Profiling Europe's Most Wanted Strikers

This 2025 summer transfer window will be defined by the centre-forward market.

Not only are the biggest clubs desperate to bolster their frontline, but due to release clauses, expiring contracts, gentlemen’s agreements and other transfer jargon, it seems that there will be a pool of genuinely elite talent available.

Alexander Isak is at the top of every club’s wishlist, Hugo Ekitiké might be next. Both Viktor Gyökeres and Victor Osimhen are likely to move. Benjamin Šeško and Liam Delap are the most in-demand young strikers. Jonathan David is available on a free. Even Ollie Watkins seems gettable.

But how do you evaluate which centre-forward is right for your club? And who could you sign if you miss out on the first-choice target? These questions are at the core of the SCOUTED Archetypes project. Now, in partnership with Gemini Sports, we have mapped these profiles with Event Data allowing us to quickly categorise any striker from any league around the world as one of five Striker Archetypes.

Each player is scored out of 100 for the following Attributes based on their output across the past three seasons which is aggregated historically.

• Shot Location
• Shot Placement
• Passing
• Carrying
• Dribbling
• Aerial
• Pressing

The Archetype Score is calculated based on the Attribute Score according to custom weighting provided for each profile. As a result, each player receives a 0-100 rating for each of the five Striker Archetypes:

• Goal Hanger
• Power Forward
• Target Forward
• Wing Forward
• Combo Forward

At the heart of each SCOUTED Archetype is a specific superpower. Our flagship profile, the Power Forward, focusses on, you guessed it, power: running power, shooting power, physical power. That translates to Carrying and Shot Placement as the primary and secondary Attributes in the Gemini Sports app. Goal Hangers index heavily into Shot Location, while Target Forwards centre on Aerials and Wing Forwards lean into Dribbling. Finally, although the Combo Forward is most well-rounded, Pressing is the key focus.

We can also use the Gemini Player Rating (GPR) to compare each player’s general standing in the game. GPR is a league -adjusted 0-100 metric that evaluates how above-average a player is when compared to others in the same position, combining the player's impact on their team's Expected Goal Difference (xGD) with an evaluation of every on-ball action. For context, the top three strikers in our data sample are Harry Kane (89.6), Alexander Isak (84.6) and Erling Haaland (83.9). A pretty good trio.

Put all of this together and we are able to rapidly build focussed shortlists ready for the next stage of the recruitment process. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Gemini is flexible and data agnostic, providing plug-and-play value regardless of what event, tracking, or physical data the user has to hand. For these SCOUTED Archetypes, Gemini provided sample event data from StatsBomb.

This is a window into how to streamline the first phase of the modern scouting process. Let’s profile the striker market.

The below graphic shows the Attribute Scores for the eight centre-forwards I name-checked at the start of the article. The players are sorted by their GPR and I have highlighted their primary and secondary Attributes, based on Scores.

The next graphic displays their Archetype Scores with the primary Archetype highlighted.

Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyökeres and Jonathan David were categorised as Power Forwards. Hugo Ekitiké, Victor Osimhen and Ollie Watkins profiled as Goal Hangers. But perhaps the most fascinating result is Liam Delap, the lone Wing Forward. Let’s deal with that first.

The reason for Delap’s Wing Forward tag is that his superpower is Carrying and his secondary trait is Dribbling, a combination that moves the needle from Power Forward to Wing Forward. I hypothesise that factoring in physical markers such as height and top speed would shift Delap back towards the Power Forward tag. This is why it is important to evaluate scores across all Attributes and Archetypes.

Even then, there is just a 1.7 point difference between his Score for Wing Forward (66.6) and Power Forward (64.9), while his proficiency for Carrying and his Dribbling is something that should be platformed for success by any club looking to sign him. After all, only Gyökeres and Isak can better his Score for either Attribute.

Interestingly, Delap and Gyökeres are the only players on our Most Wanted list that have Carrying as their superpower. When considering this alongside their size, speed and verticality, you begin to build an image of a human Battering Ram - the more colourful description of the Power Forward. For further context, Gyökeres has the highest Carrying Attribute Score of any player on the Gemini database and the highest Power Forward score of any player tagged as that Archetype in the app. He is the undisputed Poster Boy.

So, what about Benjamin Šeško? The Slovenian has been documented as Arsenal’s top transfer target since last summer. However, Andrea Berta’s appointment as Sporting Director has seen reported interest shift towards Gyökeres. Considering that Šeško has the lowest Carrying Attribute Score and lowest Power Forward Archetype Score - Gyökeres tops both lists - this switch does not seem to make too much sense. Let’s compare these two players with Arsenal’s current first-choice striker, Kai Havertz.

Havertz’s primary Archetype is Target Forward, with Pressing and Shot Location as his primary and secondary attributes. At face value, Šeško profiles much closer to Havertz than Gyökeres, especially when considering that the Slovenian has the best Aerial Attribute score within our Most Wanted list; Havertz himself scores 68.9.

The final point to consider about Šeško is that he has the smallest standard deviation between Archetype Scores within our shortlist. On one hand, you could argue that this makes him the most malleable, or a bridge between Gyökeres and Havertz. On the other, you could argue a lack of specialisation is simply due to the fact he does not score highly for any particular Archetype. This also applies to his Attributes to an extent, with Sesko the only player that does not score above 70 in at least one Attribute, with Pressing and Shot Placement the only two above 60.

Perhaps Berta's switch to Gyökeres could represent the desire to add a contrasting profile to his existing option. Perhaps Arteta's interest in Šeško is based on the potential to develop a striker in his vision. At the core of that dream is athleticism and physicality. Upon request, Gemini shared that Sesko has the highest rating for their Physical Score. This time, he is the only player to break 70. Bingo.

Arsenal must take all of this into consideration before making their pick. It’s a huge, expensive decision. But profiling players with Attributes and Archetypes helps to make it an informed one. You never know, maybe they will submit a nine-figure bid for Alexander Isak? He might just be worth it.

First of all, Isak is the only player that scores 70+ across five different Attributes: Shot Location, Shot Placement, Carrying, Dribbling and Pressing. When building these Archetype scores, we discussed the potential for a player that ranks this highly across multiple Archetypes to be awarded a ‘Complete’ badge of honour; Isak is deserving of that title.

If Šeško is a jack of all trades, Isak emerges as a Master of Most. Not only does he have the highest GPR in our shortlist, he is the closest to scoring 70+ across four Archetypes. This is why Newcastle United can and will demand a league-record fee for his services.

To a lesser extent, this is why Hugo Ekitiké is the perfect Isak alternative. The eye test will tell you they are similar: the slender frame, the smooth dribbling and the silky touches are synonymous with both players. The Archetype tests confirm it: Ekitiké is also well-rounded, if not yet deserving of that Complete badge. Although the Shot metrics rank as his primary and secondary Attributes, it is worth highlighting that Ekitiké has the highest Passing score within this shortlist - Isak is second.

This is what separates Ekitiké from Victor Osimhen, the only other striker on this shortlist with Shot Location and Shot Placement as primary and secondary Attributes. Osimhen is the purest form of Goal Hanger.

The Nigerian may not profile as the highest-scoring Goal Hanger, but the fact he scores at least 18.5 points more for Shot Location and Shot Placement than any other Attribute is a signal that he is a bonafide poacher.

Again, other players rank higher in each of these two metrics, but Osimhen’s distribution is unique. Any club looking to sign a goal-getter, a centre-forward that pitches a tent in the penalty area and turns loose balls into genuine chances should be submitting a bid. Osimhen’s relatively high score as a Target Forward further highlights his proficiency as a box presence.

Interestingly, however, Ollie Watkins posts the highest score for this Archetype and shares the same hierarchy as both Osimhen and Šeško:

1. Goal Hanger
2. Power Forward
3. Target Forward

His shortlist-leading Shot Location Attribute is unsurprising given the reputation he has built in the past few seasons - a reminder that he ranks third for GPR within this shortlist. However, a decent haul of assists in this timeframe may inflate perception about his Passing, Watkins is our lowest-scorer for this Attribute.

That being said, the centre-forward role for Unai Emery’s Aston Villa maximises his skillset, setting him up to attack large spaces in behind - with and without the ball - and forge a solo path to goal. In an ideal world, he does not need to pass. After all, Watkins’ third-best Attribute is Pressing and it was Jürgen Klopp that once said: “No playmaker in the world can be as good as a good gegenpressing situation, and that's why it's so important.”

That outlook makes Jonathan David, who has scored 25+ goals across all competitions in each of the past three seasons, appear as the most enticing option: the Canadian has the highest Pressing Score in the Gemini database. And he's available on a free.

Newly-crowned Premier League champions Liverpool could do much worse than take a punt on this free transfer. Especially if they part ways with either Darwin Núñez or Diogo Jota. Definitely if they get rid of both.

The only thing to consider is that just as Delap’s physical profile may move him towards the Power Forward Archetype, David’s would likely take him away. But that database-leading Pressing Attribute contributes to the third-best Combo Forward score while his Shot Location score suggests he would be a decent Goal Hanger.

To me, that sounds exactly like the profile Liverpool will be searching for this summer.

Using this summer’s most wanted centre-forwards, we have introduced how Gemini Sports can help profile styles of play and evaluate suitability to a specific tactic or role. The only issue is that these players are in-demand for a reason.

Fortunately, all of this information is just a few clicks away in the Gemini app, enabling us to sort by Attributes, Archetypes, Transfer Value, Contract Length and Age. So, next time, with help from the Similar Players feature, we will explore the best U23 alternatives to sign instead of the high-profile names that will dominate the back pages.

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