Evan will be affordable this year but his price tag will likely soar
FER
BORUSSIA DORTMUND made their move on July 20, 2020.
Jude Bellingham had only celebrated his 17th birthday three weeks earlier, but the Germans were convinced.
They’d seen enough of him in action across his brief Birmingham City career to feel that he was both the present and the future.
The initial €28m fee raised eyebrows, as it meant that Bellingham was the most expensive 17-year-old in history.
But Dortmund felt they’d got a bargain. They figured that, if they waited another couple of years, Bellingham would be way out of their reach.
We saw the same kind of thinking with Liverpool and Cody Gakpo a few weeks ago.
Liverpool’s most pressing need is for a midfielder — or two or three — but Jurgen Klopp had been tracking Gakpo for a while.
From what I’ve seen of him, I’m not convinced he’s anything special — and that’s putting it mildly. Klopp, though, is clearly a fan.
And it’s interesting to read what he had to say about the Dutchman at the end of December.
Liverpool paid out an initial €40m for Gakpo’s signature, and Klopp made it clear he felt the attacker’s valuation was set to soar if he played a waiting game.
Potential
“He is a young player with a lot of potential. If he would have already been scoring 40 goals in Spain or whatever he would be unaffordable,’’ he said.
“These kind of things are all about timing, getting these boys at the right moment that they didn’t already score 55 goals per season and stuff like this.
“That’s why we were really convinced he could make the next step, and that makes it interesting.
“We believe in our process, when players come here — especially offensive players — they have all made a step forward because of the way we work and the way we can help them.
“That makes it massively interesting.”
It’s not hard to see where Klopp is coming from. Go back to the signing of Andy Robertson, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota. Plenty thought they were unproven — or not up to much — but they quickly developed on the German’s watch.
The Bellingham and Gakpo situations highlight the way many clubs work now.
They can’t afford the fees the likes of Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain can come up with, so they’re always on the hunt for players who look to be on the cusp of taking off.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Brighton and Ireland’s Evan Ferguson falls into that category.
He only turned 18 in October but, in a very short space of time, the Meathman has shown that he is well equipped to take the Premier League by storm.
Ferguson is powerfully built, which helps when you’re a teenager, but he also has a very smart football brain.
That is clear from his movement and positioning, and he’s a creator as well as a goalscorer.
Why wouldn’t big clubs be looking at him already even though he’s only played a handful of games?
Ferguson will be affordable this summer. In another year or two or three, his price tag will likely soar.
It wouldn’t surprise me, for example, if Erik Ten Hag and Manchester United are monitoring him closely.
Last
Cristiano Ronaldo’s last goal for United came against Everton on October 9.
Since then, United have played 12 Premier League games. United strikers have scored seven goals in the top flight since then, but six of those have come from Marcus Rashford.
They are hugely dependent on him up front. Ronaldo’s effective short term replacement is loan signing Wout Weghorst.
His last stint in England was with Burnley. He managed just two goals in 20 Premier
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