Diego Forlan; 'Come and Get me'
October 5th 2010 11:17
Link: twitter.com/mattsaltmer
Whenever a big name in world football makes it clear that they want to move, everyone takes notice. Then begins a clamour of managers, desperately trying to persuade that player their club is right for them. It is very rare, that one of the top top players in the world, openly announces this, and puts out what is effectively, a come and get me plea. But the man who just won the Golden Ball, for best player at the World Cup in South Africa, has done just that. Diego Forlan is open to offers.
After being linked with a move to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspurs in the summer, he stayed at Atletico Madrid. But speaking to Sky Sports today, he has said; 'If I have the chance to go, I will go. It's like I've always said, when I came here to Europe, I left my home and I left everybody so I'm not attached to a team'. There are very few clubs in the world right now, who wouldn't want the Uruguayan striker to arrive in the near future. And given that he has made clear his intentions to leave, if the right offer is there, and that Forlan is now 31-years-old, the price tag may not even be so high.
During his four years at Independiente, Forlan became recognised as one of the greatest prospects in world football, netting 38 times in the league for the Argentinian club, in just 80 appearances. However, it seemed his career was washed up, after a two year spell at Manchester United. He had to wait eight months for his first goal, and eventually left having scored ten in 63 in the league. However, he did endear himself to United fans, by scoring a famous double against Liverpool. So he was offloaded to Villarreal, reputation in tatters.
But in Spain, he has ignited his career. In three years at Villarreal, he scored 54 league goals, winning the much acclaimed European golden boot. Since then moving to Atletico Madrid in 2007, as a replacement for Fernando Torres, he has done even better, scoring 69 league goals, in just 106 appearances. In the 2008/09 season, after bagging 32 league goals, he again won the European Golden boot, joining Thierry Henry, as the only men to win it twice. He also lead Atletico to the Europa League Trophy last season, adding to the Intertoto Cup he had won in Spain, and has since won the UEFA Super Cup. Despite his disappointing individual record at Manchester United, he did win a Premier League winners medal, an FA Cup and Community Shield.
But despite his incredible form at club level, for some reason Diego Forlan has still avoided world wide acclaim and praise. But that all changed this summer. Captaining his Uruguay team, they topped World Cup Group A, which consisted of Mexico, France and South Africa. The South Americans went on to reach the semi-finals, narrowly beaten by Holland, and then narrowly beaten again by Germany in the third placed play-off.
But the real story for Uruguay, was the irresistible form of Forlan. He scored five goals in the tournament, almost all of which were fantastic goals. This meant he ended as joint top scorer, though Muller got the Golden Boot due to more assists. Forlan was then named in the World Cup Dream Team, before receiving the ultimate honour, the Golden Ball, for best player at the tournament. Every single one of the best players in world football were at the World Cup, and Diego Forlan outperformed them all. His stock has certainly risen.
There is no indication of where he will move if he does leave at Atletico, but I'm sure his admittance to be open to a transfer, will have put a lot of managers on alert. Despite his rough time in England at Manchester United, he has not ruled out a return, and maybe he feels like scoring in the Premier League, is the only point he has left to prove. I would personally love to see him playing in our league, week in, week out.
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