Elmander to Bolton

leninbenjamin

didn't see a mention of this, so i thought i'd start a wee discussion on it.

Johan Elmander has signed for Bolton for a fee thought to be around £10m.

Bolton Wanderers have signed the Sweden striker Johan Elmander from Toulouse in a transfer thought to be worth close to £10m. Elmander has signed a three-year contract at the Reebok Stadium, with the Norwegian international Daniel Braaten moving to France in a cash-plus-player deal.

The Bolton manager, Gary Megson, said he had been chasing the 27-year-old forward for over six months. "Johan is a player I have admired for a long time. He is a player who will get us goals and also create other opportunities for his team-mates,'' he said today.

Elmander started two of Sweden's three group games at Euro 2008 and has scored eleven goals in 38 appearances for his country. The imposing target man first made his name at Brondby in Denmark where he picked up league and cup winners' medals as well as being named club player of the year in 2004-5. His 22 goals in 58 games earned him a move to Toulouse in 2006. He memorably led them to Champions League qualification in 2007, netting a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory over Bordeaux on the final day of the season.

Elmander's transfer should eclipse the club record £8m Bolton paid Fenerbahçe for Nicolas Anelka in August 2006. Wanderers also spent over £5m bringing in Fabrice Muamba from Birmingham City this summer. Elmander's transfer signals the club's firm intention to invest in a team that struggled for Premier League survival last season. "I am still on the lookout for other players to boost the quality of our squad," Megson said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/27/bolton.elmander

very much a statement of intent. how does everyone here rate him? I would have thought he would signed by a club bigger than Bolton personally, although i've seen little of him. I thought Bolton would struggle again this year, but a couple more acquisitions like this and they may well find themselves in the top half again.

corcaighcailin9

I expected more from him at the Euros tbh. They've paid a lot of money for him by their own standards I'd imagine so it must be a bit of a gamble

leninbenjamin

corcaighcailin9 wrote: »

I expected more from him at the Euros tbh. They've paid a lot of money for him by their own standards I'd imagine so it must be a bit of a gamble

Sweden were playing a horrible tactical system though; he was playing as a winger which does not suit him at all.

corcaighcailin9

Yeah Sweden were hugely disappointing alright so maybe he'll do better in the PL

SantryRed

They're obviously just using the money from the Anelka deal. Doubt there will be anymore big money deals like that from them.

leninbenjamin

SantryRed wrote: »

They're obviously just using the money from the Anelka deal. Doubt there will be anymore big money deals like that from them.

i dunno. they came fairly close to relegation last year. I can easily see them making at least another deal like this before the end of the window, it seemed to give them a massive shock. i think they might realise that without Allardyce they can no longer get away with minimal investment levels.

invincibleirish

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Sweden were playing a horrible tactical system though; he was playing as a winger which does not suit him at all.

Was he playing as a winger in Euro 2008? i could have sworn when he came on as sub he usually played in the middle? from where he was wholly ineffective.

£10m is crazy money but this is the premiership of course.

leninbenjamin

invincibleirish wrote: »

Was he playing as a winger in Euro 2008? i could have sworn when he came on as sub he usually played in the middle? from where he was wholly ineffective.

hmmm... maybe. he was so ineffective i can't remember.

estebancambias

LOL at 10 million. They also payed 5 million for Muamba.

Ekels

Yeah, I would never have seen Bolton spending 10million on one single player. Anelka was in the region of 8million but he had a massive reputation (good, bad, indifferent), Elmander is a little less of a high-profile signing.

I haven't seen much of him, but he didn't look great at Euro 08, from what I saw.

Muamba is a nice little player too, with plenty of raw potential.

Should be interesting to see how much further Bolton spend this summer. They've started early and powerfully though.

An Citeog

invincibleirish wrote: »

Was he playing as a winger in Euro 2008? i could have sworn when he came on as sub he usually played in the middle? from where he was wholly ineffective.

£10m is crazy money but this is the premiership of course.

I think he came on up front in the opening game but after Wilhelmsson got injured, he was used as a right winger. He's got plenty of pace but his goalscoring record isn't the best tbh. All of my Swedish firends rate him fairly highly but it's definitely a gamble for Bolton.

Obni

Deal worth £10 million, probably rates Braaten at 3.5/4M, so I expect BWFC are probably paying 6/6.5M. More realistic price for Elmander. I can't see us spending that sort of money on another player. The 'Anelka' money went on Steinson and Cahill in January. Unless we offload Diouf to some gullible customer I reckon we might pick up a few 'squad' players and that's it. Just glad we didn't end up with Crouch.