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To be fair to Souness on this one, there aren't many proven strikers about at the moment that Newcastle could sign. Robbie Keane from Tottenham, Kuijt from Feyenoord, maybe Saviola from Barcelona, Anelka from Fenerbahce, running out of names already. It's not a good time to be looking for a striker but it's our biggest priority. It looks like we will be playing a primarily 4-3-3 formation next season, with Boa Morte as a left forward and Dyer as a right forward, with possibly Emre, Parker and Jenas in the middle. I could see teams struggling to cope with the pace, movement and finishing of Boa Morte, Anelka and Dyer, with Emre, Parker and Jenas providing the ammunition. Saviola would be my choice for a 4-4-2, but in a 4-3-3 we'd need someone not only quick but also powerful, and Anelka fits the bill.
In terms of ability, Anelka goes straight to the top of the list of realistic, affordable, proven strikers. His attitude is very questionable to say the least and he would be a big gamble, but at the right price he could be worth the gamble in our current, desperate situation. It does of course make Souness look very hypocritical, getting rid of Bellamy for being a troublemaker and then targetting 'The Incredible Sulk'. On the Newcastle forums we've had fans from Anelka's former clubs Man City, Liverpool and his current club Fenerbahce saying that Anelka has never caused trouble at their clubs and that he gets a lot of bad stick because of his younger days. The worrying thing is the number of clubs he has been through, from PSG to Real Madrid, to Arsenal to Liverpool to Man City to Fenerbahce and he's only 26. His brothers who are also his agents seem to engineer a move for him wherever possible.
For 4M (what the papers are saying) he could be a bargain, but I don't think we would get him that cheap considering Fenerbahce paid 7M in January. I'd rather have him than Keane or Viduka, who we have been linked with so far.
A lot of the Newcastle fans are divided on this one, they worry about his attitude but recognise the desperate situation we are in.
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