The 'Big English-Style Centre-Forward' Gossip
Transfer gossip involving an Irish player 'across the water' is seldom but wonderful when it arrives. So imagine our excitement when we read in today's Currant Bun that Steve Bruce is looking to bolster his Irish contingent on Humberside with the signing of Conor Sammon from Derby for £2 Million. Hull's hopes of adding 'hitman' Charlie Austin for £4.5 Million were dashed at the last minute by the Burnley professional killer forward failing a medical and Bruce wants 'TWO strikers to boost his attacking options.' The 'TWO' men apparently chosen by the former Manchester United captain are Carlton Cole and of course, the 'Salmon of College'.
The Tigers manager shows no signs of the 'anti-Irish bias' that has been apparent for a long time at the Premier League's top clubs with a squad that already includes David Meyler, Robbie Brady, Paul McShane and Stephen Quinn. The newspaper may be stretching it however, by describing Sammon as a 'Republic of Ireland ace'. Not content with merely catching a salmon, Bruce is also seeking to 'hijack' Cole's move to Besiktas. The former West Ham disappointment is currently in Turkey discussing a potential switch to Istanbul so how the 52-yea-old will go about the hijacking is currently unclear.
Another tall, powerful centre-forward is subject of a lot of speculation in this morning's papers with Christian Benteke heavily linked to both Spurs and Chelsea. The Guardian report that 'Tottenham have tracked Benteke for months, and the player is understood to favour a move to White Hart Lane, where he would be guaranteed regular football, yet there are doubts about whether they will be able to meet Villa's valuation, especially after they spent £17m on the Brazilian Paulinho this month.' The Belgian international handed in a transfer request on Monday but the chances of him achieving his desired move from Villa Park are far from certain.
As The Sun are keen to point out, 'Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and Villa’s American owner Randy Lerner are renowned as two of the most ruthless transfer negotiators in football (and) the boardroom bruisers are set to go toe-to-toe over Benteke, with both sides preparing for a messy battle.' Given Levy's penchant for 'going to the mattresses' in the past over turf wars for players like Joao Moutinho and Leandro Damaio, this could get very messy indeed.
Despite all of that, a move to Stamford Bridge seems even more unlikely unless José Mourinho had an epiphany after watching old videos of the Kerry team in the late 2000s. After a relative failure at Real Madrid, could Mourinho possibly looking to Benteke and Romelu Lukaku to reprise the roles of Tommy Walsh and Kieran Donaghy as a new tactical wrinkle to befuddle defences all over Europe?
Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE
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