It came as a surprise to many when Jermaine Pennant made the switch to Spanish football after completing his free transfer to Real Zaragoza from Liverpool in July. Maybe it was because he was joining little known Real Zaragoza. Maybe because it was Jermaine Pennant. I believe it was a bit of both and the fact that an English player moving to Europe, unfortunately, doesn't happen very often. But now Jermaines Spanish dream appears to be coming to an abrupt end as Zaragoza have made it clear they want to offload the player back to The Premiership, adding the Nottingham-born winger to a sorry line of English players who have made early exits from their foreign adventures.Personally, I think he made a great move and it should be encouraged. A change of environment was exactly what the player needed and I'm all for English players trying their luck abroad. When you think about how many have actually tried, you would struggle to get above ten. In addition to the trio of Beckham, Woodgate and Owen at Real Madrid; Luther Blissett, Ian Rush and John Charles (both Welsh), Trevor Francis, David Platt and Jay Bothroyd (now at Cardiff City) all tried their luck in Serie A; Kevin Keegan enjoyed a successful spell at Hamburg in Germany, Glenn Hoddle likewise at Monaco in France. Then you have the fleeting appearances by players in the twilights of their careers, such as Stan Collymores ill-fated spell at Real Oviedo. Out of these, only Trevor Francis lasted five years. Jermaine Pennant is set to last only six months.
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But he can count himself extremely unlucky if indeed he does get shipped off this winter. In the games I've seen him play, he has performed well in what is a dreadfully underperforming team, and he has kept himself out of mischief off the pitch. Fans at 'La Romareda' took to him straight away as he proved his worth down the right wing with some stunning bursts of pace and trickery mixed with consistently well-delivered crosses during pre-season and the early part of La Liga season. A hamstring injury knocked him out of his stride a few weeks ago, but he regained his starting place in the first XI, and was seen as a favourite of former coach Marcelino. But now Marcelino is gone and Pennant finds himself an unwanted luxury. Director Gerhard Poschner has stated that the club is disappointed with Jermaines attitude, work-rate and commitment to the club and that he forms part of a four-player group the club want to get rid of this winter. When you look closely at that group (Ayala, Ewerthon and Lopez Vallejo included) all are on astronomical wages, with Pennant reportedly on over £2 million a year.
It's hardly subtle from the Spanish club, and they could definitely have been more open about the whole affair instead of tainting Pennants 'angelic' character. But with a huge debt hanging over them, and possible relegation to 'La Segunda' on the way, the clueless board have to start thinking about cutting the wage bill. I'd like to think Jermaine will knuckle down with typical english grit and prove he is worth his huge salary at the Aragonese club, much like Beckham did at Madrid under Capello. But with the club out for blood, it could be out of his control and he'll reluctantly join that illustrious list of greats that made the jump, only to make a premature return to Blighty.
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It's hardly subtle from the Spanish club, and they could definitely have been more open about the whole affair instead of tainting Pennants 'angelic' character. But with a huge debt hanging over them, and possible relegation to 'La Segunda' on the way, the clueless board have to start thinking about cutting the wage bill. I'd like to think Jermaine will knuckle down with typical english grit and prove he is worth his huge salary at the Aragonese club, much like Beckham did at Madrid under Capello. But with the club out for blood, it could be out of his control and he'll reluctantly join that illustrious list of greats that made the jump, only to make a premature return to Blighty.