Could the Celtic player be Hooper? Would people value Hooper in the same bracket as Austin and Rhodes (maybe even Ince) Can we expect 2 of the 4?
I think we will have a long wait yet before any action. It will probably not start before the big fish start their business. Then some of their established players will be made available and the effects will filter on down. Plus, these players are on so much money, a couple of months in the Summer can mean a shed load of cash in wages can be saved by shopping later rather than earlier. That being said managers always say its a big advantage to be promoted automatically because it gives you a months advantage over those promoted via the playoffs. So that contradicts what I've just said!?!?!?
blunts STH mate of mine says; "hmmmmmm!! championship? maybe premiership? noooooooooooooo He's strong, good tackler but zero pace. one for the future maybe?"
Don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but after Billionaires AS Monaco in France have got promoted to Ligue 1, they're signing some high profile players and are going to offload a few. I saw the Tweet last night, and forgot to copy and paste it in here, but we're apparently monitoring their top scorer, Ibrahima Touré, 27. He's scored 19 goals for Monaco last Season.
Good scoring record, but at what level it is hard to tell. He never seems to stay anywhere more than a few months, most games he has played for any team is 53. He's even been married twice at 27 (silly bastard doing it even once in my experience). I do just wonder what baggage he carries, or if he is just a nomad by nature. At least it does seem to be a genuine "rumour" with a source etc rather than the fantasy utter bollox posted by some of the more juvenile cretins we get on the board these days.
He's been with Chengdu Wuniu in China League One, Paykan, Persepolis and Sepahan in the Iran Pro League, Ajman Club in the UAE Pro-League and obviously Moncao in the French Ligue 2. They're not exactly prestigious Leagues, but he knows where the goal is nonetheless.
Didn't we once pay over the odds for Kamel Ghilas in similar circumstances whilst he was playing in the second tier in Spain? I can't see the Allam's or Steve Bruce sanctioning it this time around.
Probably not, but sometimes you have to take a risk on a striker to attempt to unearth a gem. We tried it with Proschwitz, Ghilas, Altidore but it didn't work, whereas teams such as Burnley took a punt with Charlie Austin, Swansea took a punt on Michu. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Teams have to broaden their search for strikers or else suffer paying significantly high fees for proven strikers.
What would concern me more than where he has been is the fact that he never stays anywhere more than one season. Either he always wants to move on, which is worrying, or they all want rid, which is even more worrying. You would have thought at least one club out of that lot would have tried for a second season. If not, why not?
You don't know whether he just strives to move up in quality. He may spend one Season at a Club, and feel like moving on the next. Although that probably implies that he may be slightly egotistical... Even if he only signed for us for one Season, if he scored enough to help us stay up, at least we could say it worked.
Michu scored 15 in 35 in a **** team in La Liga last season, he wasn't really a punt, he was just a bargain.
He was a punt, had you heard of him before? 90% of people wouldn't have known who he was. He was playing for a relatively unknown team, I would consider him a punt, it could have backfired.
Seems to do the same thing with his wife. Seriously, at 27 years of age I would suggest that if he is hoping to be "discovered" by roaming the World looking for games, he has left it a bit late. On balance I'd rather go for Odemwingie.
Venture to suggest a player from La Liga is a little bit less of a punt than a guy from China, Iran Pro league and UAE, with one season in French Ligue 2.