Smolarek a City target

Chris Bailey

January 03, 2007

Euzebiusz Smolarek

CITY'S multi-national, multi-layered transfer wanted lists have been expanded to include Polish star Euzebiusz Smolarek.

Blues' boss Stuart Pearce is determined to bring in more firepower during the transfer window and Smolarek, who will be 26 in a week's time, is just one of many players home and abroad to catch his attention.

Sources in Smolarek's homeland suggest that several Premiership sides are interested in his signature and City confirmed last night that they had watched him.

Whether or not Smolarek makes it to England, it shows the calibre and standing of the kind of player Pearce is looking towards to improve his squad.

Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund would want around é2m for the World Cup striker who has been in impressive form in the German elite league since his move from Feyenoord in Holland.

Conclusion

Lodz-born Smolarek, who can play through the middle or out wide on the right and has even had a stint in central midfield, was named Polish Footballer of the Year in 2005 and has scored three times in as many games for his national side in the current Euro 2008 qualifying matches.

Unless investment talks between chairman John Wardle and financial suitors come to a remarkably swift conclusion, Pearce, who is fiercely determined not to sell in order to buy, will have only a limited budget in the window.

Even so, he has set himself the task of bolstering the Blues' strike-force for the second half of the season.

He wants at least one striker and an attacking midfielder and Lens' Olivier Thomert, a long-time target is still very much in his sights.

The Blues' boss seems to have cooled on Heerenveen's prolific Brazilian Afonso Alves on whom he made a personal check before Christmas but continues to monitor free-scoring, up-and-coming Football League strikers Caleb Folan (Chesterfield), Billy Sharp (Scunthorpe) and Izale McLeod (MK Dons).

What do you think of Smolarek? Have your say.

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Big Tim, Darwen (03/01/2007 at 08:59)

Who?

DJ Spin, Spinland (03/01/2007 at 09:02)

More smoke and mirrors, more false hope, more of Paul Tyrell's handy work. Chris you are better than this. MEN we realise you rely on City for stories and access to players, isn't it about time you put them under a little pressure? Why after three and a half years has no investment been brought in? Is there a long term plan or a continued short term fudge plan? Why no update in almost a month re the supposed takeover? Is it time for the board to go if performances don't improve? Why does Mackintosh say the finances are fine and Stuart Pearce says they aren't? Why does John Wardle say there is a transfer kitty and Stuart Pearce says there isn't?

Mike, Ashton (03/01/2007 at 09:05)

All speculation at the minute. I think he's going to have enough to buy one player at around 2million and others, if any, will be loans. January window is difficult to do business in, so you've got to stick to people who are going to do a job from the start. Summer is for gambling, prefer to see proven performers.

Mikey P, Fareham (03/01/2007 at 09:17)

Personally i think we should go for Billy Sharpe and fast-track Danny Sturridge so that he makes a full debut by February

Chris, Davyhulme (03/01/2007 at 09:25)

I have actually heard of this guy before and have seen him playing in european competitions before. He's a pretty decent player. However, no matter how well he is playing or how good his reputation is on other shores, the fact remains it would be yet another gamble as to whether he can adapt quickly enough to the premiership style. I agree with mike, any gambling, should you wish to, should be taken in the summer preferably. But, if english clubs demand too much money for their players, we may have no choice but to look abroad. Thats just the way it is.

Special Jens iz a gent, Cheese (03/01/2007 at 09:27)

This guy is a dead cert, and will provide the power and pace we need along with the goals. Micah isn't going anywhere during the window but the same can't be said for Distin. Don't listen to any rags who come on here gloating - they're going to have enough trouble keeping hold of their own this month. Rumour has it that the man to solve the crisis at Chelski aint a defender, he's a forward who plays for the reds. I'll give you a clue: He's Portuguese too!

Thicko, La-la-land (03/01/2007 at 09:37)

DJ Spin - blah, blah, no investment, blah, blah, Tyrell, blah, Mackintosh, blah, Wardle, blah, board out, blah, blah...

Ollie, Guernsey (03/01/2007 at 09:49)

It would appear that the cupboards are bare so if we manage to sign a player permanently and get one in on loan SP would have done well. Personally, I would like to see Sturridge given a few minutes at the end of a few games to see what he can do at worst it would give him a boost and a little encouragement at best he may surprise or cope with the step up and that could save us money. If Chievo or whoever are still keen on Corradi, I would let him go and use that money towards someone who is dynamic and versatile, what I mean by that is, a player that can ably play in a number of roles. One that springs to mind who we are always linked with and who we could have signed in the summer is Olivier Thomert. At 26 he is still young attributes wise he is quick, strong and skillful. He still isn't having the best of times at Lens and is still available by all accounts. He can play on the left flank and up front the only problem is that Monaco have recently become interested. There is someone else that fits the versatile tag and that is someone I've mentioned before. Jeremy Mathieu is at Toulouse and can play left back, wing back and left midfield. He is just 23 pretty pacy and very skilful. He has been on the verge of the French team for a while and occasionally gets linked to bigger clubs. Coming to City would definitely be a step up for him and he has made it clear he would look at a step up.

Luke, Stretford (03/01/2007 at 10:02)

Good call, Mikey P, re Sharpe - he'd be my first choice signing.
However....can see the board arguing that "he's cup tied - so will be no use on the long, fruitful cup run we expect".
Does anyone know if he is actually cup tied???

Tony P, Cz. Rep (03/01/2007 at 10:08)

Don't want to be pessimistic but his name means 'little loser' in Czech!

Rick, Glos (03/01/2007 at 10:10)

DJ spin - with support like yours we are indeed in trouble. Even worse, lets put you in charge of strategy at our club and tell everyone how much we have to spend and cheese off any possible investors by gobbing off to appease and win a few cheap short terms compliments, grow up, stop moaning and develop a bit of nouse for heavens sake.

gb, hg (03/01/2007 at 10:10)

its the silly season again isnt it?How many other players will we get linked with b4 the end of jan??Why would B.Dortmund want to sell their 2nd highest scorer who has only just joined?They play infront of nearly 80,000 every other week,i cant see it but in footy you never know,also where are the quotes from city saying that they have confirmed watching him???

Alan Oakes, Wilmslow (03/01/2007 at 10:11)

MEN these stories are becoming a joke - how can you print stories like this when you printed one quoting Pearce that there is no money!! I think Chris Bailey needs to ask some serious questions of the board and find out what is going on. On a separate note I have seen Billy Sharp a few times and believe me this guy can make it in the Premiership. Let's swap him for Dickov, Corradi and money :)

steve fenton, bristol (03/01/2007 at 10:12)

As for lower league strikers, no-one seems to mention Chris Porter of Oldham. He has scored more than Sharpe of Scunthrope, must live nearby and plays for a club that we have traded with before. I havent seen him except in bits and pieces on TV but they guy just keeps scoring and scoring.

Blau, 78234 Engen (03/01/2007 at 10:26)

Yes it is indeed silly season. This bloke is a good player and we are most definitely not in this type of market. We need to strengthen in so many areas, but with no dosh a young british striker (Sharp?) and no more goalkeepers is about as much as we can hope for. I personally will not be surprised if there are no ins or outs in Jan. Big changes ahead in the summer though.

Timster, Notts (03/01/2007 at 10:43)

Whilst Dortmund are in a financial pickle, there's no way they would let Eb Smolarek go for Â£2M. He's scored some vital goals both for them and for his homeland in the Euro qualifiers and his value must be nearer Â£10M. He's also a fans favourite with all that entails for a selling club.
Nope. If we have no money then players like him are not going to be knocking at Eastlands' door I'm afraid. Unless of course this mysterious investment is just about to crystallise..

Ken, Beswick (03/01/2007 at 10:47)

We need a striker, of that there is no doubt. Unless we aquire a proven premiership goal scorer,(which I very much doubt) then no matter who we get will be a gamble. If they come from abroad it's a gamble as to wether they will adapt. If they come from lower leagues they can find the step up a lot bigger than they thought.!

paul bennett, sale (03/01/2007 at 10:48)

3 very fortunate wins dont be fooled our squad is still not good enough.We need a left back,left winger,creative midfielder and a goal poacher.However i wouldnt trust pearce at all in the market place as all he does is buy flops or crocks and all foreign.

C1TY, Manchester (03/01/2007 at 11:01)

It shows how poor the club is when the fans are calling for an acadamy player to play so he might score us goals, there is no guarantee that sturidge will score goals in the PREMIERSHIP. And signing a football league player is just as much a gamble if not more than a foreign player who may have played against quality opposition maybe even played in the uefa cup or champions league. The board should back pearce because at this point we could go either way, relegation dog fight or push for a european place. The way everyone talks you would think pearce is the only manager to make bad signings, fergie has made some as has mouriniho and probably every other manager in the premiership so why should pearce be any differant. You carnt expect every signing to work, and some we are still unsure of e.g. beasley, dabo, isaksson etc. these could prove good signings with a run in the side.

Steve, Droylsden (03/01/2007 at 11:11)

See Wikapedia on this guy. Does anyone know what Lowro's last 3 City predictions were?

Steve, Northampton (03/01/2007 at 11:13)

By the way, Izale McLeod is absolute bobbins and will no way make it in the premiership. Would cost a few bob too, though heaven knows why. If we do end up signing him, Pearce will live to regret it I believe - even the Dons fans dont rate him!!
And to those that think we should always buy British, in an ideal world then maybe so, but how much would a 26 year old striker cost who scores plenty for club and has notched 3 in 3 for their country. For a start if it was a City player, we would be demanding at least 20m, so thats why we have to look abroad until this cash 'windfall' comes our way!!

DJ (not Jamo), Chorlton (03/01/2007 at 11:24)

Very unrealistic for the reasons mentioned already. The other problem is money. I don't believe we are in a position to spend millions on one player. Even if Distin is sold we will only get about 1.5 million for him at the most. And I think that money will disappear into debt recovery. I'm expecting a loan signing and one player bought for around 700k. And that's the lot. As for Thomert, if his contract is up in the summer I think we will start talking to him about a bosman, but not actually get him until the summer. My perfect buy at the moment would be Benayoun. The kind of player we need. Another one to look at is Gera at West Brom. But these players would command a fee which I don't think we can match.

fcstan, Sydney (03/01/2007 at 11:24)

Ebi is a quality player I'd love to see him play for us but as mentioned above he would cost more than 2mil, he has also played in Holland so I think he would adapt quickly as other proven players form there have shown. Also if he is looking to move there would be quite a few clubs after him too.

Karl, Manchester (03/01/2007 at 11:26)

This story is probably just a smokescreen put out by the club. As it stands he will be out of our price league, But it lets other clubs that we have targets at, know we have more options and hopefully stops them asking too much. There are 1 or 2 postings spot on here. Porter at Oldham has got to be worth a look and as Ollie mentioned Mathieu looks like someone who would fit the bill and be affordable. Thomert is a fine player but again, might be too expensive for us unless we sell someone. City are also looking at Benayoun, who could be available cheap if West Ham go ahead with their spending spree. If I was SP I'd splash our limited cash on the best passing midfielder(s) we could afford and then take a gamble on the lower leaugue for a striker. A bit of quality ball and posession in midfield would go a long way in our well organised, but currently dull team. We'd create more chances, take pressure off the back line and be a lot more entertaining to watch.

Shabbi, Exiled in Bucks (03/01/2007 at 11:30)

All those saying we have no money to spend should read the articles on this subject more closely, especially the one headed "Pearce not expecting win bonus". These quite clearly state that the the 3 wins on the trot will not INCREASE the amount that SP has to spend. It's also clear that any significant money will come from JW's own pocket rather than from the club. How much there is available has not beem mentioned.

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