Spurs Midfielder Spotted Hitch Hiking On M6
We brought you a story a few days ago stating that Russian side CSKA Moscow were preparing a bid for out of favour Spurs midfielder Niko Kranjcar.
I suggested at the time that surely other clubs would be interested in the proven Premier League talent, and today it appears that indeed there is. It is reported that Sunderland and Everton are ready to launch a move for the player this Summer.
The Croatian who moved from Portsmouth to Tottenham in 2009, has spent 2 seasons with the club. In his first term he was used quite widely, but this season he has only managed 2 starts and a handful of substitute appearances. This morning The Sun brings us the following quotes from the frustrated star:
“This is the most frustrating situation I have had in my career. I need to find a football club where I can play regularly….I obviously miss playing football every week. I’m not in my best shape because I don’t play week in, week out….I’m ambitious, I want to play football. Especially in my best years. If I was a young lad obviously I would wait for my chance, especially being at a big club like Spurs….But 27, 28 and 29 are your best footballing years. Everyone knows I can play at the highest level.”.
Quite an outpouring really, and clearly a come and get me plea to other clubs. Everything that he says is entirely understandable, Kranjcar is entering the peak of his career, and he needs to be playing week in week out. The comments have alerted both Everton and Sunderland who view the player as a realistic target for this Summer.
He would be a fine player at either club, Everton may be forced to sell Mikel Arteta this Summer in order to drum up some funds and Kranjcar could be a fantastic replacement should they be able to find the money for the midfielder. He would fill that roll well, and if they could afford him without having to sell many players this Summer he could really help Everton push forward.
Sunderland are also building a strong team, and even though there have been suggestions lately that they may have to sell to continue to sign players, Kranjcar could offer them a lot. Numerous reports have claimed that Jordan Henderson may be on the move to Manchester United this Summer and that would free up funds for the Croatian.
It seems unlikely that he will remain at Spurs next season, unless Harry Redknapp receives a huge offer for Gareth Bale and or Luka Modric that they can’t afford to turn down. I am pretty sure he would prefer to stay in the Premier League where he is now settled, and interest from Everton or Sunderland would be a lot more desirable than the previous reported bid from CSKA Moscow. It still remains to be seen whether more clubs will come in for the player, but this is a story that will develop further as we get closer to the next transfer window.
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I am still at a loss as to why we bought Pienaar, He is not in the same skill set as Kranjcar
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Stoney Reply:
March 31st, 2011 at 12:41 pm
I’m with you Jim. Pienaar a total waste of money. Sorry DXS but pienaar is crap. Sure he can play a few positions, but he’s not good enough.
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You cant just buy 11 skillful players, football about the team, the system and the players plus the mentality.
Pienaar gives us something different and is good cover for three or four postions.
This is why we have been crap for soo long, trying to be a fifa 11 ultimate team rather than a successful well balanced side.
Krancar is a a skillful goalscoring attacking midfield. Unfortunately for him we have 4 or 5 of those already.
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frontwheel Reply:
March 31st, 2011 at 1:18 pm
at last some one with the same point of view as myself,i was getting scared to put my thoughts down that we should give the man a chance and get of his back,thank you DXS
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Yid Reply:
March 31st, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Whilst I agree with most of your point I have to ask who these 4-5 goalscoring midfielders we have are? Modric (1 goal in 23 appearance), Lennon (3 in 26), Jenas (0 in 17), Bale I will give you with 7 in 25 from his wing position, but Van der Vaart can barely be called a midfield player. So whilst we may have a skillful midfield and I agree a balance is needed, I fail to see many goalscorers. Kranjcar himself has 2 in 9 in the league which is a higher strike rate than everyone in the team except Pav, Van der Vaart and Bale.
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Pienaar is a snip at the price, similar to Krancs when he came. We’d instantly make money selling either of them. How can that be criticized? Krancs is in competition with Bale and I know who I’d prefer in. A very good player who scores goals but needs workers around him. Pienaar offers all what Krancs does minus his goal tally, but adds pace and work-rate in abundance. I’m happy with both but if they go… we could buy Wickham with the profits.
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Pienaar is a snip at the price, similar to Krancs when he came. We\’d instantly make money selling either of them. How can that be criticized? Krancs is in competition with Bale and I know who I\’d prefer in. A very good player who scores goals but needs workers around him. Pienaar offers all what Krancs does minus his goal tally, but adds pace and work-rate in abundance. I\’m happy with both but if they go… we could buy Wickham with the profits.
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Stoney Reply:
March 31st, 2011 at 3:18 pm
He doesn’t have pace. I’ve been to all the home games he’s played in, season ticket, plus away to Milan and I haven’t seen him beat his defender and get in a good cross once. I know niko is a snail but pienaar is certainly no whippet.
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The reason I am against Pienaar starting ahead of Krancjar is because we already have 3 midfield regualrs who dont score in Sandro, Modric and Lennon now when you put Pienaar on the pitch your adding to that list, where as Krancjar always looks to score every game he plays in, we are dropping points because we arent scoring any goals, and havent won any prem games since Bolton and Sunderland and I dont need to tell you who grabbed the winning goals in both games.
I guarantee he will play Pienaar against Wigan though, yeh becoz we really need a defensive winger against the bottom club dont we
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It’s surely only Spurs fans who can label a player crap after half a dozen games, on that synopsis Bale’s crap, Kaboul’s crap, Gomes is crap, BAE’S crap, any other takers or additions to the list of crap players, blow me we’re not doing too bad with them all in the side!, oh yeah Sandro’s crap I forgot about him, and Redknapp and Charlie, Huddlestone…blah blah blah..ugh!
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Pienaar is a good player and anyone who says otherwise never say him playing for Everton or Ajax. That said krancjar is a much more skilful and intelligent player. Krancjar offers as much as, if not more, than the likes of Van Der Vaart and it baffles me as to why Redknapp has decided to ostracise him in the way that he has.
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I feel Kranjcar’s pain but what he lacks, speed and defensive ability, is what Pienaar aptly makes up for. Pienaar might not have the same skill set but he is skillful. As for Kranjcar, he is a victim of Redknapp’s inability to rotate players. Obviously he won’t play ahead of Bale, Modric, Van der Vaart or Lennon and we wouldn’t expect him to. However he should play, the amount of matches we have in a season means a rotation policy needs to be implemented for the sake of keeping players fresh and injury free. Word.
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