goals, Muniz has the best strike rate per 90 of anyone in the Premier League (0.76) to have played at least 20 per cent of available minutes this season.

Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak, arguably two of the most valuable strikers in world football, are closest behind him with a return of 0.62 per 90.

Even when you include penalties, Muniz ranks second to Mohamed Salah, Premier League top scorer last season, narrowly ahead on 0.77 after scoring nine times from the spot.

Muniz is right up there in terms of Expected Goals per 90 too, ranking fifth in the Premier League when penalties are excluded – a clear indication that he is consistently getting into good goalscoring opportunities.

Well over 6ft, Muniz is also a handful for defenders, shown in his unique ability to win both aerial duels and fouls at a higher rate than almost anyone in the Premier League. Handy when leading the line.

He ranks second for aerial duels won per 90 (6.34) and seventh for fouls won per 90 (2.93) – but when you measure player performance across both metrics, Muniz stands alone among other strikers.

So why has he not played more? Well, the numbers suggest Marco Silva tends to prioritise experience. His Fulham teams have been the second-oldest on average over the past two seasons – and were the oldest the season before.

Perhaps for Muniz, who turned 24 in May, that has counted against him in the battle with 34-year-old Jimenez for minutes. Silva can point to a steady progression as a sign that his methods are working after recording his best points return at Fulham.

But Muniz also has a strong case to say he deserves more minutes. These numbers suggest he is the under-the-radar striker in the Premier League.
Zinny Boswell

Yoane Wissa

Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak… and Wissa!

The Brentford striker ranked alongside the players regarded as the best three attacking options in the Premier League last term for Expected chances, showing his knack for being in the right place at the right time.

His 18 Premier League goals this season shows he is at the top of his game. So is he the right man at the right time for anyone other than Brentford?

Wissa’s Brentford situation is a complex one. The Bees have already lost Thomas Frank to Tottenham Hotspur and Bryan Mbeumo is all but guaranteed to join him through the exit door. Losing a third key player may just be one too much for the Bees, even with players like Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago waiting in the wings next term.

But then again, Wissa has one year left on his Brentford contract, with this summer representing the last chance for Brentford to get a fee for a player who turns 29 come the end of the window.

Nottingham Forest tested Brentford’s waters with a £22m bid in January, which was instantly rejected. How would the Bees react if a similar bid came this summer?

Do they gamble on Wissa delivering more goals in what is an important season for the club then lose him for free? Or do they cut their losses and completely rebuild the front line? The £60m fee they are anticipating for Bryan Mbeumo may dictate what Brentford do with Wissa.

Speaking of Mbeumo, he has an important part to play in Wissa’s future. The pair have developed quite a rapport – so much so that they became next door neighbours in their south-west London neighbourhood.

Wissa may not be able to deliver the same numbers he produced last season if he is playing for a different team to Mbeumo, which is something for prospective new clubs to consider.

But if a club puts money on the table and Wissa keeps on scoring, then they could get themselves the bargain of the summer.
Sam Blitz

Mika Biereth

Arsenal opted to cash in on Biereth when they sold him to Austrian side Sturm Graz for around £4m last summer. They reportedly banked a further £2m thanks to a sell-on clause when he joined Monaco a few months after that.

But would they have been better off holding on to him?

As the Gunners struggled through the second half of last season without a recognised striker due to injuries, Biereth was busy scoring 13 goals in 16 Ligue 1 games for Monaco, having hit 11 in 16 in the Austrian Bundesliga earlier in the campaign.

Since the start of January, the 22-year-old’s total of 13 goals puts him behind only Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy in Europe’s top-five leagues and level with Ballon d’Or contender Ousmane Dembele.

Biereth, a clinical finisher with pace and power, now has a reputation as one of the best young strikers around.

Having excelled in France without the need for a bedding-in period, he has also offered encouragement to any potential suitors from stronger leagues in search of firepower.

There are some question marks around his technical ability and link play. Biereth does not offer a huge amount in general play. His pass completion rate stands at a lowly 60 per cent. But his scoring record speaks for itself. Could Arsenal’s loss be another club’s gain this summer?
Nick Wright

Vangelis Pavlidis

Arsenal and Manchester United are linked with Sporting’s goal machine Viktor Gyokeres – but there’s another striker in the Portuguese Primeira Liga making waves: Benfica’s Pavlidis.

Domestically, the Greece international has reached double digits for goals in six successive seasons, scoring 29 in the Eredivisie during 2023/24 to help AZ Alkmaar achieve a fourth-place finish, and netting 19 for Benfica this term.

He’s exceeded 20 goal involvements every season for the past four years.

In addition to his impressive goal ratio, the report card below reveals the 26-year-old also ranks among the elite in creating chances for team-mates, regaining possession in the final third, and, intriguingly, in completing long passes from deep.

The scatter chart below pits him on par with Gyokeres for winning possession high up the pitch, and only just shy of Real Madrid speedster Kylian Mbappe for goal involvements per 90 minutes.

However, the Primeira Liga was rated the eighth-strongest league in the world last season – trailing Europe’s top five leagues, the English Championship and the Belgian Pro League – according to Opta Power Ratings,

Those numbers suggest Pavlidis primarily faced opponents comparable in quality to relegation-threatened sides or weaker from Europe’s elite leagues.

As a result, questions remain over whether Pavlidis could replicate his prolific scoring form in the Premier League – but the numbers suggest he could be a gamble worth taking.
Adam Smith

Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games from next season

From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.

And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.