Niche Cache
Alfred Johansson (new Motherwell manager): “I haven't caught up with Elijah yet. I think it's fair to him to be able to be in America and focus on the national team now. I've focused more on the guys that are actually here and had good talks with them. He's a good player and he's a Motherwell player. I think there's always going to be rumours and links. I guess that there will be questions about that pretty often, especially when the window is open. It's going to be a big thing, players getting linked right, left and centre. It's a part of the expectation so I don't focus too much about it.”
Alfred Johansson (new Motherwell manager): “I haven't caught up with Elijah yet. I think it's fair to him to be able to be in America and focus on the national team now. I've focused more on the guys that are actually here and had good talks with them. He's a good player and he's a Motherwell player. I think there's always going to be rumours and links. I guess that there will be questions about that pretty often, especially when the window is open. It's going to be a big thing, players getting linked right, left and centre. It's a part of the expectation so I don't focus too much about it.”
That was the new Motherwell coach when asked about Eli Just’s situation. Johansson’s been hired to replace Jens Berthel Askou who has taken up the gig at Toulouse in France, the Steelmen going Scandinavian for Scandinavian with their coaching appointments. Johansson seems like a really exciting young manager... but will Eli Just even get to play for him? Frankly, that’s doubtful. He was already looking likely to be prised away before he went and scored three goals at the World Cup where he was New Zealand’s top performer. Now it’s possible that even Celtic and Rangers might get squeezed out of any bidding war. Just has said all along that he wanted to park any questions about his club future until after the World Cup, giving his agent the big Do Not Disturb sign. Now that’s done and we’ll see how quickly things move.
The Celtic and Rangers stuff has been around since January. They were the first two teams on the list – and bear in mind that a Celtic move would come with Champions League possibilities. The other team we’ve gotta automatically consider is Toulouse since he’s already played under Jens Berthel Askou at Horsen and Motherwell plus JBA tried to sign him at Göteborg as well. Toulouse don’t have European footy next season like Motherwell do but they’re a very solid mid-table Ligue 1 club. Like, imagine playing against two-time reigning Champions League title holders Paris Saint-Germain a couple times per year. Southampton, in the English second tier, was specifically linked last week (albeit via a source of sceptical legitimacy).
Internet aggregators have thrown a few other names out, while the NZ Herald have offered a far more credible scoop: “there has already been interest expressed from top clubs in France, while he is being tracked by a number of British teams”.
Internet aggregators have thrown a few other names out, while the NZ Herald have offered a far more credible scoop: “there has already been interest expressed from top clubs in France, while he is being tracked by a number of British teams”.
Similar things are being said about Finn Surman, by the way. This comes from reporters on the ground and around the All Whites camp during the World Cup so it’s info worth paying attention to:
“The Herald understands that big clubs from the top five leagues in Europe are tracking Surman, along with outfits in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The top five competitions are the English Premier League, La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), Bundesliga (Germany) and France (Ligue 1). It’s believed that one of the largest teams in France are among the potential suitors, while Premier League teams are also monitoring the Christchurch product.”
Gotta stress that World Cup performances help but both Just and Surman would have already been on the radars of any club willing to bid for them based on what they’d already been doing for their clubs. Those scouting networks are very sophisticated. The World Cup may have helped confirm some suspicions about their abilities to deliver at the top level but no club in the realms that we’re talking about here would have ‘discovered’ them via that tournament. Combining their ages, their club form, their World Cup efforts, and especially their playing profiles... Just and Surman are the two blokes who have the most potential to scoop up the best possible moves in the next few weeks/months.
