5 Possible Replacements for Gary Madine

Omar Bogle, 24, 6ft 3 - Cardiff City

The Cardiff City front man is perhaps the most likely on all the list as he is currently a prime candidate to be superseded by the arriving, Gary Madine. Bogle made a name for himself at Grimsby Town scoring 38 goals in 83 games across the National League and League 2. This prompted a move to Wigan where he failed to relive his goal-scoring exploits but also had a lack of game time. Follwoing from Wigan’s relegation Cardiff snapped him up for £700k where 3 goals in 10 league games. He is regarded as being good at dribbling, decent with both feet and best at scoring with his head. The press have stated that we want Bogle in return as well as cash for Madine and it makes sense to me.

Matt Smith, 28, 6ft 6 - QPR

Smith is currently at Queens Park Rangers having been at a host of clubs during his career. His first big move took him to Leeds United where he amassed 12 goals in his best Championships season. From there he got a big money move to Fulham where he ultimately flopped. He has 10 goals in 38 games over the course of 3 seasons with his current club, QPR which is alright but perhaps not prolific enough to save us. If he can capture the form of a few years ago however he could be a very good signing. He’s big and can certainly win a header or two but does lack the mobility of Madine. He has the most experience by far but would QPR sell to relegation rival cheap enough for us?

Tom Eaves, 26, 6ft 5 - Gillingham

No I’m not joking so please stop laughing. The former Wanderer has had a mixed career in terms of scoring. Some clubs he’ll go to (such as Bristol Rovers or Shrewsbury) and score nearly every other game whilst other moves would see him barely score at all. This lack of consistency ultimately led to his departure from Wanderers which seems to have been the right move for his career. He had a bad stop off with Yeovil in League 2 but was then signed by League 1 Gillingham in the summer. There he has amassed 12 goals in 25 games pushing him amongst the top scorers of the division. We know he works his socks off, we know he’s well built and he’s proven he can be prolific at the level below us. Can he step up? I think yes. The only question mark that remains is whether has he found that consistency now or is there a chance he’d run dry if he moves again.

Paul Onuachu, 23, 6ft 7 - FC Midtjylland

Now for some more uncommon names that Wanderers could potentially look at, Onuachu is the tallest on the list and perhaps the one with the greatest potential. He is currently applying his craft in the Danish Superliga. His goal-scoring stats are very impressive for someone that young with 32 goals in 93 games for the Danish club.

Whilst YouTube is by no means the best scouting tool, you can see what he’s all about in this video - absolute headers galore. What is striking is how good he is with the ball at his feet however. The Danish club would unlikely want to see him leave but given the stature of the league, could be convinced with <£3 million of the £6 million we’ll get from Madine.

Bjørn Maars Johnsen, 26, 6ft 5 - ADO Den Haag

A name that some of you may recognise for two reasons: 1. he used to play in the SPL for Hearts. 2. We’ve been linked with him before. The half American, half Norwegian striker was signed by Hearts in the 2016/17 season and had a less than stellar year with 5 goals in 34 games. The stats are a bit misleading however given many of those appearances were from the bench and were under a manager who had a public spat with him. It was then that we were linked with the front man with Parky apparently very keen on the lad. ( http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/06/30/report-bolton-wanderers-weighing-up-move-for-hearts-bjorn-johnse/ )

Wanderers passed up for whatever reason and so Bjorn went to Holland to play in their top league, The Eredivisie. He has been a revelation there this season finding himself near the top of the scoring charts with 8 goals in 19 games. Having impressed there Wanderers might find it hard to come up with the cash for the inform striker but it’s clear that he’s on Parky’s radar so watch this space maybe.