If you were a young dutch striker who wanted to go to a big club in the Premiership, who would you choose:
Liverpool, or staying at Feyenoord?
Wait, what’s that about Newcastle you say…?
Newcastle United are in a shithole with regards to having a strikeforce. Things are so bad that Roeder took a swipe at Souness in the media when he said that he was stuck with his predecessor’s signings. What he didn’t say was even more telling:
Souness had let go the most promising young striker Newcastle had seen since they poached Shearer from Blackburn in 96. Craig Bellamy is now Liverpool’s new boy toy, and at current expectations he could have a 20-goal season and help Liverpool challenge for the title.
Where to for Newcastle, then? They’ve been after Kuyt for a while, but that’s like saying that United have been after midfielders this summer. Newcastle have shown interest in Torres, in Ruud, in Defoe, and in the Juve trio of strikers as well. They have thrown their net wide and are ready to splash a lot of money to bring in a striker that will save them from being relegated next season.
But good strikers don’t want to come to Newcastle unless they’re trying to escape (Owen) or they are paying extremely good wages (Owen again). Some of them go there to become gods of their goldfish bowls (Shearer), but I haven’t really seen many of those.
Dirk Kuyt is in the same situation as Owen. If he were given a choice, he’d go to Liverpool. They’re in Europe, they have an excellent squad being rebuilt by Rafa Benitez, who is one of the best managers in Europe and possibly in the world as well. Liverpool are a team in ascendency, and are the only team who are able to compete on an even footing with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.
But Kuyt doesn’t have much of a choice. Feyenoord, like Madrid, are after the money and Newcastle will be glad to pay 12 or even 14 million for the striker, a price Liverpool may not want to reach for. Liverpool already have Crouch, Robbie Fowler and Bellamy, and with Garcia able to play the supporting striker role having 3 strikers in a team that plays 4-5-1 is not that hard.
Where will Kuyt go? Feyenoord want to sell him for as much money as possible, so it looks like he might end up at Newcastle. Thing is, in Roeder they have a good coach who will be able to bring out the best in Kuyt (especially in a 4-4-2 formation which suits the Dutch striker better) and the move may not be as bad for him as we think.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
