£ for £ Tottenham’s Kranjcar is the signing of the season
If you look through all the signings that were made by Premier League teams last summer, I cannot see a better value for money signing than Niko Kranjcar. At 25 years of age, and a Croatian international, it was a terrific bargain when Harry Redknapp took advantage of the financial crisis at Portsmouth to bring the winger to White Hart Lane for a mere £2.5million. In comparison to all the other signings in the summer who cost perhaps ten times more than the Croat, Kranjcar has performed out of his skin on the left hand side of midfield while deputising for fellow Croatian Luka Modric.
The perplexing thing for me was why wasn’t there more interest in the player when he was at Portsmouth? Kranjcar had always demonstrated his abilities on the South coast, good on the ball and known for a spectacular strike on goal, the player would have been no risk, and is the sort of player I wouldn’t have minded at my own club Liverpool. Harry as always knows a bargain when he sees one and he picked the Croatian midfielder up for a bargain price. To look at the other purchases in the summer, you begin to see how remarkably cheap Kranjcar was.
Antonio Valencia cost Manchester United£ 16million, and although he is lightning quick and has a good cross and shot, I would never say the player is six times a better player than the 25 year old Croatian. At 24, he is only a year younger than Kranjcar and the fee for the Ecuadorian international seems out of proportion compared to the Croatians. Yuri Zhirkov also cost Chelsea £18million, a left winger by trade, the Russian has found himself a regular on the bench this season under Carlo Ancelotti, and although he can be a quality player on his day, Kranjcar could match and perhaps surpass the player for both creativity and shooting ability in front of goal. The Russian has now found himself at left back where he started his career, in the absence of Ashley Cole, but he would no doubt be happier in midfield.
Then we come to one of Kranjcar’s fellow team-mates, David Bentley. In 2008, the England winger cost Spurs £15million. The move has not worked out and he has found himself on the bench while Kranjcar has been an instant first choice on the left wing during the absence of Modric. It is pretty clear that Kranjcar’s brief stay at White Hart Lane has already surpassed Bentley’s achievements at the Lane, and all for £13million cheaper.
Looking around at other bargains this season, perhaps Damien Duff transfer from Newcastle to Fulham could be looked at but his age and injury record made his price tag more realistic than the cut price deal which Harry got from Portsmouth for Kranjcar. For me, if the Croatian continues to perform at the same level and continues to play in the starting eleven, he will no doubt be my signing of the season.
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They say you can’t trust too much of what you see on youtube.But a clip showing him nutmegged Berbatov convinced me he had that class you can’t put a finger to when he first joined us. I boasted to my Liverpool pals he is as the same level as Benayoun . Damn, I was wrong, he is even better than Benayoun. I go as far as saying he is a poor man Zidane and that is compliment. Well sort of.
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I have to admit when I first heard that Spurs were going to buy Kranjcar I was a little perplexed,as I hadn’t really seen much of him,add to that the comments by disgruntled Pompey fans calling him both lazy,and a show pony and you can see my concerns,
Well let this be a lesson to all of us as Kranjcar is neither of the above,and just as importantly for me he is the twenty goal a season midfielder all the top teams posses,with very shiny knobs on.
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Richard Dunne is probably the signing of the Season. But Kranjcar is definately the best bit of business we’ll see this season. I’ll even dare to say we’ve looked a better attacking threat when we’ve had him on the left instead of Modric.
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TBH you need to look at the price in relation to the following: He could have gone on a Bosman in the summer; there was a lot of wheeling and dealing going on between Pompey and Spurs last summer (Crouch, Kevin Prince-Boateng, Jamie O’Hara on loan), and these deals were possibly connected in some way.
While I have always (almost always
) been aware of his ability (he was rated one of the hot young properties of European football and it was seen as someting of a coup when ‘Arry persuading him to go to Fratton Park), I have been impressed (and surprised) by his work rate and tracking back. But it can be the case that a good player looks better with better players, and maybe in his last year-or-so he was getting disallusioned at Pompey (‘Arry had gone, some of their best players had gone, the team wasn’t being reinvested in). But still, good bargain.
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Definitely the best buy of 09! Can someone tell me what’s in the water in Croatia? It seems that all their players have incredible ball control and brains, it’s beautiful to watch. Go Spurs, go ‘Arry!!
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Great signing by Harry but will Modric take his place now he is fit?
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Definitely a great buy, considering Kevin Prince-Boateng went for 4m (!!!) and Berbacrap 31m! He can play with Modric together and the competition only psyches him on, COYS. Believe in yourselves – we’re better than Man Utd and we should go to Liverpool and show who’s boss.
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He has done very well, I wasn’t sure if he could cut it, but he has performed admirably.
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Kranjcar is great. And he plays with passion. I watched him on the bench after Harry had taken him off in his brilliant performance against Villa. He was absolutely knackered because he had left everything out on the pitch.
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Spot on, which is why he should not be sacrificed now that Modric is back. I’d like to see a midfield four of Kranjcar, Palacios, Modric and Lennon. Harsh on Huddlestone who is having a good season but I feel Kranjcar offers more mobility, a sharper mind in tight situations and goals. Hudd’s only advantage is his physical presence but then he isn’t overtly physical in his play is he? Hope Kranjcar plays in Lennon’s place at Liverpool.
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