As Connor Wickham heads to Sunderland for his medical ahead of a £13m deal, the transfer could put an end to rumours linking Steve Bruce with most of our strikers.
Since the start of the summer window, Sunderland have been linked with Robbie Keane and Roman Pavlyuchenko while a reported interest in Peter Crouch was the strongest suggestion of all.
With Wickham in the ranks, that interest could end although Bruce still has some change out of the £20m that Liverpool found for Jordan Henderson.
In the meantime, was Wickham a player that we should have pursued? While £13m is a lot of money for a striker who is young and unproven, it compares with the money that Man United paid for Phil Jones.
Surely for once, we could have provided a more lucrative playing option here than the men from the Stadium of Light, so is this genuinely ‘one that got away?’
No. I understand that he came to the fore while he was a lot bigger than his teammates and opposing players.
There has been no talk that he has set the Championship alight, so the the jury is still out as to whether he’ll prove to be particularly good against full-grown men in the Premier League. So it seems to be a bit of a gamble.
We have Harry Kane….
…and Leandro Damiao (probably).
He’s also a gooner!
Wickham?…he’s a bin dipper.
well you’ve clearly made that up, he’s a scouser
Wasn’t the fee closer to £8m, rising to £13 if targets are met?
Anyhow, Redknapp has no interest in buying players for the long term, gamble or not. It’s all about next season and next season only where he’s concerned. A reasonable season (top 6) will see his mates in the press ensure he’ll get what he wants – the England job.
Spurs fans, I am disappointed at the prospects of our club for the coming season. I have seen us associated with at least 15 players in the 10 million area, but no sign of a signing, or even the prospect of one. Meanwhile our opponents for the top four positions have been, in the most part, active. We have lost Wickham, simply because we could not make up our mind to purchase him. Supporters,be resolved for sixth place at the best.
Any Spurs fan who has actually watched Connor Wickham play will be gutted that we have let another striker slip through our grasp!
He is gonna be englands number 9 in the long term, he’s a far better footballer than andy carroll thats for sure!!
But at least that clown Pav is being shown the door!! About 2 years too late!!
NO. Spurs fan based in Ipswich – watched Wickham many times – VERY over rated!
Will not score more than half a dozen goals in the premiership next season if that.
I have to agree with Azza. I was never sold on this one. He is far from prolific (which is what we need) and hasn’t scored that many in the championship. To be fair to him he has been played out wide I believe but if someone is THAT good up front – what possible reason could you have for playing him out wide? Don’t use the Rooney for Man U argument cos they have an embarassment of riches up top. Let’s move on to a better target.
He’s got bags of potential but thats all that it is at the moment he doesn’t always put his head up and see what’s around him, he’s made the right decision going to sunderland he’l get game time and learn up there he would be sat on bench at us and pool so It’s best for his career where he’s gone, Abel hernandez of Palermo and Eric lamela are far bigger potential I’d prefer one of them or both been a greedy to sign for us
Absolutely not – he’s slow, lumbering, and not prolific – definitley not Prem League class, let alone being any better that any striker that we already have.
He scored 13 goals in 65 appearances for Ipswich. That’s 1 goal in 5 in the west ham level championship. He’s just turned 18. £8m rising to a possible £12m or so. The market for English players has gone mad. Henderson has gone to pool for £20m and he was appalling for the U21s in their recent pathetic efforts in the euro champs. Sunderland rate this wickham lad at more than half the price Chelsea rate modric should sunderland pay the full amount. Good luck to the lad but that says it all for me.
No i think we were right not to. I have watched him a number of times playing for Ipswich and against at best, average defenders. Yes he was big, but did not win enormous amounts in the air, his touch was at times not good. He will run all day for you but not always intelligently. He is very much still a diamond in the rough. The amount paid is still too high but is just about what you expect in the current market in this country. Potential, yes, but so have many others who have so often failed to step up.