Nordic Football News says:
Like his more famous brother, Bjørn Helge Riise first moved abroad at the age of 18. But unlike John Arne, who quickly established himself as a member of the first team at Monaco, Bjørn Helge’s move to Belgium and Standard Liege didn’t really work out, and after a few seasons he returned to Norway to play for Lillestrøm. Since his return in 2005 he’s played 86 games and scored 10 goals for LSK as well as earning regular call-ups to the Norwegian national side. A right-sided midfielder who can also play “in the hole”, Bjørn Helge is known for his high work-rate and strong overall physique, as well has having a decent right foot.
The signing, if it goes through, is a bit of a surprise as Bjørn Helge Riise at the age of 26 has done very little in his career that suggests he’s capable of playing regularly in the Premier League. Still, Roy Hodgson is usually an astute judge of talent and, with the Norwegian media reporting a transfer fee between 15 and 20 million kr, Riise won’t be a particularly expensive investment by Premier League standards. Also, there’s no shortage of examples of pretty ordinary players who have done well for themselves in England through hard work and determination, two things you can always expect from Bjørn Helge Riise.
That, incidentally, equates to about £1.5-2million. I guess he’s been signed as a squad player who brings us depth in a position where we need depth.
Know nothing about him, but from what people on TiFF are saying he could be a nice little signing. Sounds like a hard worker and a tough tackler in the middle or on the right. Not the kind of guy likely to immediately come into the first team. But on the right and in the middle it’s not what we really need.
Someone of TiFF is also saying that Jamie O’Hara is having a medical today. If so, it sounds like Greening is out of the picture. You have to imagine that Roy had O’Hara or Greening on the list for the left-side of midfield.
Riise and Greening/O’Hara will give us some very nice depth in midfield at, you have to imagine, pretty decent prices.
Comment by rjbiii — July 20, 2009 @ 3:32 pm |
The club website says Riise is “in talks” and that the “process is not due to be completed until late on Tuesday evening” so presumably it is not yet a done deal and won’t be officially announced until Wednesday at the earliest.
O’Hara is pretty good, but he’d be another square peg in a round hole at left midfield.
Comment by Josh — July 20, 2009 @ 3:40 pm |
Would he? A left-footed midfielder who happily plays either on the left or in the middle, is comfortable on the ball and has a good range of passing sounds like exactly what we need. We play with a tight midfield four, no out-and-out wingers. A midfield of O’Hara, Etuhu, Murphy, Davies seems really well-balanced to me.
Of course, whether a wide four of Pantsil, Davies, O’Hara and Konchesky can get the quality of crosses in that we need to make true use of Peter Crouch (assuming he signs) is another matter. However, given how narrow the Craven Cottage pitch is, I tend to think that Beckham-like wide-players (i.e. no speed, but with a decent ability to cross from deep) are preferable to pacey dribblers, no matter how much I like that kind of player.
Comment by rjbiii — July 20, 2009 @ 4:08 pm |