Fulham are among the increasing list of clubs hoping to sign Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner this summer. The Cottagers have been linked with a move for the Denmark international for some time, and now their opposition is beginning to take shape. Portuguese duo Benfica and Sporting Lisbon are interested in the 23-year-old, as are Bundesliga pair Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Despite the level of interest in the forward, none of the clubs seem to be prepared to meet Arsene Wenger's £12 million valuation of the man he had hoped would lead the Gunners' line for years. Bendtner's father Thomas is among the voices claiming that his son is overpriced. He claims Dortmund are very keen but they only rate the player at £7million.
As has been discussed at length on the old 606 site, I don't think Bendtner is a good fit for us. In style, he'd be competition for Bobby Zamora rather than a partner for him, and I don't think NB would come to Fulham to fight for a place - he'd expect to start. In any case, if we paid that kind of money for him - with the wage that would be likely to go with the fee - he ought to be in the starting line up, and I'm far from convinced that he is better than Bobby. For all of those reasons, he wouldn't be a good signing or good value for money. We would be better spending our kitty elsewhere.
I think a lot would depend on Jol's man management skills as to how bendtner would fit in at the club. The worry with him is that he may think he is a bit too high and mighty for the club. While it would be wrong on me to suggest the unthinkable that is dropping zamora, bendtner would offer good competition but as you say captain only if he's prepared to do this and face the facts he's not good enough to be guaranteed a starting place. However, bear in mind bobby is not getting any younger and with a potentially long campaign ahead of us, may be a good fit. If he shows some maturity, he could be long term replacement for zamora. I can see us having a similar dilemma to face when we get to the point of debating a long term replacement for murphy in midfield.
Agree with these points, except it's the wrong time (way too early despite his age) to be thinking about a replacement for Bobby. However, Bobby is prone to injury (general, not the break) and as you both say we're potentially in for the long haul. Can't see Bendtner being a marriage in heaven though. Maybe someone like J P Campbell could be - and cheaper (around £1.5m and smaller wages)
Well in addition to what I said he wouldn't be my favorite choice for a target man and you're right that it may be premature to think of zamora's replacement, though because of his injury record we will probably need some sort of cover. I guess Dalla Valle could be the answer to this long term and so starting this season could be groomed as a future zamora. However, if we could fit in him into the side, I don't think bendtner would be awful. While very hit and miss, maybe if he was given an extended run in a decent team's 1st XI he might start to prove some of his doubters wrong.
Caaptain, did you know Dalle Valle at Bournemouth? I'm asking because I had an inkling at the game last Thursday (and forgive me Tosh,, this is me in inquisitive mode not the negative) that he pulled out of tackles.
I don't think he's a bad player, like Robes says if he was given a run in a side he could be very good. But we don't need another big target man, which I understand Bendtner is.
Cottager, you may well be right about pulling out of tackles. I saw a little of LDV at Bournemouth. What I saw was that without a big man (like Zamora) alongside him, he did struggle with the physical side of the game. He made a good impression on my friends who go to more Bournemouth games than me though. Their verdict is that he's a good finisher. I'm still optimistic about his chances of doing good things for us, but I'd see him as a partner to Bobby (or to another target man) rather than a replacement. Bendtner's goal record is about 1 in 5 for Arsenal. Even taking into account that many of his appearances will have been from the subs bench, that isn't great. He's more like 1 in 3 for Denmark, which is better, but overall his record is inconclusive at best and damning at worst. I think we can get better value for money elsewhere. What we really need is either for one of our big young uns (Trotta or Peniket?) to come through to the fringe of the first team, or to go out and sign a 22 year old lower division targetman who is ready to step up and willing to be a fringe premier league player. He can learn the ropes from Bobby, fill in when BZ needs a rest and in a few years time be ready to fight to make the starting spot his own. If we're going to spend big money on a striker, it should be for a partner to Bobby, not a rival. Not that I'm saying Bobby is entitled to an uncontested place in the team, but at the moment he's the one that our attack should be built around.
Couldn't have put it better Captain. I'm a firm believer that any successful team is built on a solid spine. We have that and Booby is, for me, the tops. As you said - build round him. All else should be sacrificial - hence me views on Andrew Johnson in the other thread.
