| 06.01.2009 |
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| In America, they call it the hot stove league -- those mid-winter BS sessions in which baseball fans sit around cast-iron sources of warmth and let their fantasies run wild. Well, Germany also has both hot stoves -- we need 'em, too, considering the current cold -- and no end to mid-season speculation about who's headed where. This winter's main topic has been Lukas Podolski. With Bayern having signed Hamburg striker Ivica Olic for next season, there are rumors that Hamburg might offer cash and permission for Olic to play in Munich immediately in return for the right to snatch the faltering Prince away from Cologne. That would kind be a shame since Poldi clearly wants to play for his hometown club. And Bayern might want to think twice about strengthening a big-money rival like Hamburg. The problem is that although Cologne have offered 7 million euros for their prodigal son, Bayern's commercial manager Uli Hoeness flatly rejected that sum as an "insult." Seven million probably accurately reflects Poldi's market value right now. But if he were sold for that amount, Munich's managers would have to admit they overpaid for the prodigy when they brought him in for 10 million in 2006. But in best hot-stove fashion, I've come up with a solution -- the sort of three-way deal that happens all the time in American sports. Here's how it works. Hertha Berlin want to be rid of striker Marco Pantelic, whose estimated value is 2-3 million and who is to coach Lucien Favre what a cobra is to a mongoose. Berlin deal Pantelic plus 7 million to Bayern for Poldi and then put him on the next plane to Cologne in return for, say, 5 million -- plus Cologne striker Milivoje Novakovic. WTF is Milivoje Novakovic, you ask. Well, the Slovenian has knocked in 10 goals in 16 games this year for a mediocre side. And at 1.95 meters, he would be a welcome big target for a Hertha side that's unexpectedly learned to cross the ball this year. Cologne would miss his services, of course, but they would get their hometown hero back for less than they offered. And could Bayern save face and add a proven goalscorer for their title campaign this season and, if they so chose, beyond. So, everyone's happy. And now that that's settled, I'm going to put another log on the fire. |
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