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"Man Utd and Fulham (Finally) agree Saha Deal"

Man Utd and Fulham have finally agreed a deal for Louis Saha subject to a number 'conditions' which have to be fulfilled by both clubs.

Don't really know what it means by conditions? but at least it's a positive step taken by United after this weekends disappointing result and I certainly won't be counting my chickens until the deal is done, which is hopefully sometime next week.

More here:

http://www.skysports.com/skysports /article/0,,1-1119751,00.html

very good.

He's done well at Fulham, but that's it. Yes, he scored 2 goals against us on the opening-day of the season, but can he really do it at the highest-level in Premiership football?

I don't think so. All Fergie appears to have done, here, is to have bought one of the most "obvious" of strikers within-reach, when, really, we could've gone for someone so-much better...


Perhaps he will only be another Forlan though? Sitting on the bench, waiting for his chance, as a new, REAL, No.9 is signed during the summer?
(Or, at least, I HOPE so!)

Samuel Eto'o, Arjen Robben... a couple of others mentioned....
I don't really think eligibility in the Champions' League should count, now; seeing as we've gotten this far without them, already. And we're only gonna opt for a more "defensive" style of play against the real teams, anyway (Scholes behind van Nistelrooy).

So, we SHOULD be spending the money on a player who has proven himself at the very-top, several times. Another Ruud van Nistelrooy. One Diego "no-goal" is enough!


Or IS there something stopping us...?
Forget about all the rules and regulations for a minute; I'm talking about the board. We all know what they're like; very tight-fisted no matter how much we really have. Looking to take this "business-venture" as far as they possibly can, internationaly.

They've denied Sir Alex the money we need before, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing it all-over-again.

Perhaps, somehow, they managed to justify the £10.5m needed for Louis Saha over anyyone else?

Are you talking about the same Saha that's scored 15 goals this season, 13 in the league? I'm sure I don't need to tell you that that is merely one less than Van Nistelrooy himself.

Personally, I make the comparison with Dwight Yorke, who, in the season before his move to Old Trafford, scored 12 goals in all competitions. No-one thought he was good enough for united, no-one thought he was worth 12 and a half million quid. I think he did enough to prove everyone wrong on that front, and I'll wait until Saha has a full season at Utd under his belt before I make any judgement.

Dwight Yorke was a different quality altogether.

Yes, he had big teeth; but he'd be scoring goals consistently for several years - whereas, Saha has barely done it for 2 seasons in this league, and once in the First Division.

If he's "so-good", where was he before that?
Why were only Fulham interested in him?
Why was he happy to try and kick-start his already-sliding career in Nationwide Football?

Shouldn't he have gone straight back to the top, if he was that-good?


And if it's previous goal-tally's your after, just look at Forlan's.
Yes, he has scored some important goals in big games; but he barely looks a shade of the "goal-every-game" predator he was, back in Argentina.

Before Fulham, Saha was at Metz; after joining Newcastle on-loan and scoring that one-goal.


Bobby Zamora couldn't stop scoring for Brighton; yet, how-many has he scored this season for Spurs, exactly?? And what about Helder Postiga?

Not even Hernan Crespo or Adrian Mutu have shown quite the goal-scoring form we all know -FROM THE PAST- they are capable of.


Saha's still miles behind the rest in the pecking order for a place on the French sub's bench; behind Djibril Cissé and a host of others playing over in France.

Plus, if he was really that good, surely Arséne Wenger and Gerard Houllier would've shown an interest in him, given he's French-connection??


I just don't think he's up to the job.

You're quoting examples of players who have come to the premiership from other (lesser) leagues, and not made it. Saha is already in the premiership, and has proven this year that under good management, he can consistently perform in an exemplary manner.

If someone an bang in 13 league goals in half a season for a second rate outfit like Fulham, how many more could they get when put in the lineup of the domestic champions?

Zamora is a useless example. Moving from third division football to premiership is equivalent to going from playing tennis on the weekend with your girlfriend to trying to ace Agassi in the wimbledon final. You can't be expected to make that jump and produce results.

Let's remind ourselves that if it's a proven Premiership striker you're after, your choices are limited to:

a) Alan Shearer
Best goalscorer in the league, has been for years, but has turned down Utd more than once already.

b) Thierry Henry
Gooner through and through, but only because Juve thought he was balls. Has pledged to never move to Utd.

c) Michael Owen
Once said he would only ever play for Liverpool, but probably could be persuaded to move elsewhere. I sincerely doubt he'll ever go to united though, and besides, the lad is far too injury prone.

d) Nicolas Anelka
The ultimate prima donna. Huffy, arrogant loudmouth, but brilliantly gifted footballer. Would make a great asset, but would also constantly litter the headlines with gossip from the Man Utd dressing room. May also not wish to swap one side of Manchester for the other, and Keegan may not let him anyway.

e) Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Yeah. Because Chelsea might want to sell their leading goalscorer, because they need the money.

The only other player that warrants consideration is Juan Pablo Angel. And I expect Villa would make just as much fuss over him as Fulham have over Saha.

Like I said. You want someone who has proven that they can score premiership goals, your choices are always going to be limited. Each team has their star striker, and most of these either can't cut the Utd grade, or wouldn't move there anyway. Saha is clearly someone who wants to move, wants to impress and wants to win silverware and test himself at the highest level. Who knows? A year in a Utd shirt, and he could well have proven himself enough to move himself up the French pecking order everyone keeps talking about.

But while on the subject of pecking orders for international competition, why should it be of any import what international coaches think? James Beattie is clearly a better footballer than Emile Heskey, but which f the two is consistently picked ahead of the other to play in internationals? Cantona was the finest french footballer of his time, but was simply ignored because of previous conduct charges. Paulo di Canio, Italian genius superplayer, ever overlooked merely because he didn't ply his trade in Italy or Spain.

As I said, I'm not saying that Saha will suddenly become the finest footballer in the land, but I'm willing to give him the chance to prove himself before ruling that he "isn't up to the job".

Well, he's signed today taking Andy Cole's number 9 shirt. Standard maybe, but do remember Forlan didnt get that shirt as it was available when he came.

I would buy the white shirt with his name on the back (the only current shirt i dont own) if it wasnt so damn ugly.

I'll just wait till the new home shirt comes out in the summer.

Solskjær wrote:
> Not even Hernan Crespo or Adrian Mutu have shown quite the
> goal-scoring form we all know -FROM THE PAST- they are capable of.

I admit that Crespo has played uselessly compared to what we know he's capable of, but you can't knock his scoring record.

As for Mutu, he's been outstanding so far this season. I don't quite think these are good examples.

I thought Crespo was a perfect example for the amount he cost.

Absolu† Neó wrote:
> I thought Crespo was a perfect example for the amount he cost.

Money is of no matter to uncle roman.

Money is not the issue, the player's form and worth in the team is.