Man City striker could prove a hit in La Liga

By Richard Thorburn
Updated: 21 January, 2013

Photo: Reuters

With less than two weeks remaining in the January transfer window, one of the most intriguing deals seems to involve Manchester City striker John Guidetti and a proposed move to La Liga.

Having recently returned from serious injury that at one point threatened to end his career, the 20-year-old star is now being linked with a number of clubs around Europe.

However, according to media outlets in both Spain and England this week, the Swedish international is most in demand in La Liga where both Malaga and Sevilla are said to be keen on strengthening their squads going into the second half of the season.

While Malaga could do with more strength in depth to cope with the European exploits, Manuel Pellegrini’s side still face uncertainty after a difficult summer lead to Uefa imposing financial sanctions on the club.

Sevilla meanwhile, currently lurk just five points above the relegation zone and with star striker Alvaro Negredo widely tipped to leave the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, new Sevilla coach Unai Emery is in desperate need of reinforcements as he looks to steer the club back up the table.

Having netted 20 times in 23 appearances during a loan spell at Feyenoord last season, the Stockholm-born forward is certainly a player with the pedigree to do just that. It could obviously be argued that the Dutch league is inferior in quality to the likes of La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League, it was hard not to be impressed by Guidetti’s performances in Holland last term.

It may have its critics, but the Eredivisie still ranks as a top European league and one that the youngster took by storm. In fact his form was good enough to warrant Feyenoord coach Ronald Koeman to claim that one day, Guidetti could be good as Sweden team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

“I’ve coached them both,” said Koeman. “Zlatan struggled a lot more than John to find his way in the Netherlands. John is on the same level as players such as Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart at that age. He arrived at the club and immediately adapted to his new surroundings.

“If you’re capable of that at the age of 19, and can be this important for a team, you’re going to become a big player. Simple as that.”

Having signed a three year deal with City in October, it is clear that while Guidetti is unlikely to feature much this season, he is still a player who is seen as having a bright future with at Eastlands.

Back in Manchester, the Swede took just nine minutes before netting in his first goal of the season during City’s Elite Development Squad’s 3-1 victory of Reading.

If Guidetti does head on loan to Spain during this transfer window, Manchester City are sure to have learnt lessons from the fiasco that surrounded Felipe Caicedos loan move to Levante back in 2011.

Having agreed to a clause which stipulated the Valencian could take up the option to purchase the player for €1 million, Manchester City executives could only watch uncomfortably as the Ecuadorian scored 13 goals in 27 games and was immediately sold to Lokomotiv Moscow for €7.5 million.

In Guidetti’s case a loan move to Sevilla or Malaga seems like a no lose situation for both clubs and player and if it does happen, don’t be surprised to see the Swede play a pivotal role in the remaining La Liga months.

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