One was a header he had no right to score but still managed to loop over the helpless David De Gea; the other came after he darted away from his marker to hammer home a loose ball in a way that was reminiscent of a frustrated 5s player. Nikica Jelavic has now scored 8 goals in 12 appearances (three of which were as a substitute) for Everton. He is the club’s leading scorer this season despite only arriving in the last few hours of the January transfer window.
His brace at Old Trafford can be added to his first goal for the club, which came against Tottenham, and his Wembley goal against Liverpool to provide the evidence that he is capable of troubling even the bigger teams in the Premier League. Any interim report would have to deliver a highly favourable verdict on his contribution to date and be optimistic about his future prospects.
Jelavic joined Rangers from Austrian side Rapid Vienna for £4million in August 2010. Everton signed him in January 2012 for only £1million more. His performances so far have meant he would have been considered an astute signing, even if Everton had paid Rangers double what they did. This would also have meant the Glasgow club would have received a more appropriate sum for the Croatian. English clubs shopping north of the border routinely pick up players for a fraction of the price they would merit if they were being purchased from a member of their own football association.
There is a sense that they are still an unknown quantity, with the Scottish Premier League regarded as a poor way to measure true potential: Only once a player moves to a ‘bigger’ league will their true quality be revealed. Or so the theory goes. While condescending, it is not entirely without foundation and a number of players have moved from the SPL and done little of distinction. In the case of Jelavic, Rangers were in an especially vulnerable position because of the perilous financial situation at the club, even before the administrators were appointed. Resistance was futile to the combination of English millions and focused ambition.
Rangers fans lamented the departure of Jelavic, even if it was believed that his performances had become lacklustre towards the end of his spell at Ibrox. In his short time in royal blue he scored 36 goals, some of them spectacular. The highlights included a hat-trick against Motherwell, an overhead kick against both Dunfermline and Aberdeen, a sublime side-footed volley against Hearts at Tynecastle and the extra-time goal that saw Rangers defeat Celtic in last season’s League Cup final.
Even his more mundane goals were usually taken with added aplomb. There is a feeling that it will be a long time, if ever, before the Ibrox turf is graced by the lethal sophistication of a player like Jelavic and, in a way, his departure represented the end of an era. And the beckoning of an uncertain future.
He has that crispness and precision to his finishes that make them pleasing on the eye. His headers are powerful and his movement and link-up play make him difficult for defenders to handle. In sum, he is probably worth more than £5million, even in a league were the market value for strikers has been so distorted by the past purchases of Liverpool and Chelsea. It would be surprising if envious looks were not being cast across Stanley Park.
It is interesting to speculate how would Liverpool have fared this season if they had Jelavic leading the line as opposed to Andy Carroll, a player who is apparently worth an extra £30million. Jelavic’s signing has so far served to further highlight the folly of Liverpool’s transfer activities under Kenny Dalglish. Should Jelavic continue to operate at the same level then it should be anticipated that he will secure a move to a bigger club within the next couple of years. And it can be anticipated that Everton will see considerably more in terms of profit than did unfortunate Rangers.
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Blimey charlie !
He has been with us for 4 months and your talking of him moving to a BIG club!?
…oh and you have spelt football wrong
Na na na na na na na na na Jelavic Jelavic
Everton got Jelavic for £5+ million because Rangers are/were owned by a fraudster who has probably pocketed the money himself.
There’s no doubt that Everton got a bargain, and it’s more than possible that they’ll at least double their money should they sell Jelavic in the future.
But his move from Scotland being a success is still a good thing. Players like Alan Hutton, Carlos Cuellar, Stillian Petrov and Craig Gordon moved south for big money with varying levels of success, but Jelavic has shown that the SPL sometimes does have quality players and that might mean bigger transfers fees in the future.
I can understand the skepticism about the SPL and the caliber of players, but lets not forget this is a league that has had the likes of Laudrup, gascoigne and Larsson to name but a few.