Finally a player that the press pack hordes have linked us to in recent times has actually pitched up at Eastlands as Bulgarian international Martin Petrov succumbed to the Sven-gali like charm to climb aboard the re-building programme.
The MEN (I think) were first up with confirmation this morning, following up from a couple of links posted on here last night (keep them coming by the way) and the usual rumours in the mainstream press.
Not being an avid La Liga viewer, I don't profess to knowing a great deal about Petrov but press reports suggest he is a solid player who has a good club record and has been named Bulgarian player of the year, whilst commentors on this blog have labelled him as a crock who has signed on the dotted line because of the lure of a cool £80,000 per week,
Looking at the facts for a moment (stupid of me I know), but we have added an international pedigree player for a fee that whilst not cheap, would realistically barely sign you a player from the Championship should they hold an English passport (as evidenced recently with Chopra and Nugent).
He has performed well enough in a tough domestic league and whilst there could be legitimate concerns over his injury record he fills a position that we have struggled to fill over (not to mention the problems Eriksson had with England) recent seasons with a number of candidates trying (and largely failing) to do so.
On the face of it, he appears to be a good signing and definitely fits a need in terms of his position. He is expected to make his debut for the club in Saturday's friendly at Charleroi.
The MEN (I think) were first up with confirmation this morning, following up from a couple of links posted on here last night (keep them coming by the way) and the usual rumours in the mainstream press.
Not being an avid La Liga viewer, I don't profess to knowing a great deal about Petrov but press reports suggest he is a solid player who has a good club record and has been named Bulgarian player of the year, whilst commentors on this blog have labelled him as a crock who has signed on the dotted line because of the lure of a cool £80,000 per week,
Looking at the facts for a moment (stupid of me I know), but we have added an international pedigree player for a fee that whilst not cheap, would realistically barely sign you a player from the Championship should they hold an English passport (as evidenced recently with Chopra and Nugent).
He has performed well enough in a tough domestic league and whilst there could be legitimate concerns over his injury record he fills a position that we have struggled to fill over (not to mention the problems Eriksson had with England) recent seasons with a number of candidates trying (and largely failing) to do so.
On the face of it, he appears to be a good signing and definitely fits a need in terms of his position. He is expected to make his debut for the club in Saturday's friendly at Charleroi.