|
Martins is regarded as the fastest player in football and at 22 he can only get better. He's not just about pace, he's an excellent dribbler of the ball and his finishing is better than many make out. There was a time when people thought Eto'o wasn't prolific enough, that he was just about pace.
In Serie A it is usually bigger strikers who succeed, strikers such as Adriano, Crespo, Lucarelli, Toni, Vieri etc. Teams defend a lot deeper than they do in England. The English league is a lot quicker and much more attacking and this opens up gaps for quicker players to exploit. Look at the difference Thierry Henry made when he moved from Juventus to Arsenal.
I'd definitely have Martins for the right price, my only reservation is we could do with someone to hold the ball up and he doesn't do that. I think his pace would rip up the Premiership though, as it did against Arsenal at Highbury a couple of years ago. Michael Owen is likely to miss the whole season, indeed his career is in doubt at the moment as he'll possibly have missed 18 months of football by the time he returns, so we could do with Martins pace.
|