Eidur 'just the job'

June 27, 2007

UNITED target Eidur Gudjohnsen would be an instant hit at Old Trafford, says a former Bolton team-mate.

The Reds continue to be linked with the Icelandic striker whose future at Barcelona is uncertain due to Thierry Henry's arrival.

And Mike Whitlow believes his ex-Reebok colleague could make the same impact with United that Dennis Bergkamp enjoyed at Arsenal.

Whitlow even suggests 28-year-old Gudjohnsen has similar qualities to Reds legend Eric Cantona.

"It took Eidur six months to find his feet at Bolton. After that he went from strength to strength," said the former Wanderers defender.

"I have no doubt he would be ideal for United and a big hit with the fans.

"He's been a success wherever he's been. And playing with Barcelona can only improve you.

"He has a rare quality of being able to link play and create opportunities for others as well as scoring goals.

"Some suggest he doesn't score enough goals. But you are never going to please everyone and I'm sure some Arsenal fans said Bergkamp didn't get enough goals.

"But how much unselfish stuff did he do and how many goals did he create?"

Whitlow, who will coach Derby County's under-15 and under-16 sides next season, added: "Cantona was like that and I believe Eidur is a similar type of player.

"It wouldn't bother Sir Alex if Eidur didn't get 20 goals a season because he would see what other things he brought to the party."

Speculation

Bolton paid £4m for the Iceman but he would cost the Reds at least double that amount.

Gudjohnsen refuses to accept his career at the Nou Camp is over.

"There is a lot of speculation but I haven't spoken to anyone and am only thinking of continuing here," he insisted.

"There were high expectations when I arrived. And it's normal that when a striker doesn't score many goals people expect more. I also expect more from myself.

"But after last season I will be more settled. I know how the club works, the language, and I will only have to focus on my game.

"When I am in top form it will be easier to change people's opinions of me.

"I know that after not winning anything everyone is thinking of making lots of changes but I want to stay."

Meanwhile, the lure of European football could prevent Middlesbrough clinching Alan Smith's signature.

United won't comment on reports they have agreed a £6m offer for the ex-Leeds favourite.

Smith will make a decision on his return from holiday with Everton and Spurs among clubs watching developments.

Bookmaker Fred Done reckons there is a good chance of Gudjohnsen coming to Old Trafford and Smith moving to Middlesbrough or Sunderland.

Reds fan Fred is only offering 5-1 on the double move.

There's also been silence from Old Trafford on Guiseppe Rossi's future. As reported in the M.E.N last week, the Italian Under-21 international is wanted by Parma.

Indeed, the Italians say they will pay £6m for the American- born starlet.

Parma president Tommaso Ghirardi said: "We spoke with the player, with the United chief executive David Gill and with Sir Alex Ferguson, too. Now it's up to them to give us an answer.

"From a financial point of view, we made our offer and I think it completely answers United's expectations."

The possible sales of Smith and Rossi, plus uncertainty over the futures of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and Louis Saha, are raising concerns among fans.

They're hoping a top forward can be secured before United start the defence of their Premiership crown.

Would Gudjohnsen fit in at United? Have your say.

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Andy P, Wythenshawe, Manchester (27/06/2007 at 08:53)

So Barcelona get Henry and we get Gudjohnson.
We should have at least tried for Henry as I have said on these pages previously.
However, I think Henry wanted to move to Spain in any event and probably would not have played for another English club.
Shame really, our team would have been awesome with him leading the line.
Does everybody else think City getting Sven is laughable? What has he done for the past 10 years, a big fat NOWT, the guy is well past it, I am really happy he is going to Wastelands. He had the best players in England to sort out and the football England produced was garbage. Loving it.

Demo, Glossop (27/06/2007 at 09:39)

i would have loved henry to come to united but dont think there was ever a chance! it was barca or no where imo.

seasider, blackpool (27/06/2007 at 10:19)

Some people seem to think buying players is like shopping at Kendal's. "I'll take one Henry, a Torres and a couple of Brazilians please."

It would have been pointless bidding for Henry because it'll be cold day in hell before Arsenal sell their best player to United. It just couldn't happen, not now not ever.

Not sure why everyone is so down on the Gudjohnsen idea. He's proven, he fancies the move, he'd come cheap and he's a different kind of player to what we've got. Plus he could be funded by the sale of Smith. Sounds good to me.

Hangey, Luxury Hill !! (27/06/2007 at 10:31)

Please No Eidur! He is good but not the type of striker we need at all! we need Players like Berbatov and Henry! My be its about time we supprise spurs again!

ALFIE (27/06/2007 at 10:49)

Seasider im totally with you on this one 100% gudjohnsen is a cracking player very sharp and he wont cost alot with smith going and richardson too.
Gudjohnsen is a class player and i highly rate him.
Hed be brilliant up front with ronnie and rooney that would be an awsome attacking force,if any thing barca have lost out if hes to come to utd,and hernry hasnt been playing well last year any way with a poor poor arsenal side,all henry wants is to play for the spanish giants and end his carrer in a successfull big club abroad.
Fergie get his gudjohnsen bought and quickly so he can get a bond with the team now.

george (27/06/2007 at 10:56)

Seasider; You're right!
Personally I think Gudjohnson is more what we need than Henry is! Perhaps to some it will seem strange,but we have enough pace.We need an intelligent player like Gudjohnson.SAF has admired him for a while.I don't think we need a £30mil prima donna,just a cool head to thread it all together for the pacey attack to latch onto.Gudjohnson would be fine in the UNITED team.

Bill Wirral (27/06/2007 at 10:57)

it has ben said before in which I agree that if he is not good enough for Barca or Cheski why do we want him? Its a step backwards to me.

manc abroad, OT (27/06/2007 at 11:22)

Can't see the benefit of selling Rossi and Smith and bring in Eidur Gudjohnsen. That would leave us with Ole, SNS, (Sick Note Saha), Rooney and Dong.

Rossi must be given his chance.

Sparky, Salford (27/06/2007 at 11:25)

Gudjohnsen is a quality player who would add something at OT. He is certainly better than Smith and his versatility is a bonus. However, we have plenty of attacking midfielders and "link" players (Rossi is another who should be given his chance). We need an out and out Centre Forward with pace. Gudjohnsen will never be that so I don't really see the point but i would not be disappointed if he is in a United shirt next season. I fancy Defoe is on his way to OT and i think it will be a good move - finisher with pace.

edinburgh red, edinburgh (27/06/2007 at 11:27)

If we want him and pay any more than 4million we are proving ourselves inept in the transfer market as usual, he is not going to get anywhere near a game next season, saviola is younger and free i'd rather keep rossi and get him and another striker if possible.

Fredrick Masiga (27/06/2007 at 11:32)

Gudjo for ManU is a difficult one to say if its the best thing that should happen. Some say his lack of prolific goals is not good for a team that is looking for a scorer. But I think if he is an intelligent player then ManU needs him more as a creator for goals. The problem could be that Sir Alex probably needs someone who in times of injury to Rooney can steer the attack.
fm

Mick, Dublin (27/06/2007 at 11:33)

If we can sign Gudjohnsen for a couple of million quid plus money earned from the sale of Smith this is a no-brainer.

The last time Chelsea won the trophy he was one of their most consistently effective performers. Easily their best player when we played them, home and away. He was only squeezed out to provide more opportunities for Roman's 35m play-thing.

At the end of the day, premiership experience is a MASSIVE bonus when it comes to signing new players and this bloke has it at the very highest level.

Steve in Brussels (27/06/2007 at 11:35)

A player has certain attributes to make him more or less effective for a certain team. I do not know why Chelsea sold him to be honest but perhaps it was to not hold Joe Cole back? At Barca he has had Ronaldinho and Messi - and arguably even Deco as well - who like to roam between midfield and attack. For United with the pace of Ronnie, Rooney, Nani, Anderson and Saha he could prove very useful for a couple of years. I am not against getting Gud at all - as long as it doesn't mean that Rossi is being moved on

DENNIS LAWS BACK HEEL (27/06/2007 at 11:52)

TO THE MUPPET Andy P, Wythenshawe, Manchester

IT WAS LONG AGO WHEN SVEN WAS BEING LINED UP TO REPLACE TAGGART OR DOESN'T YOUR MEMORY GO THAT FAR BACK, JUST LIKE YOU CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE YOUR FIRST PREMIERSHIP WIN WHEN YOU HAD A TEAM OF MEDIOCRE PLAYERS FOR AROUND 2 DECADES AND YOU WERE BASICALLY A CUP TEAM.
ALSO IF YOU ARE THE "GREATEST FOOTBALL TEAM IN THE WORLD" WHY IS IT YOU CAN'T DOMINATE EUROPE, YOU'RE JUST A DOMESIC TEAM IN A VERY POOR LEAGUE THAT HAS NO COMPETITION.
THE ONE THING UTD CARN'T STAND IS IF (MAYBE A BIG IF) WE BECOME SUCCESSFUL. ARE YOU SCARED OF THE RIVALRY. THE PROBLEM IS THAT YOU'VE HAD IT TO EASY FOR TO LONG. WE MIGHT NOT WIN ANYTHING FOR ANOTHER 31 YEARS BUT WE'LL STILL BE THERE SUPPORTING ARE TEAM THROUGH THICK AND THIN, WHILE YOUR BANDWAGON FANS WILL OF DRIFTED OF INTO THE ETHER.
ON A SEPARATE NOTE, IF ALAN SMITH IS SOLD DOES THAT MEAN HE'S NOT WORLD CLASS ANYMORE?

dboy, eire (27/06/2007 at 14:19)

Any chance the webmaster could post some decent or new topics for discussion? Like what going on with Torres? And are UTD really going to step aside and let The Pool have a free run at him? If we don't want him at least drive the price up like they did to us when we bid for Smith 3 years ago

Nicki Jovanovic, Manchester (27/06/2007 at 14:21)

Just to add my tuppence to the debate, I'm not sure why people are panicking that we supposedly haven't bought an out-and-out striker so far this summer. If you look at th eplayers we currently have in and around midfield/Forward, we have at least 12-13 good quality players vying for 6 places. There's Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Hargreaves, Giggs, Rooney, Saha, Nani, Anderson (when we get his visa sorted), OGS, Smith (unless we have already sold him), Rossi (unless we sell him) and Dong. Players such as Ronaldo, Scholes, Giggs, Nani and Anderson can play in either midfield or forward so we already have a great deal of flexibility. The only issues come when you look at the fact that OGS, Saha and perhaps Giggs will not be able to give a full season worth of games, there's uncertainty over Smith and Rossi, and Dong is very much unproven at this level. That still leaves 7 top quality players to fill 6 places on a regular basis.

Johnniejohn, Tunbridge Wells (27/06/2007 at 14:30)

'Dennis Law's backheel' Could you learn to spell his name correctly as Denis Law. BTW I was at the game your name refers to, and the result was inconsequential to relegation.

Telfer, liverpool (27/06/2007 at 14:51)

Gudjohnsen? Yea, hes boss. sign him n watch us win the league......"ALL THE SCOUSERS SAID THANX LALALALA" 5TIMES

Kevin, Tralee, Eire (27/06/2007 at 14:54)

Last season we were trailing Torres, now Benitez is supposedly trailing him. Would the same be true with Eidur now that we are supposedly trailing him? Oh hang on, sorry, i've just seen the word "job" in the thread title! We're safe no scouser would have anything to do with that word. Sorry slow day...lol.

Sean, NYXMC (27/06/2007 at 15:26)

I don't understand why everyone is clamouring for a new striker - we did OK last season with a sub-par Rooney, and only half a season from Saha - you can't argue with 83 goals in the PL. Saha played more games last season than either of his previous two seasons at United, and if the recent operation on his knee has fixed a long-term injury, then hoefully we will get a good run from him. Rooney should come back fired up and fit, having come back from a full rest (c/w last season...) AND we've added to spectacular attacking midfielders in NAni and Anderson, which should see Giggs rested enough to dazzle through the whole season as he did in the fisrt two-thirds of last season. Rossi would be a welcome return, of course, and will get his chance with the sale of Smith. I have a feeling Ole won't start too many games this year, and will revert to a 15-30 minute super-sub. I agree with Mick - Gudjohnsen would be a fabulous addition to the squad, partculartly with Europe in mind (as would Huntelaar or MR Q), but an additional striker would really be icing on an already VERY rich cake. Can't wait. (PS - Shanny... Sven for United! Eh?)

FailsworthRed, Manchester (27/06/2007 at 15:54)

FAO Dennis Law's Backheel
Typical Bitter BlueNose.. what planet do you live on..
what's this about your loyal fanbase sticking together through thick and thin..check the attendance stats for last year(as well as video footage of the council house)City were one if not THE biggest losers in respect of home attendances..
Honetstly,,you city fans never fail to suprise me with your anything but United attitude..

Steve Chew, usa (27/06/2007 at 15:56)

Steve in Brussels, couldn't agree with you more. However, one down side with having too many good players is how to keep all of them satisfied while spending time on the bench. I'm sure performance bonuses are based on number of games played, etc.

FailsworthRed, Manchester (27/06/2007 at 15:57)

another deluded "Bitter" commenting on all things Utd..

Telfer, liverpool (27/06/2007 at 15:59)

"WHERN YOU WALK THROUGH THE STORM.........

bluejedi (27/06/2007 at 16:10)

Trafford FC can not afford to spend big because with a billion in debt.

Ferggies whiskey bill is more important this year.

Especially with Manchester City having Shinawatra, no Debts, £50 million + and Sven

Manchester City will be buying all the expensive players.

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