Reactions continue to trail Danny Welbeck’s brace against Switzerland in the Euro 2016 qualifier played in Basel and of note is Jamie Redknapp’s comment.
Redknapp is a former Liverpool and England midfielder, who is now a columnist for the Daily Mail and on Monday night after the match wrote: ‘‘Danny Welbeck is a top-class signing for Arsenal and he showed himself to be an instinct player on Monday night. He had too much time in the first half and looking to pick out Sterling or Wayne Rooney, he picked the wrong pass and the execution was poor. But when his chances came to score, he took them. The goals will lift his spirit. At £16m, he is the bargain of the century.’’
Redknapp like other British pressmen and pundits are known for high levels of hypes and over-valuation of English players, which has had its effects on the transfer fees on local talents in England. However, on Danny Welbeck, it can be agreed that the deal was a real steal by Arsenal as the younger and even less experienced player, Luke Shaw, 19, was sold to Manchester United for £30m from Southampton.
Other transfers that prove the over-valuation of English players include, £16m for Calum Chambers, 19, paid to Southampton by Arsenal; £25m paid by Liverpool to Southampton for Adam Lallana; and £30m transfer fee that took Andy Carol to Liverpool from Newcastle United, just to mention a few.
Therefore on that ground, one would easily identify with Jamie Redknapp on the fact that Danny Welbeck’s move to Arsenal for £16m is either a demonstration of bargaining acumen by Arsenal or just a gullible give away by Manchester United.
But to tag it the bargain of the Century is blown way out of proportion. What really comes to mind when these British pressmen and journalists speak exaggeratingly about their talents is the pressure that comes with such hypes.
Wayne Rooney had recently likened Raheem Sterling to the new Marc Overmars; Theo Walcott has been called the new Thierry Henry; Daniel Sturridge tagged the English-Brazilian likened to Ronaldinho and Wayne Rooney himself was tagged the new Maradona in the past.
However, none of these players have lived up to the names been associated with them.
Jack Wilshere for example was tagged the new Paul Scholes and the player has been seriously under pressure to perform even when he isn’t fit enough to.
It mustn’t be undermined though that the benefit of such hypes could be seen when the players improve to meet up such expectations.
However, Jamie Redknapp may have made that statement out of the excitement of England’s victory against Switzerland but heaping such pressure on the player could have an adverse effect on the player’s development.
Therefore, caution must be applied in making statements about these lads as a they may never recover from as much as a little clog in the wheel of their development.
The 23-year-old Danny Welbeck joined Arsenal on the deadline of this summer’s transfer window and looks to replace injured Olivier Giroud, who has been ruled out for half the new season, in the Arsenal attack.
