In terms of pedigree Pierre-Michel Lasogga is probably near the top of the list for players signed during the summer transfer window of 2017. He was the last and he arrives with a chunk of his wages still being paid by Bundesliga club Hamburg, and he certainly won’t see this as anything but a chance to be starting every week.
In a way the deal is similar to the one for Felix Wiedwald who also arrived from the German Bundesliga, but from Werder Bremen. He was never coming to be anything but the number one in his position and despite the form of Rob Green last season it was naïve to think he would start over the new German keeper. Lasogga is coming here to play games and of all the new signings up front, he will be the one who expects to play every single week. I have no doubt Roofe will start the next few games but as the goals dry up I think Lasogga will get his chance. In theory he should be able to get goals at this level and the signing is one of the more interesting of the summer. The difference between Lasogga and Wiedwald is the sheer number of players in his position, Wiedwald was up against Green, Lasogga has Kemar Roofe, Caleb Ekuban, Jay-Roy Grot and new Pawel Cibicki in completion with him.
Lasogga doesn’t look like a target man but he does look very physical. He also seems like a character, I saw a tweet that he had scored as a 19-year-old at Hertha Berlin, and he ran to try to steal the microphone and announce his goal. He will know the expectation is for him to replace the goals that Chris Wood had scored but he has much more creativity and back-up around him, although many of those competing for his position are unknown and probably expect to be sat on the bench for spells this season. Roofe has done extremely well in the last few games and his presence in that position has meant we have had to stop the lazy long balls which often went forward towards Chris Wood, an easy option for the players at times, and especially the likes of Liam Cooper who has stepped up his game in recent weeks. Hopefully Lasogga will want balls to feet and can fit in with the impressive style being implemented by Thomas Christiansen.
