Ched & Big Fel follow Jo & Sturridge out of the door

To the disappointment of journalists and fans of other clubs up and down the country, two more strikers have left the club today, reducing our alleged options in that department to 900 or so. Ched Evans has joined Sheffield United in a deal that could eventually net the club £3m, and Ecuadorian workhorse Felipe Caicedo has signed for Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon on a one-year loan.

Both deals make sense to me. Evans has demonstrated his ability to score goals at Championship level, but never really looked Premier League quality when given the chance, though to be fair to him they were mainly from the bench. He'd have possibly been as low as 7th or 8th choice this season, so it's probably best for all parties for him to move on, as much as a youth team graduate leaving the club is always a disappointment. Saying that, the £3m we should get for him is a good price for a player who has only scored one goal for the senior side. I'd imagine this sort of figure might fund the Academy for a further year or two.

Caicedo's a player who i'm really quite unsure about. He certainly looked useful towards the end of last season, scoring several important goals, and really getting stuck in. He does seem to lack any sort of finesse, but he's certainly a handful, and a year ago we probably wouldn't have even been debating wether or not he was worth hanging onto, so fair play to him for knuckling down. Sometimes sides just need a proper centre-forward, a bit of a lump upfront, someone who can drag defenders about, smash them up a bit and generally unsettle tham. Caicedo looked like a player well capable of doing that, and were it not for us signing two proven targetman in recent weeks, i'd have been perfectly happy to see him stay at the club, probably as a useful option from the bench more than as an immediate starter.

So that's four strikers gone in as many weeks, admittedly for little return but i'm not sure that's really a concern nowadays. We still probably have one too many, and i expect The Boj might follow Ched & Felipe, which in one sense will be a shame, but sensible in another with his propensity to pick up serious knocks. He's a player i like, he appears to have a hunger, and a good deal of ability, but realistically he's sixth choice as things stand, so any cash offer would probably have to be considered. As for Benjani, well, i'll gladly carry him to whichever club wants him.

Our forward line does now at least appear to be looking both healthy and almost free of dead wood. Top sides, though we'd admit to not being one yet, but sure hope to be in the near future, need at least four. United, Chelsea and Arsenal all have five or six, so our options perhaps aren't as OTT in that department as people appear keen to make out. Clubs need two good players in each position, i expect Adebayor & Santa Cruz will vie for one slot, Tevez & Bellamy the other, with Robinho & SWP starting on each flank. If we stick with a three upfront, then the wingers simply push up and fight for those places either side of whoever's leading the line, with Nigel de Jong coming into a three-man midfield behind Barry & Ireland. Either way, i don't think a Premier League side having a few attacking options is really that newsworthy.

Good luck to Ched, i'm sure he'll do well at Sheffield United, and hopefully Felipe will return a better player in a year's time after gaining some valuable European experience.