Aug 13
United are on the ‘Brink of a Signing’
It’s a quiet day if you ignore the words Dimitar Berbatov. But you can’t ignore it today, because otherwise, there wouldn’t be much to write about here. So let’s not ignore it and decide to talk about it. Er, okay…
Dimitar Berbatov is on the brink of joining Manchester United according to most sports outlets. There has been all sorts of crazy speculation. But there is little, by way of quotes, to suggest anything. However, such has been the mood in the press, with some papers having proclaimed that Berbatov is already in Carrington and will sign ahead of the Friday pre-season photo shoot, that it is safe to say that Berba will be a United player soon.
The transfer fee reportedly anything between £25 to £28 million has also sparked debate on the value of the player. I personally think £25m is a good deal but think the final fee to be closer to the £28m mark.
Anyway, I think we can start thinking up Berba chants.
Elsewhere, John Terry decides to chime in with his contribution to the pre-season trash talk. “I don’t think United have another level to go to, he suggests. “They had a lot of players in their team who have been at the peak of their form for the last two years.” Fair enough. But we also don’t have players who slip when all they’re supposed to do is to kick the fucking ball from the spot.
And Ryan Giggs has admitted that, whilst he’s played the past two seasons like they were his last, there is a good chance this could be his last. There is a piece on the Telegraph that also talks about his desire to get into coaching.
And finally, ahead of the new season I thought I could get RR a bit of a facelift. It’s the same theme with some minor tweaks. Initially I flirted with the idea of a radically different theme, but I had already fallen in love with my existing theme that I thought a few minor tweaks to be handy. Now there is a rotating header that will change upon page load, randomly. Hopefully we’ll get to add more headers and also iron out minor bugs in design in due course. Of course, thanks are in order to Ahmed of Soccerlens for getting the right designer to do the job and generally bearing with my nitpicking.
And since there is a big time gap between when this post was drafted and when it went to publish mode, here’s hoping Berbatov has signed as you read these lines.
Till tomorrow.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Muted celebration portrays the dawning of reality – Wallpaper
- United Close On Lindegaard, But De Gea’s A No-Go — For Now
- Tottenham v Manchester United – Match Thread
- Part-time gardener to make United debut soon
- Hargreaves Stirs Up Some Debate | Saha Could Start (Wow!) | Some New Signing
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (542)
Stephen (500)
RedDevilEddy (463)
Craig Mc (349)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
And about the Huntelaar jabs, I thought it was meant in good humour albeit repetitive. I never thought that would make your blood boil. Anyway the kid apologized so I guess he’ll know better next time before sharing a joke with you.
Hopefully there’s no more bad blood between the two of you.
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There’s something wrong w/ the site in my Firefox. I didn’t even notice that there was a new entry because the text is up in the black banner and there’s no Red Rants logo or anything. I’ve cleared my cache and cookies but no dice.
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Grognard, my consolations on Huntelaar. Perhaps after bad break ups with Stam and RVN SAF has decided to stop going Dutch or just got blinkered by his admiration for Berbatov. I am sure he will get his chance at a big club and show the world just how good he is. I just hope it is not Real!
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@Red Ranter: Where do you live? I just assumed you were a Brit but I’m guessing not since you are posting at 4AM.
Another morning arrives and there’s nothing confirmed in the papers, which is disappointing. Hopefully we’ll wrap something up soon, but I’ll add to the Huntelaar debate before it’s too late.
In my crude managerial mind, I would say that choosing between Berbatov and Huntelaar is damn easy. A lot has to be said for being proven in the league of the proposed signing club, and it’s a choice between a proven Premier League Genius, and a Dutch league goal machine, I really think there is no choice (even if you do have to pay a little more).
EDIT: If the above wasn’t obvious, I’m Pro-Berbatov.
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League tells Spurs to prove United tapped up Berbatov
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@benjd: Live in the United States. And I am not a Brit. (It’s funny because I get that a lot.) Anyway, I believe that’s enough information… and wouldn’t want to share anymore about myself over the “interwebs”.
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@Red Ranter: Hah, yeah sorry. I did mean “what country” rather than “where is your house”.
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@Red Ranter: I think the reason I get so worked up is twofold. First, I got my hopes up for quite a long time that this player would one day wear United red and second the personal man hours I’ve put in watching this player perform and develop has to count for something with me. It’s not just that I know more about the player, it’s the sacrifice of many hours watching the Dutch league to virtually scout a player like him and a few others. I’m far from a professional scout but there are times I put in as much time, if not miles in to the game.
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@Red Ranter: No theres no bad blood and it’s not like I don’t have a sense of humor but he began to rub it in a number of times. I can take the joke the first time. By the third or fourth time, it gets irritating as it’s just adding salt to the wound. Losing out on a player you had your heart set on is not easy to take. Having it rubbed in your face by a kid whose having a cheap laugh on your account…..well, I just kind of lost it a bit. But no, I hold no grudges towards the lad. And generally, I can take a joke. Hell, Dan pulled a worse one on me and I took that one fine.
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@colver: I don’t think he is judging all Dutchmen based on Stam and RVN. I’m sure EVDS doesn’t think he is. I honestly think it wasn’t a lack of respect or admiration for Huntelaar. Rather, I think he had his heart and his mind set on Berbatov and nothing was going to move him from that. With that said, I found out that Berbatov did train today with Spurs. Why would Spurs risk injury to him by having him train before a potential sale? Makes me wonder if the deal is off again. This train wreck of a transfer is making me really fed up to be sure. How about you?
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This Berbatov deal seemed to be finally moving ahead yesterday…but still no concrete news. This really takes the pis*.
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Now some people are saying that he wont move until spuds get what they want! Tell em you wanna move berba!
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@MUFC Fan in America: if you use adblock plus, then disable it.
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According to the Mirror newspaper, Levy has now turned again, because Fergie said he was looking at other players, namely Henry etc. So now Levy has changed the agreed asking price from 28 million to 32 million, and allegedly that’s the delay. To be honest, I think United should pull out NOW if that’s the truth, because Berba is not worth the 28 million at his age etc, and Levy wanting to continue to be a total shit, let him feck off. I don’t care if we don’t get anybody. I mean that. Why the feck should we give Levy 32 million, so we are paying for all of spurs transfers. Leave Levy with an angry Berbatov on his hands. I don’t know about you all, but we should NEVER pay 32 million for Berbatov. If we don’t get anybody else, we will get by until Ronnie is back. Fergie please tell Levy to go Feck himself. I mean Berbatov is not like the world’s best player is he. Do not pay 32 mill Fergie, let Levy cry all over the White Hart Land pitch first. I was very enthusiastic about Berba coming to us, but now Levy has pulled this shit, I say forget it!.
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@Craig Mc: A minor detail we are missing here is the Mirror article has no quotes and no proof that this is the reason for the impasse. That said, there are reports that Arshavin to Spurs is a done deal.
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RR, where are the reports about Arshavin coming from?. Also, I still don’t think we should allow spurs and Levy to take the piss if there is a shred of truth in what the Mirror is reporting.
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RR, just saw your earlier post. If your not a brit but an american, then how did you get to love Man Utd so much?. Must have Brit or Irish ancestry somewhere lol?. Whatever, I appreciate this blog provision.
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@Craig Mc: Lets talk about Liverpool!
They couldnt bear a Belgium team! With their BEST STRIKEFORCE that was going to seet the world alight for them! HAHAHA!
Looks like it going to be 19 YRS!
Oh and to RR!
We should have a UCL+PL winners headrer as well!
that would be neat!
To any Pakistani out there, Happy Independence Day!
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@craig mc
good point. we can always get huntelaar for 20 million, but id prefer berbatov
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@BCsteve: to insert @ symbol, click the arrow next “IBleedRed says:”
Anyways…
Continuing on the 4-2-3-1 discussion…
VDS (Foster, TK)
Wes (Nev, RDS) Rio (Wes, Evans) Vidic (Wes, Evans) Evra (FDS, Silly???)
Scholes (OH, Fletcher) Carrick (Andy, Possebon)
Ronaldo (Nani, Park) Rooney (Campbell) Tevez (Nani, Giggs)
Berbatov
I think in a injury/suspension free world, this would be our strongest squad. Look at it. That is frightening. I left JOS out of the depth chart because the man is too cunning to be pinned down to one spot.
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Red Diablo, happy Pakistan Independence day mate. Do you have speacial celebrations going on today in your country?.
As for L’Pool, as I said in an earlier post, I saw the match, and it was truly bland. They didn’t get into the opposition area hardly. Hope they keep that up!.
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@Craig Mc: Ashravin reports= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/tottenham/2554523/Tottenham-Hoyspur-close-in-on-Andrei-Arshavin—Football.html
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Er are we still on the brink………………………
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i agree with RR, huntelaar might be good, but he will reach the next level by staying with ajax, he needs to move to a different league, a top league in europe to see what he’s made off. i personally believe, he wouldnt make it in our league, i’ll continue this comment in a couple of minutes, my PC is restarting, CRAP.
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Stephen – are we still on the brink?. At 32 million, I hope not mate. That’s 3 times as much as Spurs paid for him. I will be pissed if Fergie forks out that price for the Berba.
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@Craig Mc: If we pay £32m I will be very annoyed, @ £25m I still donn’t think he is cheap but palletable.
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Looks like Madrid have made an offer for huntelaar, we need to hurry and get berbatov or put in a bid 4 hunter!
the windows become annoying again………
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We need a striker. we should get one for whatever price in my opinion.
But of course, 35 mil plus is pushing it.
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Suddenly its not looking too good……
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The spuds are greedy twats
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Levys a cock
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@Craig Mc:
I agree mate that is a ridculous price but its getting to the point of what choice do we have now. Its crap to think that the best and biggest football club in the world is being forced into a corner over the signing of strikers available.
Still I’d rather we pay £25-30 mill for Berb than £20 mill for the Hunter. I just don’t want to see that style of player back at Utd unless its for a plan B to bring off the subs bench. What would you not do to have an Ole player back at the club again.
@edi:
Yes Levy is a cock and so is John Terry. You can never mention that too many times
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@Craig Mc: I would be ready to give that much money to a top striker like him!
Face it whatever the price is! We need him! And I dont think that money is an issue for us!
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@Grognard:
Peter Crocuh has a pretty good strike rate for England, does that make him world class. Huntelaars strike rate in the dutch league is artificial due to the level of competition and his chances to play for Holland have often come against relatively poor opposition. Strike rates alone really don’t tell the whole story with a striker.
As for Dutch players being world class before moves. That really hasn’t been the case for a long time now. Back in the 90′s when you had the great Ajax side the league was strong due to the player restrictions in Europe meaning the top dutch players all stayed in the league then that was the case but as soon as the restrictions were removed the exodus started and now the quality quickly moves to a stronger league. Its now little more than a feeder league and a retirment home, one of the stronger of feeder leagues due to the Dutch development system but a feeder league all the same. For its fortunes to be reversed it needs Blatters 6+5 rule
@Rd:
18-22 million for a player who is nigh on 25 and hasnt any experiance in a top league and thus is still somewhat of an unproven entity is a little on the high side at this moment. If you can get him for the 18mill then thats probally just about acceptable but still on the high side but as it edges up it gets worse.
@Grognard:
Cut the “I’m all knowing” crap. You arent the only person who eyes and can watch football. Infact if you seriously think the Dutch league is a real test for Huntelaar your eyes are clearly need to be tested. David Jones I think has shown this, he excelled in his time in Holland and has done ok in the Championship but couldnt make the United team and struggled to shine even in the poor Derby side in the prem.
Anyone can see he has the raw attributes to be a top player, raw attributes alone though mean nothing. Alot of players can look to have the raw attributes but just don’t ultimatly cut it. You need to have the right attitude and personality and you need to be able to refine the raw attributes.
Theres an article on Soccerlens about the MLS which discusses the damage the MLS has done ultimatly to the US International side due to helping squander the potential of future stars. Alot of the players who have looked good just dont have a competative enough league to refine their potential and as such plateued. One example is Fredy Adu who was the next big thing, but failed to really improve in the MLS but has become a more complete player in a more compeative situation in Portugal despite not playing as often.
Huntelaar has the potential but he is raw and we dont know if he has the attitude to cut it in a more competative enviorment. He needs however to make the move to give himself the chance of not letting the dutch league squander his potential
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sooo whats holding spurs up with the Berbatov transfer… do they truly believe they will hold us to ransom at £32million
sorry but he’s truly not worth that kind of money… money in football blows my mind right now… I thought only a few years ago you could get the likes of Messi for that figure. YUP someone with a little more left in there battery… and at the age Berba is he’s no duracel bunny
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@dan(u-ol): Speaking of CRAP, stating the theory of yours that Huntelaar cannot make it in the English League is exactly that…..CRAP. BULLCRAP to be precise. Fine, you don’t think he is good enough for United, I’ll live with that one, but to say he is not good enough to play for any of the other teams in this league, which half of them are CRAP anyway, is totally ridiculous. And you base this on what profound knowledge or evidence. The one time you’ve seen him in the UEFA Championships, or the less than a handful of times you caught highlights of him playing for Ajax on tv or YouTube?
Sorry for my snobby and elitist outlook but regardless of what RR thinks, I will not let blokes like you get away with putting down excellent players by saying they can’t do this and that, when they clearly haven’t taken the time to really see them play enough to offer an informed opinion. Honestly, and be truthful here, how many times have you seen him play a full match? You once told me and so I’m testing your memory to see if you are lying or not.
Although this is a freedom of speech blog and people are welcome to their theories regardless of experience, it’s my pet peeve when people offer their uninformed opinion and there are the few occasions where I just can’t take it. You don’t see me offering much on players from Africa, France, or even Italy. Although I watch a little Italian footy, I am basically ignorant to the goings on in those leagues because they don’t interest me in the least. Where I am highly opinionated of course is the German, English, Spanish and Argentine leagues. So please DAN, I implore you, stop making claims about players you know very little about. Stick to those you do know a lot about, the Manchester Utd reserves for example. Because lets face it, if you were manager of United, most of them would be first team players. Lets be honest here, players like Welbeck, Evans, Simpson etc you see as good enough to be first squad. I have a good friend who is like you when it comes to baseball. He knows everything about the LA Dodgers minor league teams and players, and quite a bit about the Dodgers but he forgets that they play in a league with over 30 teams. He knows nothing about the other teams. It’s called tunnel vision, and it’s fine I guess. The difference between him and you though is he doesn’t talk to me about players in the Yankees farm system because he knows nothing about them and he knows that I do.
Stick to the players you know about if you are going to make bold statements on their ability and qualities. Sorry mate but your last post just exasperated me big time. I do apologize for my elitist attitude but when it comes to defending a player for being wrongfully judged, I’m the Supreme Judge Advocate. Be fair.
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@wakey: You just don’t get it mate, and you never will. You “wakey” up every morning with one thing on your mind, how do I piss off the Grognard today? What will I find to disagree with him on this fine day? Personally, I don’t care anymore because I find your arguments weak and pointless. I also find them provokingly negative in tone. I am also sick and bloody tired of having the same argument about Huntelaar for a month now. Please mate, give it a rest and shut up. I’m not playing anymore. How much clearer must I get on this subject? Also, I have had just about enough of your insults to last me a lifetime. If you have a problem with me, bring it up with RR. Otherwise leave me the fuck alone and stop baiting me into arguments.
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@wakey: One more thing. If you have a problem with me and the way I think, then I suggest you either keep it to yourself, or you complain to RR via e-mail. I for one am fed up with you trying to bait me and constantly get under my skin by insulting me and forwarding you pathetic and inconsequential little agenda. As of today, I will never ever respond to anything you ever write again because it is clear you are a prick when it comes to dealing with me. Life is too short and my tolerance level and patience is even shorter so as of now, you don’t exist and nothing you have to say will ever be responded to. If you think that is childish, fine. Consider self preservation. Why? Because I’m so fucking to telling you what you can do and where you can go with your opinions that I would be really breaking the cardinal rule of this blog. And frankly speaking, this blog means a lot to me, and you and your views are personally worthless in my eyes. It’s not about debate or disagreement with you. It’s about ego and oneupmanship. Your childish and I won’t play with a bloody juvenile. Consider our conversations dead and in the past
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Grognard,
wakey has not attacked you in anyway. He has made valid arguments. The only thing that may have been offensive to you is when he said cut the I’m all-knowing crap. But I already warned you about the perils of calling yourself an elitist.
You are letting your past tiffs with him influence the way you argue with him. He has disagreed with you and there is no irrefutable evidence of one-upmanship. If you feel baited then you can always stay out of it. What wakey has done is not illegal.
Yes he has attacked you inappropriately in the past but I have deleted quite a bit of them. But on this occasion he wasn’t in the wrong.
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@Red Ranter: Yes I’m letting my past tiffs influence me and it only takes a little insult or a stubbornness to understand that I’m not buying an argument to get me going. He’s been on it for weeks now regarding Huntelaar. On top of that he always makes snide little comments like, You’re wrong and again I won the argument.” I’m not so upset with the crap comments as much as I’m upset with the relentless badgering regarding this issue. I have told him time after time after time that I don’t agree and I have been a Hell of a lot more politer about it. But he is relentless and he needs to get his dig in at my expense. I don’t appreciate it and I am wise to it. I don’t care what his views are regarding Huntelaar. I know what they are. He knows what mine are. So why does he persist with this? I’ll tell you why? He loves to bait me into an argument. It’s as simple as that. He’s free to say what he wants about any player he wants, just leave my name out of it and he needs to stop baiting me. I’m no longer interested in what he has to say and I will no longer respond to him.
Yes I’m an elitist but that only explains the fact that I know a lot about certain things and I am a difficult nut to crack when I am well researched or experienced on a certain subject. As I’ve said before, nobody hears a peep out of me when it comes to Italy, France, Portugal and other leagues that I do not watch or read up on. But I consider myself close to an expert on the Bundesliga, EPL and the Dutch and Argentine leagues. I should not be insulted or condemned for this knowledge like no student should condemn their teachers for knowing more about the subject being taught. With most people I do my my very best not to talk down to people or do be overly demanding. And I could give you a list of names on this blog who would agree with me and who have very cordial relations with me on this blog. I have nothing against Wakey personally as i’m sure heis a ecent bloke. But he has a bug up his ass when it comes to me and it has infuriated me. So out of self preservation and preventing a future explosion that both you and will regret, i will choose to ignore him. It’s the best for all three of us.
You can choose to disagree with my view all you want RR. That’s fine and I respect that. It’s just that I know what I am reading and I know how it makes me feel, and I don’t like it. The fact that you have deleted attacks of his in the past says a lot about him and it just adds ammunition to my argument and my stance on the subject. Neville Chamberlain I’m not. I’ll be damned if I allow him to attack me like i’m Poland in 1939.
And finally, his arguments are rarely valid. They are based on rumors and innuendo and he can never give me concrete proof about anything in my opinion. And opinions are subjective aren’t they?
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@Grognard:
No you are the one who doesnt get it. Your a hypocrite of the highest order. When it comes to Hunterlaar you have exactly what you claimed Dan has, that being Tunnel Vision. Why is it ok for you to have this tunnel vision so you ignore all the facts but not ok for Dan.
As for claiming my arguments are based on rumours and innuendo. Yeah right because im the one who goes off on players based on what tabloid hacks write even when they debunk their own stories in their articles. Oh wait no that you.
My arguments have pretty much all been backed up by facts yet your responses are always to pick on the few exceptions that help you and your aim to feed your ego as the ‘Special One’ even if the exceptions arent even valid as they are from donkey years ago when the situation was remarkably different. You arent the only football fan reading this blog, or for that matter the only one who can and does watch football from around europe or the world on a regular basis so you are about as much the Special one as Jose Mourinho so just drop the ‘I’m right as I know more’ act
And i’m not trying to bait you, if anything I would say you are the one trying to bait others with your pig headedness. Most people here who have seen him play agree with you that Huntelaar is a real potential star. But alot of people myself included also are able to take our blinkers off and see the bigger picture. We can see the quality of the league he is playing in, we can see how other top players in his league have struggled when moving, we can see that alot of players have stunted their progress by staying in a weak league too long, we can see players more often than not taking time to settle in a higher level of football/a new country/a top team and we see that some leagues can suit a player while others dont. We point this out with examples and what do we get “Your wrong, im the only one who knows about this league as im the messiah” and the odd example thats the exception not the rule or actually disproves your view if you look carfully.
Lets look for example at one of your favourite examples, Mr Dennis Bergkamp. Firstly when he was playing for Ajax it was a different league to the League Huntelaar is playing in now. It was full of the top dutch talent and a some future and current none dutch talent. The league was competative due to this and the quality meant that it was a league that youngsters couldnt just get the start of their football education but could also round it off there. Bergkamp then moved to Italy, the Dutch league was still good at this point but Italy was a step up. He struggled in Italy scoring just 11 goals in 50 league appearances as he just couldn’t settle in the league or the country. He then moved to England, he settled in better than in Italy but it still took him time. Coming to England at the time was actually a step down in level from Italy so that no doubt helped. So while he went on to become one of the EPL greats it wasnt instant and his move up a class from Ajax certainly wasnt rosy. And certainly if you go through the foreign strikers currently at EPL teams you will find that most of them are either seemingly in a Bergkamp at Inter situation of just not fitting in a better league or new country or are in a Bergkamp situation and just took a little while to get accustomed (Torres, Tevez to name just 2)
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