Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan has expressed his regret at paying £2 million to bring Ivan Kaviedes to the Premier League during his time at the Selhurst Park helm, speaking to talkSPORT (9 May, 12.50pm).
When it comes to Ecuadorian footballers plying their trade in the top flight of English football, it’s fair to say it’s quite a mixed bag.
Yes, Antonio Valencia was a key part of the Manchester United team who won two Premier League titles between Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure and Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. Yes, Enner Valencia had his moments at West Ham. Ditto the jet-heeled Jefferson Montero at Swansea City.
Moises Caicedo, meanwhile, looks like another brilliant piece of business from a Brighton and Hove Albion side who have quite the track record when it comes to unearthing exciting young midfield dynamos.
But Segundo Castillo? Juan Carlos Paredes? Fernando Guerrero? The phrase ‘best left forgotten’ comes to mind.
If only Jordan could forget a deal that saw Kaviedes, Ecuador’s number ten at the time, leaving FC Barcelona (no, not that one) for Crystal Palace in a £2 million deal in August 2004.
Simon Jordan’s Crystal Palace regret
“I had an Ecuadorian captain who was bleeding useless!” Jordan says, while praising Brighton’s £4.5 million addition of the commanding, cultured Caicedo.
“Ivan Kaviedes. Useless. We signed him from the Ecuadorian equivalent of FC Barcelona and he was useless. It was my fault, it was my money!
Upon his arrival at Selhurst Park nearly two decades ago, Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie described Kaviedes as an ‘outstanding footballer’, an ‘icon’ and a deadly set-piece taker (BBC).
Those comments aged about as well as Dwayne Johnson’s CGI ‘Scorpion King’, however, with Kaviedes on the move again after just a few months and four Premier League appearances in Palace colours.
That was to be the nomadic forward’s last stab at European football.
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