With Mario Balotelli set to join the club and Roque Santa Cruz looking like the striker to make way out of last season’s first team squad it might be reasonable to assume they’re a straight swap. Yet is that the case?
Despite his powerful physique, Balotelli doesn’t play the role of target man which Santa Cruz was supposed to fill. Instead the positions he occupies are closer to those of Craig Bellamy. Namely he’s primarily a striker but often played on the flanks where his pace, skill and powerful shooting allow him to cut in and augment the strikers.