With an announcement of our new manager apparently imminent, I’m sure most of us just want it sorted so we can move forward. After all, its even harder to believe all the transfer speculation when there’s no-one there for new players to actually play for.

Anyway, onto one of the latest players who’s rumoured to fancy a move to an as-yet manager-less club – Blackburn’s David Bentley. The 23 year old midfielder is reported to have turned down a new, improved contract, doubling his salary, because he fancies a move this summer and naturally, we’re allegedly in the race to get his signature.

Bentley’s no doubt aware of the interest this little snippet will arouse – speaking of which, the press are already having a field day with it, linking him to Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool – not least of all because good, young, English players are becoming hot property. Obviously, the current £12million price tag would rise a bit if Chelsea did want to sign him but the question is, would he want to sign for us? He’s certainly ambitious and confident, but enough so to maybe not have a guaranteed starting place the minute he walked through the door? Then again, would he fancy a fourth place finish with Liverpool or worst still a mid-table finish and no European football with Spurs? After all, having watched last week’s Champions League final, his statement of ambition seemed pretty clear to me “They’re the matches I want to play in. I want to reach the top of my game, and haven’t done that yet. I’ve not played in a big tournament, in the Champions League. I’ve still got it all to do. Everyone wants success today. I wouldn’t say I’m impatient, but I’m hungry for success” – kind of rules Spurs out then.

So, in exchange for a no doubt over-inflated contract, what could the young man bring to us if we manage to drag him away from the lure of those cheeky, lovable scousers? Well, he’s averaging around 7 or 8 goals a season, double that in assists and although he’s pretty useful across the midfield, he ain’t too shoddy on the wing either. But even better than that, he’s the first player in the history of the Premier League to score a hattrick against Utd – and I’m sure we could cope with some of that.    

Filed under: Rants