Derby win will help with transfers, says Pardew. Perhaps beginning with Cissokho?
Posted on August 21st, 2011 | 24 Comments |
Yesterday’s result was extremely satisfying – as any win over the hapless mackems is – but I think we’d all like to see a new left-back and a new striker in before the transfer window closes.
Pardew is obviously thinking along the same lines, which I must mention to my psychiatrist in case agreeing with Alan Pardew is indicative of something worrying. Pardew said:
“A victory like today helps me with Derek and Mike to go upstairs and say, ‘Come on, let’s try to get them in this week’.
“We want to get the right players and we want to get the best value we can, and we are trying to do that.
“The group I have got is sound. They are aware to balance us up, we perhaps need a left-back in the building and we need a striker in, and that’s what we are going to try to do.“
And if rumours are to be believed, it looks like the work will begin by trying to get Aly Cissokho. I’m getting the feeling that Cissokho is now the preferred option to PSV’s Erik Pieters after some sort of release clause in his contract allegedly put us off pursuing him.
Last week Lyon coach Remi Garde said:
“The situation is somewhat complicated because Ali was one of the players for whom the door was left open if certain financial conditions are met.
“So far, these conditions have not been met by any interested club, but the door has still not closed.”
I’m not sure whether we’ve actually made a bid at all yet but if we have then clearly it wasn’t enough.
Lyon apparently paid €15m (£13.1m) to Porto for the player in 2009 and rumours in the French press suggest we may start by bidding €8m (£7m). I’m not sure how much Lyon will be after though – Cissokho has played 75 games for them since joining in 2009 so it’s not like he’s been waiting on the sidelines and he’s contracted to the club until 2014.
Such teams as Juventus and AC Milan were supposedly interested in Cissokho last year although, as far as I can tell, word of such ‘interest’ was spread mainly by his agent, and agents do upon occasion stretch the truth a bit to big-up players. That must be why they’re payed the enormous amounts of money that has put a serious dent in the £35m we got for Carroll. Allegedly.
So what do you think? Is Cissokho the man for us?
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.
Hugh,
I was totally confident that Pieters would be through the door last week as he ticked all the boxes, so I’m not going to speculate on Cissokho. We will get a left back I’m sure but who I’m not too sure.
Congradulations and well done to Ryan Taylor are in order as he has helped keep a clean sheet for two games which in its own right would be praised but scoring as well, fantastic.
I’m wondering whether Pardew will be putting out some of the squad players against the mighty Scunthorpe on Thursday. I would like to see Sammy, Vuckic, Ferguson and Abeid have a run out. I also think Tiote needs another game as he looks rusty, if the first half performance yesterday is to go by. Of the seniors Harper, Williamson, Marveaux, Ba and Gosling all need a full 90 minutes.