One of the primary areas that Rafa Benitez will be looking to strengthen this summer will be up front. With Fernando Torres’s constant injury problems last season, an inexperienced David Ngog had to take on the mantle and the expectation of the much lauded Spanish striker, and although he wasn’t a total failure in the position, it was quite clear to many Liverpool fans that he shouldn’t be the Spaniard’s immediate back up. With Milan Jovanovic probably arriving on a free from Standard Liege this summer, reinforcements in the problem position are already being filled, but there is no doubt in my mind that Rafa will look for another forward if he can. When Robbie Keane returned to Tottenham mid way through the 2008/09 season, we were left chronically short up front and it was a situation that wasn’t corrected last summer. The Reds definitely need a different option in this area and rather than going for a goal poacher, it looks as if Rafa may be looking towards a Peter Crouch style player who can support Torres and play well up front on his own when he needs to.
Kenwyne Jones was the rumour back in January and now, according to reports, Valencia’s giant striker Nikola Zigic is said to be a target of Liverpool. So who is he? The most noticeable thing about Zigic is obviously his height and at 6ft 7in tall, he is one of the tallest players in world football. He started his career at some very small local clubs in his native Serbia playing for Backa Topola (his hometown), Mornar Bar, Kolubara Lazarevac and Spartak Subotica. At his first club Backa Topola he scored an impressive 68 league goals in 76 matches while also scoring 14 goals in 11 matches for Subotica before being snapped up by Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade in 2003.
His three year stay with Red Star proved to be a very successful one as he won the Serbian league and cup double twice in the 2003/04 and 2005/06 seasons respectively, contributing heavily with goals along the way with 71 goals in all competitions in just 110 games. Of course, many of these goals came from his head as he was an undoubtedly strong target man at 6ft 7, but he is also very nimble with his feet. Powerful in the air, Zigic also works very hard for the team and has a good first touch as well as being a natural finisher in front of goal. Such skills brought him to the attention of teams outside of Serbia and Racing Santander in Spain purchased the player on a four year contract for the start of the 2006/07 season.
His first season in Spain proved to be an unqualified success as he developed a strong partnership with fellow striker Pedro Munitis, contributing to Racing’s 10th place finish. He scored 12 league goals during the season including a hat-trick against Athletic Bilbao in April 2007, and he was in great demand at other clubs after the season finished. He was eventually purchased by Valencia for £20million during the summer of 2007 but his time at the Spanish club has been anything but successful. Despite scoring his first goal for the club in a Spanish Cup match against Real Union and his first league goal against Real Zaragoza in December 2007, Zigic rarely started for Valencia and had to be content with a place on the bench. Speculation grew before the 2008/09 season that he would be leaving the Mestalla but he stayed at the club despite the lack of first team opportunities. He did however leave the club on loan in January last year to play for his old club Racing Santander. It was a tremendously successful second spell at the club with 13 goals from 19 games but he returned to Valencia to become only a peripheral figure for Unai Emery’s side last campaign.
His international career has however contrasted his club fortunes. He wasn’t picked regularly for the national team until 2005 but when he was picked, he made his impact. During a qualifier for the 2006 World Cup against Spain, Zigic played an integral role as a half-time substitute helping to set up the equaliser in the second half when they had been completely battered in the first period. In the next match against Bosnia, he again assisted as Mateja Kezman scored the only goal of the game to send the team to the World Cup. At the tournament though, he only started the final and meaningless third game of the group stages with Serbia already out of the running for qualifying for the knockout rounds, but again he proved his quality by scoring the first goal against the Ivory Coast in a 3-2 defeat. Since, he has been ever present in Serbia’s squad scoring 16 goals in 42 internationals to date. An interesting player, who will surely be a threat for Serbia at next month’s World Cup and one that could give Rafa Benitez a different striking option for Liverpool. A player who, if given the chance, scores regularly for his club and could be available relatively cheaply, should Rafa take a chance on him?
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