City boss Paul Lambert seems to have switched his attentions from Robert Snodgrass to Anthony Pilkington. JAL_NCFC has a closer look at each of them.
With reports that Leeds have now asked for a huge £8m for Robert Snodgrass there are rumours that Paul Lambert has decided to go for Huddersfield`s Anthony Pilkington instead.
The City boss has made a £1.75m bid that can rise up to £2m, according to the Daily Star. The offer was made for Pilkington at the end of last week with Lambert keen to complete a deal in the next few days with Premier League rivals Stoke and Wolves also admirers of the League 1 star.
With Pilkington plying his trade in the third tier of English football would this be a good addition for the team or should Lambert splash the cash on Snodgrass?
Norwich fans will be familiar with Snodgrass, as the Leeds player was involved in all four matches against the Canaries in the last two seasons during City`s rise through the leagues. The Scottish international is still fairly young at 24, but has experience in both England and Scotland with 216 senior games played.
Snodgrass however has played only one season in the Championship with the rest of his Leeds career being spent in League 1. A transfer of £8m is extremely high for a player with just one year in the second tier of English football, and symbolizes the inflated prices for young British players in the current climate.
He does show promise though, with Barcelona being linked with the player a few years ago and offering a trial which was turned down by the player himself before his move to Leeds from Scottish team Livingston.
If Lambert did decide to go for Snodgrass he would obtain a player who can play on both flanks and behind the striker, positions that City are short on with McNamee and new boy Elliot Bennett the only out-and-out wingers at the club. There`s no doubt he fills the Lambert criteria of being young and hungry, but the transfer fee could be a stumbling block for the City boss.
Anthony Pilkington will be less known than Snodgrass, but has impressed many pundits this year with Huddersfield before he suffered a dislocated left ankle against Rochdale in March, ending his season early and ensuring he missed out on Huddersfield play-off final defeat against Peterborough.
Pilkington, like Snodgrass, can play on both flanks, as well as being able to be deployed as a striker. Pundits have been impressed by the Huddersfield star`s crossing ability and set pieces, with the player being comfortable with both feet scoring 10 goals in 31 league appearances last season.
With Pilkington turning 23 a few weeks ago he definitely fits the young player mould Paul Lambert looks for, while showing the hunger to exceed and improve his game after being used more defensively in his first season at Huddersfield. At a price of up to £2m he would be a much cheaper option than the Leeds man, yet has less experience and has never player higher than League 1.
This could be a risk with the gap in talent between the Premier League and League 1 being demonstrated by Jermaine Beckford struggling for the first half of the season to adapt after joining Everton, although Lambert has already taken Elliott Bennett from so the precedent has been set.
Pilkington impressed against Arsenal in the F.A Cup, yet the question would be if he could manage that performance week in week out. Many fans questioned the signings of Andrew Crofts and David Fox last year yet were proved wrong with both players being pivotal for City throughout the season, so spending £2m on a player that looks destined for much higher level than the third tier of English football would not be a bad addition to the squad.
With Lambert`s transfer history at the club being better than most he could have found another gem of a player without having to play the inflated prices that exist in modern day football.
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