COULD THIS FORMER SWANS PLAYER SORT OUT CITY’S GOAL SHORTAGE?
CARDIFF City need a striker.
It’s become something of an obvious statement, but the need for Neil Warnock to invest in his frontline has been exacerbated by recent performances, particularly away from home.
The manager has said it himself. Callum Paterson has done a sterling job as an auxiliary centre-forward, but the search for a January recruit to bring goals to the Cardiff side is becoming vital.
They were linked with the likes of Troy Deeney, Andre Gray and Charlie Austin in the summer, but failed to land their man.
But there’s one player who hasn’t been mentioned that the Bluebirds should consider -- even if his history as a Swansea City star might not immediately endear him to supporters.
Fernando Llorente ticks the boxes. Big time.
Premier League experience? Check. Towering aerial prowess? Check. Ability to score goals in a relegation fight? He’s done that too.
How the Bluebirds desperately need those qualities if they are to secure their hard-earned Premier League status in 2019.
Warnock could do a lot worse than make a swoop for Llorente, who is in need himself of football. He has played just 13 minutes of league football for Tottenham Hotspur this season, thus could be available on loan.
The problem for Llorente at Spurs is that he’s currently a very distant backup for Harry Kane.
The England striker is rarely rested by boss Mauricio Pochettino and is barely substituted either because of
his ability to sniff out poacher’s goals in the closing moments of games. Kane has completed 90 minutes in all but two of his appearances for Tottenham this season -- and in those cases he was only removed after 86 and 89 minutes.
Even when Kane is missing, Pochettino prefers to play Son Heung-Min up front.
Spurs are also under pressure to offload some of their foreign contingent in January, due to Champions League squad rules about having a minimum of eight homegrown players -- which has meant Juan Foyth has been left out this season.
So Llorente looks likely to be on the move in January.
And despite being linked with move back to his native Spain, Cardiff should be in prime position to
pounce with a loan offer until the end of the season.
Such an offer would come without the burden of a relegation clause, or leave them lumbered with Llorente’s considerable wages in the Championship.
It would suit Llorente too, as he’d return to South Wales as the striking kingpin, in the same way he was revered at rivals Swansea. He could make himself a Bluebirds cult idol by scoring 10 goals or so to keep Warnock’s side afloat.
Warnock would surely be keen too. Llorente is not only a classy operator with European pedigree, having played for Juventus, Atletic Bilbao and Sevilla. But he’s a Warnock-type player, a physical focal point and a natural scorer whose 15 goals in 2016-17 were paramount to Swansea’s survival under Paul Clement.
Contrast that with how the Swans struggled – and eventually went down – following the departures of Llorente and Gylfi Sigurdsson in 2017.
With seven of those 15 goals scored with Llorente’s head in the survival scrap, he would fit into Cardiff’s style of play like a hand in glove.
Wages may be the sticking point. But just like Bluebirds legend Nathan Blake implored the club to “sell the dream” to Aaron Ramsey amid talk of a sensational return to Cardiff for the Welshman, Cardiff could sell this move to Llorente as a short-term opportunity to play regular games and be adored by supporters. Not to mention clinch an unlikely survival.
It makes a great deal of sense, and would be a great deal for Cardiff City’s Premier League dream.