Home
‘Big Four’ scour Europe for perfect striker
Paul Meadows
There is a reason why the likes of Fernando Torres, David Villa, Samuel Eto’o and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar have been constantly linked with moves to England for the past few months. It has nothing to do with them being unhappy at their current clubs; it’s not that they are being sold this summer to balance the books; it doesn’t even have anything to do with the amount of zero’s they are able to add to their bank balance by clinching a move to The Premiership.
No, the main reason why the best strikers Europe has to offer are being linked with moves to these shores is simple: each of the ‘Big Four’ clubs are in the transfer market for a player capable of hitting twenty league goals a season. And for that reason alone, there has never been a better time for genuine world-class strikers to jump aboard the Premiership bandwagon.
Manchester United may have top scored with 83 goals last season as they won their first league title since 2003, yet their main provider was winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Of their recognised strikers, only Wayne Rooney was regular in front of goal as Louis Saha again endured a frustrating season through injury and time is clearly catching up with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Alan Smith, meanwhile, was never prolific at Leeds United and a good season in front of goal for him would be to threaten double figures.
In Didier Drogba, Chelsea had the deadliest striker in the country last season. Yet the Ivorian will miss a chunk of next term due to the African Cup of Nations, as will compatriot Salomon Kalou. Jose Mourinho appears to have long given up on Andrei Shevchenko recapturing his AC Milan form, whilst recent signing Claudio Pizarro from Bayern Munich, some would say, seems no more than a signing of convenience.
Only Dirk Kuyt at Liverpool seems assured of a future at Anfield. Rafael Benitez, much like Steve McClaren of England, can’t seem to make his mind up about Peter Crouch; Robbie Fowler has left following a less than spectacular second spell with the Reds; whilst Craig Bellamy continues to be linked with the likes of Aston Villa, West Ham United and former club Newcastle United, just twelve months after arriving on Merseyside.
Arsene Wenger’s activity in the transfer market depends largely on the future of Thierry Henry. The Arsenal skipper is again being strongly linked with a transfer away from London, yet at least the worries over the ever-improving Emmanuel Adebayor have receded following the Togo international’s signing of a new contract. Robin van Persie will return from a lengthy injury lay-off and Nicklas Bendtner has benefited from a successful loan spell at Birmingham City, yet question marks remain over Theo Walcott, and Jeremie Aliadiere is bound for Middlesbrough.
It could also be noted that Tottenham Hotspur, the one club who look most likely to challenge the ‘Big Four’ stranglehold, are also on the lookout for another striker, with Mido set to leave White Hart Lane. Yet with Robbie Keane, Jermaine Defoe and the excellent Dimitar Berbatov already on board, Martin Jol is unlikely to be shopping in the same places as Messrs Ferguson, Mourinho, Benitez and Wenger just yet.
How much each side has to spend depends on which newspapers you read: Sir Alex Ferguson has already spent the best part of £50million on Sporting Lisbon’s Nani, Porto’s Andersen and Bayern’s Owen Hargreaves; Mourinho apparently wants to try and reclaim the league title without spending a penny; Benitez seems to be at loggerheads with owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks over his budget; whilst Wenger continues to insist he will not be spending heavily (although this would change in the light of Henry’s departure).
Yet if any of the Big Four are to land the striker of their dreams then something will have to budge: Ferguson will have to persuade the Glazers to keep their chequebook out for a little while longer; Mourinho will have to scrap his fantasy of picking up only Bosman free transfers and loan deals; Benitez will have to bury the hatchet with his American friends and agree a budget; and Wenger will have to abandon his stubborn stance and accept his squad needs investment.
Of the four players mentioned at the opening of this article, Ajax’s Huntelaar would perhaps be the cheapest option at around £10million. The 23-year-old Dutch international has an outrageous goalscoring record having bagged 34 in 46 games for Heerenveen, followed by 37 in 48 for his current club. United have been linked with him in recent weeks, yet the Gunners also know all about him – Huntelaar scored the first ever goal at the Emirates Stadium during a friendly last year.
Torres is believed to have been on Ferguson’s radar for over two years now, and last summer he was reportedly willing to pay Atletico Madrid £25million to bring him to Old Trafford. One thing that favours United is that the 23-year-old will not cross Madrid to sign for Real and he does appear to favour a move to England, where he will no doubt be flattered by the long-term interest shown in him from the league champions. As much as Torres adores the Vicente Calderon club, it is widely considered a transfer from Atletico is a case of when and not if.
The possibility of Eto’o leaving the Camp Nou this summer remains a very real one, despite his insistence that he wants to stay in Catalan. Should he depart, a move to The Premiership could well be on the cards. All of the ‘Big Four’ have been linked with the Cameroon international in recent months, and there is even suggestions he could be on his way to North London in a deal that would finally see Barca land Henry.
The race for Valencia’s Villa seems to be a three-way war between Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid. With Che reluctant to part with the Spanish international for less than the reported whopping buyout of £45million, the Blues would appear firm favourites. Yet with the memories of the £31million splashed out on Shevchenko still very much fresh in the mind of Roman Abramovich, Mourinho may have to wait a year or two before a similar bid is sanctioned.
Closer to home, Bolton Wanderers’ Nicolas Anelka is said to be an £8million target for United who would happily pay four times that amount for Berbatov; Benni McCarthy could be reunited with Mourinho at Stamford Bridge if Blackburn Rovers can be persuaded to sell; Arsenal would love to turn the clock back twelve months and sign Andy Johnson who is now rated in the £20million bracket by Everton; and Liverpool continue to ponder re-signing Michael Owen from Newcastle United or meeting Charlton Athletic’s £18million valuation of Darren Bent.
It will be interesting to see which of the ‘Big Four’ makes the first move.
http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=4581
Paul Meadows
There is a reason why the likes of Fernando Torres, David Villa, Samuel Eto’o and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar have been constantly linked with moves to England for the past few months. It has nothing to do with them being unhappy at their current clubs; it’s not that they are being sold this summer to balance the books; it doesn’t even have anything to do with the amount of zero’s they are able to add to their bank balance by clinching a move to The Premiership.
No, the main reason why the best strikers Europe has to offer are being linked with moves to these shores is simple: each of the ‘Big Four’ clubs are in the transfer market for a player capable of hitting twenty league goals a season. And for that reason alone, there has never been a better time for genuine world-class strikers to jump aboard the Premiership bandwagon.
Manchester United may have top scored with 83 goals last season as they won their first league title since 2003, yet their main provider was winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Of their recognised strikers, only Wayne Rooney was regular in front of goal as Louis Saha again endured a frustrating season through injury and time is clearly catching up with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Alan Smith, meanwhile, was never prolific at Leeds United and a good season in front of goal for him would be to threaten double figures.
In Didier Drogba, Chelsea had the deadliest striker in the country last season. Yet the Ivorian will miss a chunk of next term due to the African Cup of Nations, as will compatriot Salomon Kalou. Jose Mourinho appears to have long given up on Andrei Shevchenko recapturing his AC Milan form, whilst recent signing Claudio Pizarro from Bayern Munich, some would say, seems no more than a signing of convenience.
Only Dirk Kuyt at Liverpool seems assured of a future at Anfield. Rafael Benitez, much like Steve McClaren of England, can’t seem to make his mind up about Peter Crouch; Robbie Fowler has left following a less than spectacular second spell with the Reds; whilst Craig Bellamy continues to be linked with the likes of Aston Villa, West Ham United and former club Newcastle United, just twelve months after arriving on Merseyside.
Arsene Wenger’s activity in the transfer market depends largely on the future of Thierry Henry. The Arsenal skipper is again being strongly linked with a transfer away from London, yet at least the worries over the ever-improving Emmanuel Adebayor have receded following the Togo international’s signing of a new contract. Robin van Persie will return from a lengthy injury lay-off and Nicklas Bendtner has benefited from a successful loan spell at Birmingham City, yet question marks remain over Theo Walcott, and Jeremie Aliadiere is bound for Middlesbrough.
It could also be noted that Tottenham Hotspur, the one club who look most likely to challenge the ‘Big Four’ stranglehold, are also on the lookout for another striker, with Mido set to leave White Hart Lane. Yet with Robbie Keane, Jermaine Defoe and the excellent Dimitar Berbatov already on board, Martin Jol is unlikely to be shopping in the same places as Messrs Ferguson, Mourinho, Benitez and Wenger just yet.
How much each side has to spend depends on which newspapers you read: Sir Alex Ferguson has already spent the best part of £50million on Sporting Lisbon’s Nani, Porto’s Andersen and Bayern’s Owen Hargreaves; Mourinho apparently wants to try and reclaim the league title without spending a penny; Benitez seems to be at loggerheads with owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks over his budget; whilst Wenger continues to insist he will not be spending heavily (although this would change in the light of Henry’s departure).
Yet if any of the Big Four are to land the striker of their dreams then something will have to budge: Ferguson will have to persuade the Glazers to keep their chequebook out for a little while longer; Mourinho will have to scrap his fantasy of picking up only Bosman free transfers and loan deals; Benitez will have to bury the hatchet with his American friends and agree a budget; and Wenger will have to abandon his stubborn stance and accept his squad needs investment.
Of the four players mentioned at the opening of this article, Ajax’s Huntelaar would perhaps be the cheapest option at around £10million. The 23-year-old Dutch international has an outrageous goalscoring record having bagged 34 in 46 games for Heerenveen, followed by 37 in 48 for his current club. United have been linked with him in recent weeks, yet the Gunners also know all about him – Huntelaar scored the first ever goal at the Emirates Stadium during a friendly last year.
Torres is believed to have been on Ferguson’s radar for over two years now, and last summer he was reportedly willing to pay Atletico Madrid £25million to bring him to Old Trafford. One thing that favours United is that the 23-year-old will not cross Madrid to sign for Real and he does appear to favour a move to England, where he will no doubt be flattered by the long-term interest shown in him from the league champions. As much as Torres adores the Vicente Calderon club, it is widely considered a transfer from Atletico is a case of when and not if.
The possibility of Eto’o leaving the Camp Nou this summer remains a very real one, despite his insistence that he wants to stay in Catalan. Should he depart, a move to The Premiership could well be on the cards. All of the ‘Big Four’ have been linked with the Cameroon international in recent months, and there is even suggestions he could be on his way to North London in a deal that would finally see Barca land Henry.
The race for Valencia’s Villa seems to be a three-way war between Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid. With Che reluctant to part with the Spanish international for less than the reported whopping buyout of £45million, the Blues would appear firm favourites. Yet with the memories of the £31million splashed out on Shevchenko still very much fresh in the mind of Roman Abramovich, Mourinho may have to wait a year or two before a similar bid is sanctioned.
Closer to home, Bolton Wanderers’ Nicolas Anelka is said to be an £8million target for United who would happily pay four times that amount for Berbatov; Benni McCarthy could be reunited with Mourinho at Stamford Bridge if Blackburn Rovers can be persuaded to sell; Arsenal would love to turn the clock back twelve months and sign Andy Johnson who is now rated in the £20million bracket by Everton; and Liverpool continue to ponder re-signing Michael Owen from Newcastle United or meeting Charlton Athletic’s £18million valuation of Darren Bent.
It will be interesting to see which of the ‘Big Four’ makes the first move.
http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=4581
