Oh shiit. We're going Mario Mandzukic. Have no opinion on him what so ever.
Its a double whammy of no for me, we need a more creative 2nd forward type to replace Tevez (especially more so since we lack attacking creative midfielders), and Mario is the exact opposite. Plus we need a consistent and very clinical type of striker, and Mandzukic isnt that at all, his overall hardworking/tracking/aggressive pressuring and fighting style makes up for it a little (bit of a Vidal attitude for an attacker), but his scoring prowess besides one season in Bayern isnt someone who fires on all cylinders. Its fairly modest decent figures for a striker not much more. And if you are a targetman who waits for certain type of service, thats even less ideal, atleast if you usual norm is scoring 12-ish goals, you should be some kind of all around attacking weapon IMO. Even if he is still very good IMO, just not ideal for our needs probably.
Here's an interesting article about him:
http://www.squawka.com/news/why-more-premier-league-clubs-should-be-interested-in-mandzukic/394891
Transfer Analysis
He’s no Costa but more Premier League clubs should be after Mario Mandzukic
A double-winner and treble champion with Bayern Munich in 2013 and 2014, respectively, it’s seems strange that more effort hasn’t been put into bringing Mario Mandzukic to the Premier League by England’s biggest clubs.
Last summer, it was Atletico Madrid who made a move for the Croatian following the departure of Diego Costa to Chelsea after leading Diego Simeone’s team to unexpected success in the La Liga title race and a Champions League final appearance in May 2014.
Yet while the Brazilian-born Spain striker has gone on to collect another league-winners medal on top of the League Cup with the Blues in London, Mandzukic has been unable to fill the void as Madrid’s second-team fell back to the mean behind Barcelona and Real Madrid last season. In 28 appearances he scored 12 goals, compared to Costa’s 27 in 35, and now looks set to leave the Vicente Calderón Stadium after just one season, according to Guillem Balague via Sky Sports.
Though the former Bayern striker may disappointed his current employers by failing to match up to his predecessor’s predatory touch in front of goal, he can hardly be blamed for the club’s mistake of not understanding the player they were. Mandzukic does share many qualities with Costa, but if Atletico were working on the idea that similarities alone would lead to the former being as prolific as the latter then such a faulty assumptions was their own fault.
In the Bundesliga, the treble-winning striker forged a reputation for being one of the most hard-working and aggressive forwards in the league. Wolfsburg were his first port of call, joining the Volkswagon-backed club in 2010 from Dinamo Zagreb, having scored 42 goals in 81 appearances in the Croatian top-flight. His two campaigns with the Die W0lfe saw him fire home 20 goals across 56 league games — eight in 24 in 2010/11 and 12 in 32 in 2011/12, respectively — before catching the eye of Bayern, who were still seeking solutions to Borussia Dortmund’s reign of dominance over both of Germany’s premier domestic competitions.
The Bavarians sent his countryman Ivica Olic to other way to Wolfsburg, with the need for an industrious, canny goal-scorer fulfilled by the increasingly influential Thomas Muller, while Mario Gomez remained as their default front-man. Mandzukic arrived not as a clinical upgrade to their fire-power, or a superior target man, but as a striker whose exceptional stamina, athleticism and intensity off-the-ball would update Bayern’s forward-line with a player capable of tirelessly pressing opposing midfielders and defenders, while snatching whatever scraps they left behind.
When selected, he acted as the front-wheel drive of Jupp Heynckes’ side that season. His dynamism and work-rate pushed back and stretched defensive lines, helping to carve out more space and gaps for the likes of Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Muller to coalesce within and attack. Gomez remained in the frame too, making 21 league appearances compared to Mandzukic’s 24, while Claudio Pizarro — another new arrival that season — also managed 20, mostly off the bench, but it was the Croatian who proved to be the most transformative presence to the team’s style and flow up front.
All who stood in Bayern’s way to silverware that season ultimately failed as they won medals and broke records on the way to collecting the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League under Heynckes, who steered FC Hollywood to a blockbuster treble win: the first in German football history. In Europe, Mandzukic’s energy proved especially problematic. Though he only managed three goals against continental opposition, all came in the knock out stages.
He scored the third goal in Bayern’s 3-1 first-leg away win against Arsenal in the Round of 16 — the goal that ultimately won them the tie on the away goals rule following their shock 2-0 home defeat in the return fixture — the opener in their 2-0 away win against Juventus in the quarter-finals, and scored the first goal in the final at Wembley against Dortmund.
Yet besides the importance of these strikes, it was his efforts to closing defenders, win the ball and pressurise opponents into making mistakes and ceding ground that offered the greatest benefits to Heynckes’ team against the biggest sides in Europe. As well as slaying Arsenal and Juventus, they ran up a devastating 7-0 aggregate victory against Barcelona in the semi-finals, and though Gomez was preferred for their 4-0 home win in the first-leg, it was Mandzukic who was trusted to lead the line and disrupt the Catalan’s desire to play it out from the back at the Camp Nou. The result was another dominant win, this time with a 3-0 score-line, won through power, pace and precision on the counter and in the box by Bayern: attributes embodied by the indefatigable Croatian.
Pep Guardiola took over the dug out in the summer of 2013, and while it was made clear that the Spaniard was seeking to bring in a higher calibre replacement for him in the long-term, Mandzukic remained an assiduous feature of his front-line. Gomez was sold yet he continued to toil, and again finished as Bayern’s top-scorer in the league as they won another title with 18 goals in 30 appearances. In the Champions League, he scored three again, firing home the goal that opened the flood-gates against Manchester United at the Allianz Arena in the second-leg of the quarter-finals.
As a manager who appreciates the value of multi-functional players, especially those bring unorthodox interpretations of traditional positions to the field, Guardiola found plenty of use for Mandzukic in the short-term even if he didn’t fit into his overall plans for Bayern. However, their relationship was hardly easy-going. The striker himself wasn’t so sure about the direction of the team and its tactics post-Heynckes, stating in an interview with Croatian sports paper Sportske Novosti that he wanted to leave as “the playing style of coach Pep Guardiola simply does not fit […] In this type of football I cannot give my best”, as per Sueddeutsche.de.
When news came that Atletico wanted him to replace Costa, it seemed like an ideal solution to his situation. Here was a club in need of a combative lead striker, newly crowned as La Liga champions and with a manager more interested in creating a sharp, winning team than an over-complicated system that took away from individuals.
Unfortunately, neither the player nor the club seemed to find what they were looking for in the switch, with Mandzukic showing plenty of industry and bite off-the-ball but not enough instinct in front of goal. His ability to augment the play of those around him remained though, with his hard work partly paying off for Antoine Griezmann — signed from Real Sociedad — who scored 22 goals in 37 La Liga games often from behind or alongside the Croatian. The Frenchman is now garnering comparisons with Robben, the slick finishing winger that Mandzukic ran the yards for in Munich.
Reports suggest that Atletico now look set to sign Luciano Vietto from Villarreal to make up for their transfer window miss-step last summer, according to Cope.es, with their current No. 9 linked with a move away to Old Trafford by The Mail and other UK media outlets.
Though he may have failed as a replacement cutting edge to Costa in Spain, such an assignment was never an entirely natural fit for his best qualities. Up top for United, he would be an interesting addition, grafting away to give opportunities to Memphis Depay, Wayne Rooney and Angel Di Maria, but Liverpool could also do with his ferocity to finally make up for the loss of Luis Suarez’s tenacity rather than his prolific goal-scoring record. Arsenal too could benefit, with Mandzukic able to add a new, more powerful option to their attack alongside Olivier Giroud — their very own Gomez-like target-man — and the speed and movement of Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck. In front of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, he could help to rip teams asunder in front of similarly talent line of attacking midfielders much like how he used to during his time in Munich.
It’s something of a mystery as to why the Premier League haven’t taken a greater interest in the Croatian. He is battle-hardened, a workaholic in the final third and strong in the challenge. The directness and physicality of English football would suit him well, just as the German topflight proved to be a happy hunting ground for him and his assertive style of play.
Whatever happens, Atletico’s error looks likely to be another club’s gain, especially if this summer Mandzukic’s suitors understand the player that he is and the horsepower he can add to their attack next season.
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