3 Man City strikers, 1 answer to Newcastle’s burning question

With the new Premier League season due to start on Saturday, Newcastle’s search for a striker in addition to Demba Ba has so far proved fruitless. One club that has an abundance of players in that position is Manchester City, and manager Roberto Mancini has signalled that three have no future at the club. Those three are Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and ex-Magpie Craig Bellamy, but would one of these players fit the bill for Alan Pardew?

Newcastle’s top striking transfer targets have seemingly been and gone and other than Daniel Sturridge, who himself used to play for Man City, most of the rumours seem to be centring around Tottenham’s forwards right now. However, the three above mentioned City players all have plenty of Premier League experience under their belt and each has a point to prove one way or another; points that could be proved at St James’ Park, perhaps?

Let’s start with ex-Newcastle striker Craig Bellamy. The fiery Welshman left under something of a cloud in 2005 after a bust-up with Alan Shearer, but prior to that he excited the St James’ Park faithful. Bellamy has pace to burn, but an attitude to go with it and at 32 he isn’t getting any younger. Even if the Magpies did want Bellamy, it doesn’t seem like the Welshman would be open to a return to the north-east anyway if a recent interview is anything to go by, saying that at times it was ‘embarrassing’ to be Newcastle player.

So Bellamy is a no go, but what about an equally controversial player; Emmanuel Adebayor? The Togo striker is arguably the most talented of the trio, but like the Welshman, has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way. The 27 year old scored plenty of goals for Arsenal and doesn’t have a bad record for City either, and even netted a handful of times for Real Madrid last season. The obvious stumbling block that comes to mind would be Adebayor’s ridiculous wages, but he is thought to be keen on a return to England. Newcastle were linked with him back in April but nothing has come of it since, perhaps something Pardew should resurrect?

Finally there’s Roque Santa Cruz. The 29 year old must wish he never joined City, although his bank balance might not agree! Cast your mind back to 2009 and the Paraguayan had just finished a second successful season at Blackburn; two years later and he’s no further forward. Santa Cruz really looked off the pace when he returned to Ewood Park on loan last season and looking back at his career, his striking figures weren’t even that impressive when he was at Bayern Munich, although his international stats are decent.

From starting off as a promising trio at the start of this article, rightly or wrongly, I seem to have slated them all off. Bellamy will never return due to what’s gone on before and Santa Cruz seems to have left all form in the naughties, so that leaves Adebayor. He is the most talented and prolific of the three and if Newcastle can get Man City to contribute to his wages, then perhaps a loan deal might not be such a bad idea.

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