We have seen the back off the one journeyman that cost in transfer funds is an equivalent to a small fortune.
Ade Akinbiyi has waved good bye to English football to embark on the land of opportunities. And to be fair it was time to go.
He’s completed his transfer to Major League Soccer side Houston Dynamo in a venture that will see him reap huge financial rewards in the winter of his career. I just hope Houston isn’t looking for a succession of spectacular goals.
The Londoner leaves Burnley, having only appeared in 15 games this season, in a good position with real ambitions for Promotion and they’ve done it all pretty much without him.
His only goal this season came in the Carling Cup against Chelsea and with his advancing age, he was surplus for requirements at Turf Moor.
Akinbiyi has played for a string of clubs and has always been highly thought off.
His debut in football was against German Giants Bayern Munich for Norwich City before being shipped out on loan to Hereford United and Brighton.
First came of his big money moves as he moved to Gillingham, where he had the most prolific spell of his career before moving on to Bristol City for £1.2 million.
Wolves paid 3.5 million pounds for his services before leaving a mere 10 months later to join Leicester City in £5.5 million pound move. He moved to Crystal Palace with high expectations to come and cost a cool £2.2 million.
Then it was on to Stoke City, then Sheffield United before settling down with Burnley. An astonishing 11 clubs and transfer fees totalling passed £16 million.
Akinbiyi has moved on to his US adventure and leaves the Championship. His name is fondly remembered, if it was how bad he was or that his name was mentioned just too many times in transfer deadline day.
But I will always remember Leicester fans labelling him ‘Ade Akinbadbuyi’ or the Sun coining him ‘The League’s Worst Striker’.
(Champ Corner, Football FanCast, 2009)
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1 comment:
I'm fascinated by how global sports are developing their international competitions, but I'd hardly say that Akinbiyi is headed abroad for untold riches. The Houston Chronicle reports his basic salary will be about $150k/year.
As a team which plays a traditional 442 they've had problems filling the role of a power forward to lead the line since they won successive mls championships in 2007 & 2008. Dominic Kinnear expained he was looking for a consistent goalscorer with aerial ability, and Ade himself said he's looking forward to the change in weather (Turf Moor to the Bayou City says it all).
mls is a growing league (despite the serious impact of the recession - some clubs have seen an attendance drop of 50% at the start of this season) and it is interesting to look at their recent acquisition policy. San Jose has recently offered a home for Bobby Convey to rehabilitate himself and gains some playing time (although he finds his spot on the left wing occupied by Darren Huckerby, who's turned into a bit of a cult hero there since his arrival), while Salt Lake won the allocation lottery for US U20 defender Kyle Davies from Southampton and Freddie Ljungberg is setting Seattle alight.
Akinbiyi may not be the most naturally gifted, but his resilience makes him a good character who will help promote the game internally.
Dominic Kinnear does his homework on the kind of players he looks for (he has even been tipped to make the transition this way across the atlantic to become a manager in England), so although it's not the most glamorous transfer it has all the ingredients to be highly successful for all parties.
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