Could Bendtner be our new striker after Erdinç snub?
Posted on July 10th, 2011 | 65 Comments |
Don’t you just love a good rumour? No? Well please yourselves.
One that’s bubbling for those with their eye in the triangle is about a possible move to Newcastle for Nicklas Bendtner. The rumour is fuelled by three main things.
The first thing is that Nicklas Bendtner – along with goalkeeper Manuel Almunia – has been left out of Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Asia. The second thing that stoked the speculative fires is that, with the impending arrival of Gervinho, Bendtner may find himself further down the pecking order of strikers. The third thing is that Arsenal are allegedly interested in Joey Barton (and possibly even Enrique) and some sort of swap deal may be struck between the two clubs.
There was a rumour that we asked Arsenal if we could loan the player back in January after the eleventh hour sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool but apparently they turned us down. There have also been other rumours about our interest in the player but they’ve never really gained much momentum.
Bendtner, who is also allegedly also linked with a possible move to Benfica, would seem to fit the bill for a Newcastle recruit (except that he’s not French). He’s 23, versatile in that he can play up front or on the wing and probably not too expensive to buy and maintain. It might look even more financially attractive to Ashley if they can move Barton – and his wages – the other way as part of the deal.
Bendtner is 6ft 5in tall and has 58 goals and 28 assists in 204 first class games, although a lot of those appearances have been as a substitute. He also has 12 goals in 38 games for Denmark.
He’s had his share of controversy, including an on-pitch spat with Emmanuel Adebayor and an incident where he pulled his trousers down in a night club after Arsenal lost to Manchester United in the Champions League, but in the grand scheme of footballers’ bad behaviour that’s probably classed as trivial. After all, doesn’t everybody pull their trousers down in night clubs?
So the big question is: is there any truth in the rumour?
Well, there’s no evidence, no quotes, nothing from Deep Throat and absolutely no other reason to believe there’s a shred of truth in any of it. So your guess is as good as mine. I have serious doubts and wonder if certain events have just been artificially tied together to create a pointless rumour.
All I would say is that, to me, it feels like it fits, which is as sure a sign as any that it’s complete BS!
I wouls be quite happy too look after Bentners girlfriend whilst he’s playing for us ;-)