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Vargas Set To Sign - Fratton Faithful

 

Vargas Set To Sign

Last updated : 02 August 2006 By Jim Bonner
According to reports Peruvian international Juan Manuel Vargas is set to join Pompey from Colon de Santa Fe for a fee of around £1,500,000.

Now the majority of you are probably either saying "Who?" or "Why are we signing unproven South Americans that are bound to flop like Viafara did!" Well to answer the first question I've dug up as much info as I could on the man, it certainly wasn't easy as there's also a Californian statesman who goes by the name "Juan Vargas" too! However I did manage to find out a few things about him.

Vargas is a 22 year old Peruvian international who can play left-back or left-midfield and is believed to be a very confident player on the ball whilst strong in possession. He's nicknamed "Chucky" and is highly rated by fans of his current club with some wondering why he hasn't already moved to England or Spain.

In my feeble attempts to read a Spanish fansite of his current club, I did manage to find the results of a poll titled "Should Vargas leave?" in which 49% of voters replied "Yes, if he must" whilst the other 51% said "Nooooooo!!" So it's apparent that he is highly rated in his current surroundings.

However that doesn't neccessarily mean he's going to be a hit in the Premiership. Viafara was highly rated in his country yet he's been labelled a flop as was Forlan when he came to England. There have been some successful players to make it in this league though, like Vargas' team-mate Nobby Solano. At £1,500,000 he isn't going to be the most expensive gamble we've ever taken and who knows? Harry might have unearthed a gem in this player, we'll just have to trust his judgement on this occasion.

In other news; reports in Turkey suggest that Sacha has managed to strike a deal with Fenerbahce for players Stephen Appiah and Nicholas Anelka. Harry claimed on the radio that the deal was dead yesterday however. Smokescreen? I'll leave you to decide that one but both Appiah and Anelka were left out of Fenerbahce's Champions League qualifier, so although some might believe that they were left out because they are just about to come to Portsmouth, I would say that both were left out because Fener were already 4-0 up from the first leg.

Kanu is the other player who has recently been linked to Fratton Park. Harry has admitted he has talked to the player which has worried some of the Fratton Faithful. What I would say to ease their worries is that we're short of strikers having only got three at the club, Kanu is free and I doubt he would get into the starting lineup. He is adequate though his best days are truly beyond him but he could be useful backup for if/when our first choice strikers are injured. If we did sign Kanu then I'm in the belief it would be a squad signing and we'd still be persuing a much better striker to play in the first team.

So, don't panic! (Yet!)