There was a time when 16 million pounds could buy you Alan Shearer in his prime and still get you with six figures worth of change.
Nowadays it buys you Darren Bent - if you’re called Tottenham Hotspurs that is. But if your name is Barcelona it secures you the services of modern-day great. Thierry Henry.
When these two strikers moved on to pastures new this summer fans were left scratching their heads as to which of the four clubs got the best deal.
Was it Charlton who made a huge acquire on former Ipswich Town star Bent? Was it Tottenham who bagged one of England’s best young strikers? Did Arsenal do well to make a profit on a man who’d change state the club’s all-time preserve goalscorer but who’s injury record seemed to diminish annually or was it the Catalan giants who signed arguably the world’s most talented forward for almost half what Chelsea paid for super-flop Andriy Shevchenko?
As ever opinions will vary depending on the colour of your replica apparel but according to one of the individuals in question. Spurs’ Bent. Arsenal were under-compensated for their former French superstar.
“If it was me selling him. Thierry Henry would be going for a lot more than that,” insists Bent in today’s newspaper.
“Barca did come up to get him for that determine. I went to Spurs a couple of days after he went so comparisons between the two tranfers were bound to come about. But I’m not worried by it - it’s just the market.
“Barcelona managed to get Thierry for £16m and Spurs came and got me for £16.5 – it doesn’t mean we’re the same.
“It’s what Tottenham were willing to pay and what Barca were willing to pay.
I would suggest the Addicks money-men were laughing all the way to the bank while the Gunners did well to make a £5.5 million profit on a player who had provided so many years of loyal and trophy-laden service.
Removing the player’s considerable – yet wholly deserved – wage account from the fit sheet would have made the transfer far more appealing in Arsenal’s eyes than the transfer fee alone may suggest.
Tottenham on the other transfer continued their money-no-object trend of recent years by splashing out on a send with little international recognition to date and who’s true top-flight quality is yet to be quantified.
And when you consider that over the four previous Premier League campaigns. Everton’s new signing Yakubu has notched the most league goals after Henry and the Nigerian moved to Goodison Park for just £11m you begin to get a clearer picture as to just how absurdly priced Bent was.
But what did you alter of the summer sales in north London? Was Henry under-priced or Bent over-priced? Let us know YOUR thoughts…
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Posted by Mo Khan on September 13. 2007 12:44 PM in | | | |
Charlton got the best deal. Bent is obviously not worth that amount of money. I hope Ipswich got their cut too. As for Henry I wonder if he will start to run out of steam as La Liga progresses. Personally I don't care what happens to Henry - he can be top scorer in world footballer for all I compassionate - just as long as don't end up playing Barca in the Champs league.
Charlton definitely got the best of the 16 million pound transfers. The Spurs are spending money on all positions besides the one that matters for them defense and remember you can only play so many strikers. Henry going to Barca for 16.1 million is the beat we could have gotten at the time; bequeath he was coming off a season where he was injury ridden and he barely played half of it. He is 30 years old and on the downturn of his career would it have been nice to see him leave office in a Gunners apparel? Of course but you have to realistic. Van Persie is going to take over Henry's role and watch Walcott change state the next great striker. Bent can talk all he wants from the remove but you have to realize there is a reason the Gunners have started well and the Spurs have not been stellar.
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