After receiving his first call up to the Spanish national team this week, it’s no surprise that Michu is being courted by some of the Premier League’s top teams.
It has been happening for a while already.
Reports in England on Wednesday suggest that both Liverpool and Arsenal are set to battle it out for the Spanish star when the transfer window reopens in January. But in order to deter those two illustrious suitors, Swansea have slapped a mammoth $45 million price tag on the 27-year-old strikers head. That will test their mettle.
(MORE: Michu finally called up to Spain squad, but will he fit in?)
See, Michu was a bargain at $3.5 million just over 12 months ago when the Swans snapped him up from Rayo Vallecano, and everyone knows it. So, for the Welsh side to be asking for a profit of over $41 million following one good season and a solid start to this campaign, it does seem a little ridiculous.
And no offense to Michu, but he’s no spring chicken, so should the Gunners and Liverpool look elsewhere?
Probably not.
As PST’s very own Mike Prindinville suggested yesterday, Michu is exactly what the Spanish national team has been missing, with his aggressive forward play and gangly genius in and around the box definitely differing from Spain’s usual tiki-taka approach. Yet his style does suit Arsenal and Liverpool superbly, with both teams playing with one out and out target forward who posts up high on the last man and can bring other attackers into the game with sumptuous balls wide and in behind the defense. Michu, despite being a great goalscorer with 27 goals in 54 games so far for Swansea, is also a creator. And if he were to join Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, imagine the havoc he would create by threading through balls to Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge to attack from wide areas. The same could be said at Arsenal, with Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil and others onrushing to latch onto his wonderfully weighted passes.
Think about it.
Plus, both Arsenal and Liverpool have had strong starts to the season but will definitely need to bolster their rosters in January to help sustain their push for at least a top four spot. After Suarez and Sturridge, Liverpool really don’t have any top forward options, while the Gunners are even more desperate to bolster their offense, with no recognized strikers after Olivier Giroud and outcast Nicklas Bendtner.
Every player has his price, and although Swansea won’t want to lose Michu, could they really stand in his way of joining Liverpool or Arsenal?
So it’s up to those two to battle it out for the lanky Spaniard, a shed load of cash will get the job done. Is he worth it?