Emile Heskey knows that Tottenham Hotspur fans will not welcome the signing of Marouane Fellaini but believes no one should be writing off a player who has confounded his critics many times before, speaking exclusively to HITC.
Is there a more typical Jose Mourinho signing than this?
A 6ft 6ins, 33-year-old he knows and trusts from his time at Manchester United; it felt like only a matter of time before Fellaini was linked with a move to North London.
And the inevitable came to pass this weekend, Voetbal24 reporting that the Belgium international could reunite with Mourinho at Spurs as his contract at Chinese outfit Shandong Luneng runs down.
It is hard to imagine Spurs supporters – spoiled as they were by the thrilling, free-flowing football served up during the Mauricio Pochettino heyday – welcoming Fellaini, all elbows and long balls, with too much enthusiasm.
But there is a reason why this flashback footballer was so key to things at Everton and Man United. You might not like him but, when it comes to winning aerial duels, controlling high balls and causing havoc in the penalty area, there are few better than Fellaini.
“(Spurs fans) won’t be happy because you’re going from (Heung-Min) Son, Harry Kane, (Sergio) Reguilon, all these players who are very technically and skilled, pleasing on the eye, to Fellaini,” Heskey says.
“He is no one’s typical player – but he’s effective. I wouldn’t say he was a typical Manchester United player but, when he did play, he was effective, he got you goals, he got you assists, he was nasty, he was horrible, he put his head in where it hurt.
“He won’t run past players, he won’t do a stepover, he won’t do a Cruyff turn, you’ll probably forget that he’s in the game sometimes but he’ll pop up with something where he’ll bring the ball down on his chest and volley it in.
“Not many people favour him but the right people understand what he does.”
It would be interesting to see what sort of a role Fellaini would fulfil at Tottenham. Perhaps Mourinho views the veteran as the sort of player capable of coming off the bench when Spurs are chasing a goal and giving Reguilon and co a target to hit in the penalty area.
“We’ve seen him do it at Everton and at Man United as well,” Heskey adds.
“Long ball, get it into him, knock it down, score the goal. He’s not the prettiest, not really great with his feet, but I tell you now, if he does come (to Tottenham) and he scores the goal that wins them something, (the fans) won’t complain.”
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