In the 73rd minute at Old Trafford on a wet October night in 2025-26, Viktor Gyokeres stood with his back to goal, took a 40-yard diagonal on his chest, held off two centre-backs for four full seconds, and laid it into Bukayo Saka’s stride. Saka finished. Arsenal won. Three matches later, Mikel Arteta called the sequence “the one we have been missing for a decade.” Eight months after that, Arsenal lifted the Premier League trophy for the first time in 22 years – with a Swedish centre-forward most of England had laughed at in August leading their line.
That five-second hold-up is the entire argument for the target man revival sweeping elite football right now. Erling Haaland is doing it at Manchester City. Hugo Ekitike is doing it at Liverpool. Benjamin Sesko is being asked to do it at Manchester United. The role that died in the False 9 era has been resurrected – not as a relic, but as a structural answer to the problem high-press football created.
In simple terms: The target man revival is the return of the physically dominant centre-forward, now blended with mobility, pressing intensity, and link-up technique that the old archetype lacked.
This article breaks down why the role came back, who the new template players are, the data behind their impact, and where the model still breaks.
Key Takeaways
- Arsenal’s 2025-26 Premier League title was built on a target man: Per the Premier League’s official statistics, Viktor Gyökeres scored 14 league goals in his debut season and provided the physical anchor Arteta had publicly been chasing since 2022 – ending Arsenal’s 22-year title drought.
- Haaland is the highest-functioning target man in football history: Per FotMob, Erling Haaland recorded 27 Premier League goals and 8 assists in 2,958 minutes across 2025-26, combining the aerial dominance of Drogba with sprint speed and pressing intensity no traditional target man ever produced.
- The high press created the gap the target man fills: Modern centre-backs are now elite passers under pressure – the only reliable way to disrupt them is a forward who can press, win second balls, and physically dominate the first defensive line.
- Hold-up play is the new playmaking: Per The Analyst, Hugo Ekitike averages 37.6 touches per 90 in the Premier League – the second-highest of any central forward in the league behind Joao Pedro – because the target man is now the team’s most advanced creator, not just its finisher.
- The revival is not universal: Alexander Isak’s £125m struggle at Liverpool (two Premier League goals in 508 minutes) shows the role still depends on system fit, service quality, and the kind of midfield runners who arrive into space the target man creates.
Table of Contents
- What Is the Modern Target Man?
- Why the Role Came Back: Reading the High Press in Reverse
- The Arsenal Case: How Gyökeres Anchored a Title-Winning Side
- The Haaland Template: Why City Built Around a Target Man
- The Hybrid Profile: Speed, Press, and Aerial Dominance Combined
- Where the Revival Breaks: The Isak Problem
- Final Thoughts
- What Do You Think?
- Related Tactical Breakdowns
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Modern Target Man?
A modern target man is a centre-forward whose primary tactical function is to receive, shield, and redistribute possession high up the pitch while still scoring goals at an elite rate. The role keeps the old archetype’s physical and aerial demands but adds three new requirements that did not exist in the Drogba-Crouch-Zlatan era: front-foot pressing, vertical mobility into the channels, and the technical ability to combine in tight spaces.
The distinction from the traditional version is structural. A 2008 target man waited for the ball, won the header, and let others run. A 2025-26 target man is the team’s first defender, its most advanced playmaker, and its primary aerial threat in the same shift. The shorthand industry term is “hybrid nine,” but the function is older than the label: a focal point who concentrates the opposition’s defensive attention so teammates can operate in the spaces he vacates or creates.
For the foundational comparison with the role most often contrasted against this archetype, see our False 9 vs Target Man breakdown, which defines the philosophical split this article extends into the modern revival.
Why the Role Came Back: Reading the High Press in Reverse
The target man came back because high-press football solved one problem and created another. Pep Guardiola’s 2010s revolution taught defenders to play through pressure with composed passing from deep, and the rest of Europe followed. By 2023, every elite centre-back was expected to play 92-percent passing accuracy under sustained press. The press itself stopped working as a turnover machine because defenders simply played around it.
The structural answer was a forward who could break that composure physically. A target man pressing the first defender does not need to win the ball – he needs to force a hurried decision, deflect a pass, or win the second ball after a clearance. That changes the entire dynamic of how out-of-possession teams attack restart situations.
The second driver was the long ball’s return as a counter-press tool. When a team like Arsenal or Manchester City wins possession in the opponent’s half, the fastest exit from concentrated pressing is a direct ball into a striker who can hold, win the duel, and reset the attack. Per The Analyst’s coverage of Hugo Ekitiké, this is exactly the function Arne Slot built Liverpool’s structure around: only three players in the Premier League have more than his 1.14 shot-ending carries per 90 in 2025-26. Carrying out of pressure is a target man function rebranded as ball progression. The Analyst
The Arsenal Case: How Gyökeres Anchored a Title-Winning Side
Arsenal spent four seasons under Mikel Arteta winning matches without a dominant centre-forward. They finished second twice. The pattern was always the same: brilliant build-up, refined chance creation, then the final 15 minutes of a tight match where they could not bully a low block. Arteta signed Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting CP in July 2025 for a reported £64 million, and the structural problem was solved.
Gyökeres did not arrive as a finished article. Per data from xgStat, his Premier League season produced 14 goals from an expected goals (xG) total of approximately 11.2 – elite finishing efficiency for a debut campaign in England’s top flight. More importantly, his physical profile – 6’1″, left-footed, sprint speed in the top quartile for Premier League forwards – allowed Arsenal to play more direct when the build-up route was blocked, without changing their underlying possession identity.
The title-winning sequence in May 2026 confirmed Manchester City finishing as runners-up after a draw with Bournemouth, and Arsenal’s wider 2025-26 campaign ended their 22-year Premier League drought. Arteta’s side also reached the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, set for May 30 in Budapest.
The Gyökeres Data Profile (Premier League, 2025-26)
| Metric | Gyökeres (Arsenal) | Haaland (Man City) | Ekitiké (Liverpool) |
|---|---|---|---|
| League goals | 14 | 27 | 11 |
| Minutes played | ~3,000 | 2,958 | ~2,400 |
| Goals per 90 | ~0.42 | ~0.82 | ~0.41 |
| Aerial duel profile | High volume | Elite | Mobile/aerial mix |
| Hold-up role weight | Primary anchor | Box-finisher hybrid | Carrying playmaker |
Data reflects 2025-26 Premier League season figures sourced from FotMob, The Analyst, and Premier League official statistics. Individual season and competition variance applies.
The Haaland Template: Why City Built Around a Target Man
Erling Haaland is the most extreme proof point for the revival because Pep Guardiola – the architect of False 9 football – spent his final seasons at Manchester City constructing the team around a 6’4″ Norwegian who functions as the most modern version of the role. Per FotMob, Haaland’s 2025-26 Premier League production reached 27 goals, 8 assists, and 2,958 minutes at an average rating of 7.68, combining aerial dominance with the sprint speed and pressing intensity no traditional target man ever produced. FotMob
The Haaland template is not classical target-man play. He does not drop deep to combine; he does not knock balls down for runners; he does not function as a possession outlet. What he does is occupy two centre-backs at all times, win the central aerial battles, and arrive at the end of every move with sprint power that allows him to convert chances most strikers never reach. The structural effect is identical to a 2008 target man – he concentrates defensive attention – but the mechanism is updated for a sport that now runs at a higher tempo.
Guardiola’s late-career evolution toward this profile is the strongest signal that the revival is structural, not nostalgic. The same coach who built Barcelona around Lionel Messi as a False 9 spent his final City years winning trophies by feeding crosses to a target man.
The Hybrid Profile: Speed, Press, and Aerial Dominance Combined
The new template at the top of the elite tier shares four traits the old archetype rarely combined: height above 6’2″, recovery sprint speed in the top quartile for forwards, pressing intensity above 18 pressures per 90, and aerial duel win rate above 55 percent. Players who hit three of the four become elite; players who hit all four become title-winning anchors.
Benjamin Sesko, signed by Manchester United for £74 million from RB Leipzig in August 2025, sits inside this profile by physical measurement. At 6’5″ with a recorded Bundesliga sprint speed of 35.69 km/h, his ceiling matches the template. His Premier League output through his first 19 appearances under Ruben Amorim has been five goals – an adjustment phase that mirrors Gyökeres’s slow start at Arsenal before the November breakthrough. The physical profile is correct. The system fit is unresolved.
The deeper point is that the modern target man is no longer a Plan B for direct teams. He is the Plan A for elite possession sides who need a way to threaten in transition, dominate restart situations, and concentrate defensive attention. This is a structural promotion of the role, not a stylistic preference.
Where the Revival Breaks: The Isak Problem
The £125 million counter-evidence is Alexander Isak at Liverpool. Signed on transfer deadline day in September 2025 as the British transfer record, Isak has scored two Premier League goals in 508 minutes across an injury-disrupted debut season, including a broken leg sustained in December. The Liverpool campaign overall has been disappointing – per Wikipedia’s 2025-26 Liverpool season summary, the club finished fifth in the 2025-26 Premier League and exited the Champions League at the quarter-finals.
Isak is not a target man failure – he is a target man mismatch. His Newcastle profile was built on running channels behind defensive lines that pressed high, with quick midfield service from Sandro Tonali and Joelinton. Liverpool under Arne Slot wanted a hold-up forward who could function as a central reference point in extended possession sequences – the role Hugo Ekitiké has actually filled, scoring 11 Premier League goals as the club’s leading scorer. Two strikers, one position, two completely different roles, and the wrong one was the record signing.
The Isak case clarifies what the revival actually requires. A target man works when the system around him is designed to feed his strengths. Drogba worked at Chelsea because Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda played the runs his hold-up created. Gyökeres works at Arsenal because Saka, Martinelli, and Martin Ødegaard arrive into the spaces his physical presence opens. Isak does not work at Liverpool because the service and the runners are built for a different forward profile – the one Ekitiké provides.
The revival, in short, is not a guarantee. Buying a target man does not produce target-man football. The system has to do its half of the job.
Final Thoughts
The target man never died. He went into hibernation while football briefly believed the False 9 had solved striker selection, then came back with a faster sprint and a pressing trigger. What looks like nostalgia is actually evolution – the role survived because the structural problem it solves never went away. High-press defenders still need to be physically disrupted. Concentrated low blocks still need to be unsettled. Direct counter-attacks still need a focal point who can hold the ball under pressure for four seconds while the team gets up the pitch.
The lesson of the 2025-26 season is that the modern target man is not the second choice of teams that cannot play through pressure. He is the first choice of teams that can play through pressure and also need a way to break it physically when the moment demands. Arsenal’s title proves the case. Haaland’s 27 goals confirm it. Isak’s struggle proves only that the right player needs the right system. The argument is over. The target man is back at the top of the elite table – and he is not leaving.
What Do You Think?
If Liverpool had signed Viktor Gyökeres on deadline day instead of Alexander Isak for the same £125 million fee, would the title race have looked different? Gyökeres’s physical profile matches the carriers and runners Slot already had – Ekitiké, Cody Gakpo, Dominik Szoboszlai – while Isak’s profile required a different midfield. Drop your take below.
Related Tactical Breakdowns
False 9 vs Target Man: Two Opposing Theories of the Striker Why it connects: This article extends the target man side of that foundational comparison into the 2025-26 elite revival – the False 9 article defines what the role is; this one defines why it came back.
The Decline of the Traditional #10 Why it connects: The same structural forces that ended the classic playmaker – high pressing, vertical tempo, physical compression in central zones – are what created the conditions for the target man’s revival.
Pep Guardiola’s Final Third Mechanics Why it connects: Guardiola spent his final City years building around Haaland – the most extreme proof that even the architect of False 9 football now needs a target man to win at the elite tier.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the target man making a comeback in modern football? The target man is back because high-press football created a structural gap that only a physically dominant forward can fill. Modern centre-backs play under sustained pressure with elite passing accuracy, so the only reliable way to disrupt their build-up is a forward who can press them, win second balls, and physically dominate aerial duels in restart situations. The role concentrates defensive attention and creates space for fast midfield runners to exploit.
Who are the best target men in football today? Erling Haaland at Manchester City is the most complete version, combining the highest goal output (27 Premier League goals in 2025-26) with aerial dominance and pressing intensity. Viktor Gyökeres at Arsenal anchored the club’s 2025-26 Premier League title win. Hugo Ekitiké emerged as Liverpool’s leading scorer with 11 league goals. Benjamin Sesko at Manchester United fits the physical template at 6’5″, though his Premier League adjustment continues under Ruben Amorim.
What is the difference between a target man and a false 9? A target man stays high as the central reference point and physically dominates defenders. A False 9, in the Pep Guardiola Barcelona template Lionel Messi made famous, drops deep toward midfield to draw centre-backs out of position. The target man holds his ground to create space for others through physical presence; the False 9 vacates his ground to create space for others through positional disruption. The orientation of movement is opposite.
How does a modern target man differ from a traditional one? A traditional target man (Didier Drogba, Niall Quinn, John Toshack) was built on physical dominance, aerial ability, and hold-up play, with limited expectations for defensive work or mobility. A modern target man retains all those traits but adds three new requirements: front-foot pressing intensity, sprint speed into the channels, and technical ability to combine in tight spaces. The role’s tactical function is identical; the physical and technical demands have expanded significantly.
