Saturday, June 28, 2008

Crouch Still In Limbo

Peter Crouch's future is no closer to being sorted as the will-he-or-won't-he transfer saga surrounding Arsenal scoring ace Emmanuel Adebayor is reportedly having a direct impact on the destiny of the towering Liverpool forward.

Arsenal emerged as surprise candidates for Crouch earlier this week, but even if the reports of their interest in the England striker prove true, they would only act on it if they needed a fill a void left by Adebayor.

Yesterday was a day of extremely mixed messages from the Adebayor camp, as within hours of announcing at a press conference that he fully intends to see out the remaining three years of his contract with Arsenal, the Togo striker admitted that a move to Milan or Barcelona is still a distinct possibility.

All this leaves both Crouch and Liverpool in an awkward position, as they risk turning Portsmouth off completely while waiting in limbo to see what develops at the Emirates.

Pompey's £9m offer for the 27-year-old still stands, but there is a very real possibility that Harry Redknapp will take his money elsewhere as Crouch is far from the only striker linked to the ascendant Fratton Park side.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, in the meanwhile, finds himself stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place, as Arsenal would almost certainly be willing and able to come closer to meeting his £15m valuation of Crouch. However, with each passing day that he waits and hopes, Rafa is inevitably losing grip on transfer targets of his own.

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