Rumours abound but how many of them to be trusted?
MUCH CODSWALLOP – BUT SOME COME TO FRUITION
WE may be a few weeks away from Burton Albion’s first signings of a summer window which probably will not be quite as busy as the last one, or the two January windows he has had for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
But that does not trouble the speculators, who emerge from hibernation to reactivate several hundred dormant Twitter accounts as soon as a window opens.
Mostly, they come up with utter codswallop, based on spurious perceived links between players, managers and clubs.
For example: Charlton Athletic sack their manager, so as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink once (briefly) played for them and is a manager, he is linked. We saw it countless times with Nigel Clough and already enough times with Hasselbaink.
In terms of players, when Dino Maamria first came to the club as Hasselbaink’s assistant, the Brewers were quickly linked with a string of players who had played under Maamria for Oldham Athletic.
Some of the links, we know, are driven by agents trying to drum up interest in their clients.
Nonetheless, some of the rumours, more by luck than judgement, I would suggest, end up coming to fruition.
And it cannot be denied that the Maamria rumours were accurate enough. Three of the current Brewers squad played for Maamria at Oldham: Tom Hamer, Cameron Borthwick-jackson and (on loan) Jonny Smith.
So, let’s take a look at a few that the Brewers have been linked with this summer already. Don’t forget to take them with a pinch of salt...
OSSAMA ASHLEY
Ashley is the latest name to appear and the West Ham United midfielder’s career pattern sort of fits the bill as a potential Burton signing.
He is, if nothing else, an example of how the rumour mill works. A sketchy story on the website West Ham Zone refers readers on to Football League World, while The72 also has the story. Those two websites circulate rumours endlessly.
However, at 22, promising midfielder Ashley might be at a crossroads. He went to West Ham from AFC Wimbledon, where he had made only a 10-minute appearance in a Football League Trophy game in 2017.
He had 45 minutes for the Hammers’ under-21s in the same competition last season.
Other than that, the lad’s chances have been hampered by a series of injuries.
If he is over those, he just might be
on the radar. Joe Powell (from West Ham, too), Gassan Ahadme and Terry Taylor all arrived at Burton from Premier League clubs in search of a chance to play senior football, so there are precedents.
MATT BUTCHER
It’s another midfielder – and Burton have a fair few! – but Hasselbaink has said he needs to look for people with some solid League One experience and Butcher, who has been released after failing to agree new terms with Accrington Stanley after two years, fits that bill.
Portsmouth-born and with AFC Bournemouth as a youth, where he made one FA Cup and one League Cup appearance, Butcher had three loans with southern non-league clubs before a spell with St Johnstone in Scotland ahead of signing for Accrington.
He has made 85 appearances for them, including four against Burton, scoring six goals. At 25, he looks to be getting towards his best and it is suggested Portsmouth have spoken to him without pursuing their interest, while Hartlepool United are also keen.
Accy and Hartlepool are, potentially, two of the clubs Burton might actually be able to outbid. Portsmouth, not so. If money was the sticking point there, the Brewers are unlikely to offer more.
NAHKI WELLS
Quite obviously, at least one striker, probably more, has to arrive at the Pirelli Stadium during the summer with only Gassan Ahadme and Louis Moult in the senior squad in that position.
For Brewers fans who were around for the first tilt at the League Two play-offs, in 2013, Wells’ name sticks. He scored for Bradford City from the penalty spot in the first leg of the semi-final, at Valley Parade, as Burton won 3-2, then twice at the Pirelli Stadium as Bradford turned the tie around with a 3-1 win.
He also scored two the previous season in a 3-2 win for Bradford in the League Cup, the year they went on to reach the final.
Wells scored 53 goals in 112 games for City, then had 49 goals for Huddersfield Town after a £1.6m move, including one against Burton at the Pirelli in the Championship.
A £5m move to Burnley in 2017 did not work out, resulting only in 10 goalless substitute appearances, but he scored 24 goals in two loans to QPR and has added 19 for Bristol City after another £5m move in January, 2020.
Now, at 31, he is being released and may have his sights still set a little higher than Burton, at least in terms of wages. Clearly, though, he is a good operator in the box.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ GORRIN
Perhaps file this one in the “most unlikely” category. The 28-year-old Spanish midfielder is being released by Oxford United after three years. A real globetrotter, he has yet to play for more than one club in any country, having had spells in New Zealand, Portugal, Romania and Scotland, with Motherwell.
The rumour-mongers have adopted a scattergun approach to this one, suggesting Wigan Athletic, Portsmouth, Lincoln City and Sunderland (where he was a youth player) are all credited with interest. Only Lincoln might not pay more than Burton.