It is reassuring to know that England's failing health will never go unmarked; if you want to know how worried the people in charge are about hell, handcarts, and so on, check how many times foreigners are getting a mention in the papers. If they're getting/taking/using anything at all, lawks a lordy, we're in trouble, because nobody's got any better idea than to point and shout: "'E's not from round 'ere!" It's no different on the back pages at the moment either, with the topic of England's 'talent pool' still warm enough to keep columnists simmering.
Gareth Southgate's plan is to set a cap on the use of foreign players in the Championship, an environment scientifically proven* to foster home talent if given the chance. Newcastle United fans will hope there's no direct link between this and Alan Pardew's announcement that his side has "too many foreigners", and that he "needs to look at British players quickly". Leicester's Liam Moore is apparently top of the list.
There may already be more young English players bound for the Premier League, it turns out, as Portsmouth's Jed Wallace has attracted the attention of Stoke City as well as Blackburn Rovers, Burnley and Wolves, while at Manchester United David Moyes is readying £1.5m to sign Tendayi Darikwa from Chesterfield, if only he can keep Tottenham, West Ham and Fulham off the trail. Micah Richards might be on his way out of Manchester City, but it looks like Manuel Pellegrini will replace him by recalling England Under-20s' Reece Wabara from Doncaster Rovers in January.
Also helping to keep England for the English are Gastón Ramírez, who's had enough of life under Mauricio Pochettino and wants to leave Southampton for Napoli; Víctor Valdés, who says he won't join Arsenal but has his eye instead on Monaco; and Aleksandar Kolarov, who is said to be in such a huff at being subbed off in Manchester City's last game that he wants to rejoin Roberto Mancini, at Galatasaray, in January. Nigel Clough also looks like beating Peter Schmeichel to the vacant manager's post at Sheffield United. Take that, outlanders!
Chelsea and Arsenal, however, couldn't give two hoots about Mr Roy's squad: they're both stood waving £25m around at Juventus, emboldened by the club president's admission that he probably can't hold on to Paul Pogba. "I am trying to think what will be of us in two or three years' time if we get a massive offer for one of the best talents we have today: Pogba, the French 20-year-old," said Andrea Agnelli at the end of last week. "Would we be able to retain him? I don't know. I don't think at the moment we have the strength to retain such a player." If José Mourinho remembers Kevin de Bruyne, he might sell him to Wolfsburg to make room.
* In a clinical study, Andros Townsend.
No comments:
Post a Comment