With a reputation of buying players past their prime, it was no surprise to me when I heard that Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce was making enquires for Real Madrid forward Ruud Van Nistelrooy. In the end, the Dutchman’s wage demands were too high for Rovers, but instead of pursuing other players the wrong side of 30, Big Sam adopted somewhat of a youth policy.
The departure of strikers Roque Santa Cruz and Matt Derbyshire forced the issue in that particular area, and what followed was the signing of 20-year-old Chelsea striker Franco Di Santo on a five-month loan deal and now, the signing of 21-year-old Nikola Kalinic for a fee of £6 million, after finally being granted a work permit earlier today.
Boasting an impressive goal-scoring record (just check his wiki page out), the 6’2” Croatian international has been dubbed by some as ‘The next Davor Suker’ (no pressure there then). National manager Slaven Bilic has also sung his praises, describing the young striker as the ‘future of Croatian football’. So should we fantasy football managers be considering this highly touted youngster?…
Well, priced at 6.5 in the Fantasy Premier League game, that already represents quite a risk. Especially when you consider that you can get the likes of Beattie, Fuller or team-mate Roberts and have change left over. With no Premier League experience as well as no preseason minutes for Rovers, Kalinic is probably not going to be on the pitch come 3 o’clock Saturday.
His talent does excite me however, and the more reports I read about him, the more I think there is a star in the making (as well as another prima donna). His nose for goal, speed, power and heading ability appear to be his stand out attributes (what more do you want?).
Furthermore, looking at Blackburn’s squad, he’s bound to get chances sooner rather than later (no offence). Should he take those chances, then he could well be worth a look given Blackburn’s run of favourable home fixtures. So once again I’m afraid, I’ve got to put another ‘wait and see’stamp across this transfer article.