Zidane 2.0, bargain Bellamy and writing off Chelsea

Gabriele Marcotti

3. There's nothing like a great goal to warm the heart. Check out Yoann Gourcuff last weekend here on YouTube.

Gourcuff moved to AC Milan when he was very young (probably too young) and they pretty much left him on the shelf for two years. He's now on loan for Bordeaux and is really coming into his own, on his way to becoming a regular with France and being compared to Zinedine Zidane (which, at this stage, is blasphemous, though the little spin-and-dragback move is a bit special).

Here's the thing though: Bordeaux can make his move permanent by paying Milan around £13 million at the end of the season. It's a hefty price tag, but not an absurd one. And, in fact, given his age (22) it may even be a bargain. So much so that there are strong rumors in the French press that some of Europe's biggest clubs (the usual suspects: Real Madrid, Chelsea, etc.) are working out a deal with Bordeaux whereby the French club would exercise their option to buy and then re-sell him elsewhere at a profit (basically "flipping him", the way people used to do before the housing market tanked). If he plays like this on a regular basis, he'll be worth every penny. And Milan will have made a colossal blunder.

2. If Gourcuff can be had for £13m, what to make of Manchester City's improved £12m bid for Craig Bellamy?

Is that value for money? Personally, unlike some, I have a lot of time for Bellamy. But £12m is a huge amount in this market. And, given the lack of size in City's XI (Robinho, Shaun Wright-Philips, Stephen Ireland) I'm not sure where another small, nippy player fits in. Bellamy turns 30 years old this summer, which means his resale value is negligible. He hasn't started more than 23 league games since 2004-05. And, while some of us in the media are now depicting him as crucial to West Ham's hopes for survival this year, it's worth noting that last season, when he missed all but eight games through injury, they finished in the top half of the table. Which is where they are right now. Throw in the fact that he has three-and-a-half years left on his contract and this means that, if West Ham can get £12m for him, they will effectively be saving themselves in excess of £20m. Which would go some way towards the £50m fine they may or may not have to pay.

1. OK, so if you believe the reports everything's falling apart at Chelsea. And it's true that whoever put this side together (and I'm not sure to what degree it was Luiz Felipe Scolari) made a dog's breakfast of things. Too many central midfielders, too many sulky strikers, not enough quality width, some of us were pointing this out back in the summer, when everyone was drooling over Deco.

The Premier League may be beyond them. But don't write them off in the Champions' League just yet. If they are shut out of the league race, they'll be able to concentrate on Europe. And while Chelsea may not be as strong as in previous seasons, they do have the tools to succeed in a knockout competition: a great goalkeeper who can win games single-handedly, a constant threat on set-pieces and individual matchwinners who can raise their game on the night. And, as we've seen, winning the Champions' League isn't about being the best in Europe, it's about taking your chances when they come along.

PLAY MY GAME: Well, we've worked our way through the table alphabetically, which means this will be the last round. Not sure what I'll do next, I'll think of something. But Wigan Athletic are up and the rules ought to be familiar by now: which of Wigan's non-English players would get into a 23-man England squad?

Maynor Figueroa - I think he's been one of the best new signings in the Premier League. Strong, quick and a threat going forward. Would he dislodge Ashley Cole? Probably not. But he'd be my choice to back him up. Easily.
Paul Scharner - I like him a lot, not least because of his Youtube antics. No, he wouldn't get into my England squad. But I still think he deserves a big shout-out.
Wilson Palacios - This guy runs all day. England are stacked in terms of central midfielders, so he'd probably be on the fringes. But if one of the usual suspects goes down (Hargreaves, Carrick, Barry) I think you'd take a look at him.
Luis Valencia - A very tidy, dynamic player and another unsung hero. He'd need to beat out David Bentley and David Beckham to make it into my squad and I'm not sure he's just there yet (though, given Bentley's performances this season and Beckham's age, he'd be very close).
Amr Zaki - OK, so he's cooling off a little after his terrifyingly red hot start. It's the usual issue with England strikers. Given the lack of options (especially when it comes to guys who are physically strong) you would take a look at him.

Anybody else? Mario Melchiot? Jason Koumas? Drop me a line, especially Wigan fans! (both of you...)

Comments

[The General]

Strange Gabriele.. You think that Milan have done bad transfer business and that Chelsea have a good shout at the Champions League (next opponents Juventus)..?

You ruin some truly astute observations with your transparent bias. Next column: recommending Buffon to Manchester City (sigh..)

Chinedu Obasi. Best young player in the world. Future World Player of the Year.

[Nick H (Herts)]

Save £50 million selling Bellamy? Does nobody calculate the value of keeping a player these days?

Aside from the fact West Ham would probably get relegated without him, loose £50 million and other good players for not being in the Premier league...no brainer...Pay the man to keep us in the Premier League!

[Mark]

I think one of Chelsea's biggest problems is the massive egos of their players. Mourinho was just about able to keep them in check but it seems that any new manager coming in will have his work cut out. Ballack, Drogba, Lampard, Terry, and others appear to me to have too much say about team affairs. Chelsea need a strong manager like Ferguson or Capello who will say 'my way or you are out', and have the backing of Mr Abramovich. Too much player power never works.

[Harry harinordiquy]

If Milan really do sell Kaka, surely they will take Gourcuff back to the San Siro.

[Mohammed]

As usual great points brought up mr Marcotti, bellamy..dangerous talent but quite injury prone..& being an arsenal fan just look at rosicky...what a player but has been injury plagued since he arrived!

all i know is, France will restore its status as one of the world superpowers with this young batch of brilliant players coming through, nasri at 20 will have massive potential.

[Tyler]

Watching Chelsea now, do you still stick by your comments that Mourinho is "not so special"?

[Ben]

Look I'm fed up with the anti-Wigan bias in the media in general. Just 'cos you live down there in the south you feel you can disparage those up north. For you information, you condescending little man, there is now in excess of 7 wigan fans.

I also think your lack of inclusion of Titus Bramble, clearly England captain material, is shameful.

[Kyle]

Over here in CONCACAF land, we've seen a fair amount of Palacios -- you could do much worse. Tactical acumen isn't fantastic, but his game is otherwise solid.

[Ola]

Re: Gourcuff- I am glad that he has got his career back on track. If Milan made a big mistake by letting him go, he made a similar mistake by joining the Rossoneri at such a young age in the first place. Zidane and Platini, before him, were both full internationals when they joined Juventus and I believe that in most circumstances this should be the case. To give a few examples of what I talk of take a look at the lack of opportunities afforded to Liverpool's talented young midfielder Damien Plessis or Tottenham's Adel Taarabt. Even within an increasingly globalised game, shouldn't these talents be given a platform to develop and hone their abilities in their homelands before moving onwards and upwards once they have proven themselves as established professionals?

Re: Bellamy- Im also a big fan and although I understand £12m does not represent value for money for an injury prone 30 year old, I think he is a short term solution to a short term problem. With Valeri Bojinov and Martin Petrov out for the season, Robinho is likely to start from the left, with Bellamy occupying the space behind a target man (Santa Cruz?), Wright Philips on the right and the versatile Ireland taking up a deeper spot in central midfield next to the defensive midfielder(Parker?). In any case, even if he is bought simply as a Premier League experienced squad player, the money's hardly a dent in Sheik Mansour's fortune

Re:Wigan- Agree with most of the choices. I would say Valencia is actually a better player than Bentley and Ashley Young but seeing as these players are on the fringes themselves he might find it hard to break in. Koumas certainly has the talent to play for England but has not always shown the application. The same could also be said of Olivier Kapo and Daniel de Ridder, two players who have not fulfilled their vast potential

[Leiro]

Paying £13 million for Gourcuff it's like taking him for free. I wouldn't call comparisons to Zidane as blasphemous.

They both play at the same position, are the same height, and being 22, as Gourcuff is now, Zidane had played for Bordeaux. Gourcuff has extraordinary technical skills and has excellent ball control. Doesn't it remind of Zidane?

Of all the French new wave of players (the likes of Benzema, Ben Arfa, Nasri, etc.) I think Gourcouff is the best and has the brighest future before him.

Berlusconi might easily sell Kaka to Manchester City for that irrational 100 milions euro. Gourcouff has all the marks to become the successor of Kaka. If only Bordeaux agrees not to use the clause allowing them to buy him permanently for such a small amount of money.

[Mark]

It would appear that Milan have made a schoolboy error in the case of Gourcuff. I do not understand why any club would feel a need to include the option of purchasing a player for a set fee at the end of a loan contract. What is the point? Having a set value at the start of a contract for a player is stupid as, inevitably, during the course of the loan, whether he performs well or badly, his market value is likely to change. So either the club who own the player will be selling him on the cheap or the buying club will not be willing to pay the amount. Why Milan would include this in the contract is beyond me. What did they have to gain?
Bellamy to City is a strange one for me. Hughes clearly wants to have players around who he has worked with before and who he feels can perform for him. Santa Cruz would make sense as, he both fills this criteria and is also a player that City need (a target man who scores goals). I don't even see how Bellamy would fit into the first team, that's before the fact that he is not worth £12Million.
I have always felt that Chelsea have spent their money quite poorly. They have spent huge sums of money developing an ageing, unbalanced squad with a lack of width and lack of creativity going forward. Now the vast majority of their best players are the wrong side of 30 and the funds have dried up so replacing them is going to be difficult. For me, if the policy was to spend heavily initially before intending to break even, buying up the best young talent from around Europe and then developing them into a world-class side would have been a far better idea. Maybe they got a bit excited at being the richest club in the world and suffered from too much short-term thinking. Scolari has no funds to fill any gaps in his team, while a few years ago they were just throwing money away. Just think of the money that was wasted on Mutu, Crespo, Veron and Shevchenko. Oh how they could use that back now. The problem with Scolari is that he has used basically the same system throughout his club and international career. He has tried to instil a creative, free flowing brand of football to a group of players, who, under Mourinho, where moulded into a strong, combative team who were incredibly difficult to break down and who could always grab the one or two goals needed to win. For the first time in his career this system has not worked for him and for me, he doesn’t have a plan B.

[Tim]

Hi,

Cech can't single-handedly win games, to do that you need to score goals! But yes, I get your point.

Wigan have a very good squad, Bruce really should get more of a mention as a possible successor to Sir Alex. Not that I think he should be first choice, but when Keane's name gets banded about on a regular basis...

Zaki, Palacios and Valencia would make my (Fabio's?) squad. In terms of starting line up, might be a bit early for Zaki but he would probably have the best shot considering England's current striking options (and the lack of Owen in the mind of Fabio), with Palacios getting close.

I haven't seen much of Figueroa so cannot comment.

[Mark]

Gourcuff has been on Arsene Wenger's radar for a while although he may be out of Arsenal's range now.

[SD]

Cech is a fantastic keeper - but no goalkeeper, however good, can 'win games singlehandedly' - unless they're also expert freekick/penalty takers. Cech takes neither.

[blueboy]

Chelsea: Mourinho told his ex colleagues Sunday he's not enjoying it at Inter and is open to a return, some of the higher-ups are too, he's still friendly with Roman who's realising his mistake.
What have you heard, credible?

[James]

Gab, with regard to Chelsea. While a Champions League win would be a fantastic achievement, do you not think it might paper over the cracks to some extent?

As you've pointed out, the need for width has never been clearer, we were crying out for it at Old Trafford. Scolari persists in saying he's happy with his squad (although whether he is, is another matter - his hands are clearly tied in terms of spending) and that he cannot play 4-4-2 until he has Malouda back. Malouda's performances apart from a couple have been just as poor as last year.

If at the end of the season, we let Drogba, Deco, Malouda, Ferreira, Belleti and some others move on (maybe even Ballack), welcome back a revitalised Essien and allow ourselves to buy a couple of young and reasonably cheap wingers as well as a striker. I think we could be looking at a team that can challenge on all fronts without having to go out and spend millions again.

Finally, would it be possible for you to show us a 23 man squad of some of the non-english players you've highlighted over the past weeks, to see how you rate them up against each other?

Cheers