RIGHT PLAYER, WRONG TIME... Transfer chief on Blues flop Cheick
EWAN Chester, the man who brought Cheick Keita to Birmingham City, believes the cast-off will still go on to have a successful career.
The Scot, who was in charge of recruitment when Gianfranco Zola took the talented youngster to St Andrew’s, views the £2 million deal as a case of ‘right player, wrong time’.
Keita arrived at Blues in January 2017 at a time when Zola was trying to overhaul the team’s playing style.
There were flashes of brilliance but, in the end, Zola was sacked after just four months and the leftback was unable to convince any of the Italian’s successors to trust him. Harry Redknapp used him just twice, Steve Cotterill and Garry Monk not at all and he was sent out on loan to Bologna and then KAS Eupen, in Belgium, before his release last month.
Chester, who has had two spells at Blues, laments a missed opportunity. “I go back to when he first came on the radar, I watched him and thought, ‘what a talent’,” he said.
“It was quite ironic because Gianfranco had another player who had been originally mentioned to him and we went away one weekend to watch each other’s player.
“I went to my game on the Sunday, looked at Gianfranco’s player and he did likewise. He came into my office on the Monday and I was going to say to him, ‘I’m sorry but I think Keita is far superior’, but he hadn’t even sat down and said, ‘before we start, your player is better than mine’.
“We signed a number of players that window but there were two particular ones we were absolutely desperate to get.
“One was Keita and one was a striker called Robin Quaison, who was playing at Palermo. We identified those two as absolute priorities. “Gianfranco reckoned he could get a deal for Quaison – and he’s done well, he’s now at Mainz in the Bundesliga. We were disappointed not to get Quaison, we thought it was doable but we got Keita.
“I still remember picking Keita up at the airport and the circus of agents who were all claiming a part of him. It was madness.
“I had to phone (former CEO) Panos (Pavlakis) to get security and took him to a hotel because he was looked on as such a commodity.” Keita made his debut off the bench against Fulham – and set up the winner for Lukas Jutkiewicz, after which he spent a few weeks as a GIF-worthy young prospect – until Zola was replaced in April 2017.
“He would have been a player you would love to have taken into a successful set-up, picked his games, given him moments here and there and surrounded him with quality,’’ said Chester. “We were a struggling side and his strengths were probably not what you need when you are fighting relegation.
“The Fulham game, when his first touch was a lovely bit of skill then he set up the only goal, probably created huge expectations. Then you follow that up with Rotherham away where it’s about not getting beaten and trying to hold a lead.
“With hindsight, which is a wonderful thing, had he gone to the Premier League he would have achieved far more.
“Sadly, Blues have never been in a position where they were in the top two, winning games on a regular basis and then you get momentum and everybody gets confidence.
“Playing in a team like that he would have flourished. Unfortunately, it’s been a battle for Blues. I think he has had injuries, it’s been disrupted. It’s a frustration because the fans are real good football people and good judges and they would really have enjoyed Keita as he fulfilled his talent. I would expect him to go on and have a good career anyway.
“We looked at that transfer as potentially a bargain and if he had progressed as we thought he would his residual value would have been huge. It wasn’t to be and it’s got to be a ‘what if?’”