Is the Colombian Striker Worth a Punt?

Wigan have been pretty good over the last few years in picking up players from the Americas. Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega is just another example of a player who has made a good transition to the Premier League and he is now being connected with some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, including Liverpool. Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has not ruled out a move away from the DW stadium for the 24 year old:

“I have said before that Wigan Athletic do not have to sell players for financial reasons or to balance the books. The only reason we will sell players is for footballing reasons. I can guarantee we don’t want to lose our better players, but if that is the case then it will be to our benefit.”

So does Rodallega have the required ability to cut it at the top level? He certainly has all the physical attributes to succeed. He is strong, powerful, is a good finisher and has a fairly good goal scoring record at every level he has played at. The Colombian started off his professional career with Deportes Quindio where he had an excellent goals to games ratio, scoring 31 in 32 games in 2004. Such an excellent first season prompted a move to Deportivo Cali and his performances for the Colombian club got him a move to Mexico.

His time in Mexico started off pretty unhappily though and after not settling at Monterrey, he was loaned out to Atlas for a season, before being transferred to Necaxa in 2007. At the age of just 22, Rodallega had already had 5 clubs and he really needed his move to his third Mexican club to be successful. Luckily for the Colombian, the move worked out well and in his two seasons with the team he scored 25 league goals, having his most successful season in Mexican football finishing in the top 10 goalscorers.

By this time, scouts from England, and from Wigan specifically, were looking at the young Colombian and Steve Bruce brought the player to Northern England in the January transfer window last season. He has scored some important goals since his arrival in England, such as against Chelsea earlier this season, but none were more spectacular than the goal against Aston Villa on the opening day of the 2009/10 campaign. Such goals certainly demonstrate his abilities and have led to speculation about moves to bigger clubs. Rodallega in recent days has expressed at how flattered he is with the interest being shown in him:

“There are many rumours about several teams but nothing is concrete until the market opens for players in June. It is something that is rumoured and I cannot take it to heart. We’re talking about a very large, very established top club that is practically historical in England. You have to take it easy and keep things going smoothly while you can accomplish something.”

9 goals in 33 appearances is not prolific in the Premier League by any means but playing for a team like Wigan, it is not too bad either. He has all the attributes to be a successful striker in England but is he of the required level to play for Liverpool? Considering Liverpool’s financial constraints at the moment, we are being linked with players such as Rodallega and Jovanovic but just because we are not going to be buying a £30million striker, it doesn’t mean that cheaper alternatives are all that bad. Rodallega could well be a decent back-up to Torres if we can purchase him for a reasonable price.

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