Transfer deadline day madness
The most bizarre deal of this year’s January transfer window has to be that of Robbie Keane.
The striker was signed from Tottenham by Liverpool for over £20m, despite loud protests from the Spurs camp. Before a ball had been kicked he was being heralded as the buy of the season.
Now, just six months on, he has been sold back to Tottenham for the princely sum of £12m, only £8m less than he was worth in August.
Its obvious his face didn’t fit at Anfield. Rafa Benitez didn’t pick him even when Fernando Torres was injured. When he did play, he was largely ineffectual, played out of position. But when he did start scoring he was dumped out of the squad completely.
Now struggling Spurs have got a quality striker, to go alongside the other quality striker they bought back in January – Jermaine Defoe.
Meanwhile Liverpool will continue their title challenge with just Torres, who has been injured most of the season, up front. Although they do have Dirk Kujt and Ryan Babel, both are usually deployed on the wings by Benitez. Kujt, although he works hard and has played well this season, is not a goalscorer. Rafa doesn’t seem to trust Babel through the middle, or much on the wing for that matter. From what I’ve seen of David Ngog, he’s clearly not ready for a Premiership campaign.
And Liverpool either failed, or refused, to buy a replacement. Which raises question marks about the club’s American owners, and how much they can afford to spend. Are they to become a selling club?
Or is Keane a pawn in Benitez’s battle with Rick Parry for control of the club’s transfer policy?
In contrast Stoke City, a club with sparse resources in comparison with Liverpool – you would expect – have done well out of the transfer window.
They kept their existing squad together and signed Matthew Etherington from West Ham – a Premiership regular before his much publicised gambling problems. He’s already done a good job filling the problematic left wing berth. James Beattie has scored two in three games, including the winner against Manchester City on Saturday. Henri Camara, on loan from Wigan, will give Stoke something different up front, a pacy striker with the ability to run at defenders who should give the Potters an outlet in away games.
Chelsea’s loan signing of Queresmo from Inter Milan, shows, perhaps, that billionaire owner Roman Abramovitch has lost interest. Instead of competing for Kaka and Lionel Messi, they sign Portugal’s third or fourth choice winger, when he’s clearly surplus to requirements at Milan. Charity from Jose Mourinho towards his old club?
Deadline day buys won’t have any effect on the title race. They could well play a big part in the relegation battle. And the deadline day sale of Robbie Keane could end up halting Liverpool’s challenge.
