Nicklas Bendtner is a real character, but the jury’s still out on whether he’s a decent footballer.
Bendtner has been with Arsenal since 2005, but was recently released back into the wild by Arsene Wenger. Whilst Arsenal fans won’t be sad to see him go, I’m sure they’ll be interested to see where he ends up. After all, he’s been such a nuisance for them over the last 9 or so years, that it may well be somewhat therapeutic to see him causing trouble elsewhere.
Whether he’s out getting drunk in Denmark without getting permission from his club, pulling his shorts down to reveal boxer shorts that double as a billboard, or picking up driving bans for drink-driving, it seems that he just can’t help himself.
Whilst most modern day footballers project a kind of steely determination and focus, Bendtner just doesn’t seem to have his head in the game. I’m not sure his heart is in it either.
In 168 games for Arsenal, he has scored 47 goals. He’s also enjoyed loan moves to Sunderland (where he scored 8 goals in 30 games) and a terrible loan spell at a Juventus. Yes, he’s sometimes been thrust out wide by Arsene Wenger, but I think it’s fair to say that his goal-scoring return isn’t great.
This season he’s scored 2 goals in 8 games, which may not endear him to too many targets in the transfer market. Still, there’s got to be somebody out there who is willing to take a shot on him. It’s a big gamble, but it’s one that may just pay-off.
This brings me to The Metro‘s claim that Newcastle United are interested in signing the Danish centre-forward. With no transfer fee to pay, The Magpies would only have to cover his £40k-a-week salary demands. This makes Bendtner a relatively inexperienced gamble.
I’m sure Newcastle fans won’t be too excited by this news, but if he’s not the only centre-forward signing the club make this summer, it may not be a bad move. Alan Pardew has a lot of work to do to develop more threat in this area of the pitch and there’s no reason why Bendtner can’t be a part of that.
Let’s just hope he’s not the only signing Newcastle make.
What’s your take? Should Newcastle United snap up Nicklas Bendtner?
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