At £2m how did Niko Kranjcar slip the big four’s net?
Many clubs were aware that Niko Kranjcar had entered the last year of his contract with Portsmouth. They were also aware of Portsmouth’s growing financial troubles which would make the Croatian midfielder available at a cut price. Kranjcar was no stranger to being linked away from the club – since joining Portsmouth he’d been linked to a number of clubs including Arsenal, Everton and Monaco with the latter reportedly said to have offered Portsmouth £12 million to sign him.
Kranjcar had shown himself to possess a lot of class whilst at Portsmouth, possessing a cracking left foot which delivered fine crosses, powerful shots and fantastic set pieces Kranjcar had been one of Portsmouth’s best players for three years, only having an off day when the whole team had an off day, he was one of the club’s most reliable players.
Tottenham were always going to be interested in Kranjcar with Harry Redknapp in charge, Redknapp’s links to Portsmouth would have helped him be aware how much the club wanted for Kranjcar whilst his having worked with Kranjcar would make the move appeal more to the Croatian who had given Redknapp nothing but praise whilst the duo were together at Portsmouth.
The lack of interest from the big four helped Spurs get their man – as mentioned Kranjcar had been linked to members of the big four before but the link didn’t come up. It is a regular occurrence in the Premiership for one of the big teams to only become interested in a player playing for a smaller club in the league if they’re in top form. With Portsmouth struggling Kranjcar hadn’t been setting the world alight but the ability he’d shown on his best days was still with him. Tottenham weren’t alone in their interest and Everton eagerly tried to sign Kranjcar as David Moyes looked to get a squad capable of challenging for a Champion’s League spot but Kranjcar revealed
“Everton is also a big club but, in the end, the tradition and greatness of Tottenham made the difference. I also knew manager Harry Redknapp, and Luka Modric and Vedran Ćorluka told me great things about the club.”
And so it was that Kranjcar moved to Spurs where he’s proven one of the signings of the season and an absolute bargain, filling in so well whilst Modric was out injured that he’s likely to remain a fixture in the team even now that Modric is back. The big four will be regretting not signing an impact player like Kranjcar, particularly given how each of them has struggled this season. Kranjcar could’ve done a fine job for all of them with Chelsea the only team I can think of who he’d probably not get many games for.
Kranjcar had proven himself at Premiership and international level and had shown himself to be a great player on his day, and an impact maker even when off form but it wasn’t enough to attract the big four. They have a certain blindness to them that prevents them from seeing things around them like the players at a smaller club and as a result they’ll only be willing to move for a player when they’ve hit top form and are more expensive – signing Kranjcar from Spurs now would cost a lot more than £2 million. But the big four’s loss is Spurs’ gain and Kranjcar has become an instant hit at White Hart Lane and for good reason, he’s an absolute steal!
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He is slow and his work rate is not good enough for what top clubs expect from thier midfielders. He is great player for a mid-level team like Tottenham.
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Cookie Jar I think all apart from chelsea would snap up Kranjcar in a heart beat if they thought he was available now! Just Look at the midfield of Man U and Liverpool. With the exception of a few players obviously.
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Obviously the carer has inadvertently left the laptop on for Cookie jar to use. What a great, thought out intelligent comment from one so obviously challenged. 8 is probably hius age, IQ level and hatsize. A genuine hat trick. To adults Kranjcar is a top class international and would more than hold his own at any of the “top” clubs. Perhaps the old order is changing with debts and challenges of holding on to thje past. Perhaps Cookie jar wiull expound.
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UTD signed Obterton and with Kosic, Wellbeck, Anderson etc didn’t want someone blocking their development. Arsenal have plenty of playmakers such as Nasri and Arshavin as well as Ramsey and Whilshere coming through. Chelsea have Cole, Deco and Malouda so only really Liverpool would really have a requirement for a winger but they only had 2m to spend and used that on Kyrgiakos having suffered defensive injuries at the start of the season. Kranjcar is a good player but at a time when clubs are trimming wage bills and reducing costs then it was not an obvious choice for anyone. He may not have signed for spurs had Modric stayed injury-free.
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I do admit that our Kranj is rather slow, and I do not feel that he would have suited Arsenal. However Merson was gutted that Spurs signed him and could not believe that they let him go elsewhere. I could not see Chelsea signing him either – however Liverpool could well have done with him – but he may have interfered with Gerrard’s license to do what he felt like.
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He was on bad form before he left pompey. Harry only bought him because he knew what he could do.
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He was such a bargain, even Liverpool could have afforded him.
Maybe.
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Kranjcar may be slow in footballing terms but he is fleet of foot which he has shown since he arrived at Tottenham. Chelsea may have Deco, Cole and Malouda but those three are in and out of the squad but the style of play Chelsea play does not suite Kranjcar. I also feel he would’ve done very well at Arsenil, ManUre and Liverpool due to his ability to play all across the midfield. It made sense for Arsenil or ManUre not to go after him though due to the players they already have. Liverpool on the other hand would’ve wasted his ability and you’d have seen him shipped out now or in the summer and labeled a flop.
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Cookie Jar is a blind retard, obviously cant see or cannot come to terms with a gem in the spurs team. He’s as good as anyone in MANURE, the ARSE and Chelsea. I’m not even talking LiverFool here, anyone who goes there will be wasted. Even Torres works like a dog and can’t really have many openings, because their whole team sucks. I would think Kranjcar is worth 20m, but hey, we shouldn’t be selling!
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Kranjcar must be the bargain buy of the season so far at £2.5 million, has had much more of an impact in less than half the time than Bentley who cost around £17 million, signed by Commoli & Ramos, Harry Rednapp once again proving his genius in the transfer market.
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