Can the Fulham ace emulate the Newcastle United striker by being next season’s best freebie signing?
In the first half of last season at least, Demba Ba was nigh on unstoppable.
His pace, power, and unpredictability made him a nightmare for defences, and he scored 15 of his 16 goals prior to departing for the African Nations Cup.
Had he continued his form he would have pushed Robin van Persie all the way for the Golden Boot, but his departure, combined with transfer speculation and the arrival of Papiss Cisse saw him fail to recapture it.
Even so, for a player acquired on a free transfer, he was one of the signings of the season, in fact it is difficult to come up with a better free acquisition from last summer.
Who will emulate him this season? Let us nominate Mladen Petric, signed by Martin Jol’s Fulham, who appears as though he has the potential to take the Premier League by storm.
After his pre-season performances so far, Fulham fans will have high hopes for him. It is not our intention to falsely raise them even higher, more an indication of just how excellent we believe Petric can be.
He has bagged four goals to far in four pre-season games, and looks at home already leading the Fulham attack.
Even last season’s expensive signing Bryan Ruiz, who failed to glisten as frequently as he would have hoped, is sparkling so far, and the pair could strike up a dangerous partnership going into 2012-13.
Another free signing Fulham have bagged in attack is Hugo Rodallega, who may defy relatively low expectations after a poor last season at Wigan, but right now Petric is showing himself as the one to watch.
The Croatian is to play for the second time under new boss Martin Jol, who managed him at Hamburg – getting 17 goals out of him in 2008/09.
He scored just the seven times last year, but Hamburg were a struggling team, finishing just 15th in the Bundesliga, and he will fancy his chances of notching up double figures in the Premier League next season.
He is a striker who has the ability to drop deep, and likes to shoot from distance. He is also a free-kick specialist, as Fulham found out for themselves when they met Hamburg in the Europa League in 2010. Petric curled in a stunning free-kick at Craven Cottage which lives on in the memory for Fulham fans, even though they were able to overcome the Germans and reach the final.
Other notable highlights on Petric’s CV are winning the Golden Boot in Switzerland with Basel, and scoring the goal which proved to be the winner for Croatia against England at Wembley in the 3-2 win which meant Steve McClaren’s side did not qualify for Euro 2008.
He may be 31, but he appears to be in tip-top condition and raring to go. Of course pre-season counts for little when the real season kicks off, but Fulham should be confident they have signed a gem.
Whether they lose Clint Dempsey or not, fans should be confident that Martin Jol has pulled off a coup in the transfer market already, and be confident there are plenty of goals in their side ahead of next season.
Are you hopeful Petric will be among the best free deals of the summer?
image: © az1172
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