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- QPR Players Report back for training tomorrow....
Harry Redknapp/The Sun Little ’uns can make it big here
The transfer window officially opens tomorrow and the big deals may not be
restricted to giant-sized players any longer.
Attitudes are changing in the game and if you look at the Spain team which has conquered Europe and the world, it is full of titchy players.
We have our own Iniestas and Xavis in England who can rub shoulders with the big boys in terms of talent and ability — if not in terms of physical stature.
Swansea midfielder Leon Britton is a household name now but there are two players who are not quite as famous who have the potential to go on and become big names in the game if the current change in the tide continues.
Premier League new-boys Crystal Palace are taking a gamble on 22-year-old Dwight Gayle but it’s a risk worth taking.
He’s a young lad, a striker and the deal I’m told could end up rising to around £8.5million.
I watched him play for Peterborough last season — ironically at Palace — and all my scouting reports about him were great.
My chief scout Ian Broomfield’s reports were all glowing. We were looking at him but then, suddenly, the price shot up and QPR got relegated.
But he’s a pint-sized frontman, a great mover and a terrific finisher. He scored 13 goals last season for a team struggling against relegation from the Championship.
Gayle has made his way up through non-league and made his mark at Dagenham and Redbridge, having been taken there by one of the great football finders in John Still, the club’s former boss.
Now Eagles chief Ian Holloway has taken a punt and given him his chance in the top flight for next season, so good for him.
He could fall flat on his face of course but I don’t think that’s going to happen somehow.
Peterborough’s £400,000 investment in the player looks like it will multiply considerably.
....The Sun
Attitudes are changing in the game and if you look at the Spain team which has conquered Europe and the world, it is full of titchy players.
We have our own Iniestas and Xavis in England who can rub shoulders with the big boys in terms of talent and ability — if not in terms of physical stature.
Swansea midfielder Leon Britton is a household name now but there are two players who are not quite as famous who have the potential to go on and become big names in the game if the current change in the tide continues.
Premier League new-boys Crystal Palace are taking a gamble on 22-year-old Dwight Gayle but it’s a risk worth taking.
He’s a young lad, a striker and the deal I’m told could end up rising to around £8.5million.
I watched him play for Peterborough last season — ironically at Palace — and all my scouting reports about him were great.
My chief scout Ian Broomfield’s reports were all glowing. We were looking at him but then, suddenly, the price shot up and QPR got relegated.
But he’s a pint-sized frontman, a great mover and a terrific finisher. He scored 13 goals last season for a team struggling against relegation from the Championship.
Gayle has made his way up through non-league and made his mark at Dagenham and Redbridge, having been taken there by one of the great football finders in John Still, the club’s former boss.
Now Eagles chief Ian Holloway has taken a punt and given him his chance in the top flight for next season, so good for him.
He could fall flat on his face of course but I don’t think that’s going to happen somehow.
Peterborough’s £400,000 investment in the player looks like it will multiply considerably.