The evidence was far from concrete with our only clue being Bellamy’s words:
‘But someone else came in which would have caused a few stirs. If I had said I wanted to go there my life in Manchester would have been really tough. I ain’t gonna say anything but it would have been tough. It would have been a miracle had it come off.
Because of the other club being interested, City panicked and pushed the Cardiff thing through as quickly as possible.’
Very much clutching at straws to turn this quote into ‘United were in for me’ but you can see how and why it was.
Reading around and looking at fan’s reaction, I saw quite a mixed response although 1 thing was certain, it was felt that Bellamy was an unsavoury character. Many things were cited in support of this, his dramas with Newcastle and Alan Shearer, the golf club incident with John Arne Riise, even his issues with City and Roberto Mancini last term.
Despite all this I feel he would still have been a decent addition to the team.
It appears to me that Bellamy is one of those players you hate until he plays for your team. Opinionated and brash he can easily rub you the wrong way but when it comes down to on field exploits he is a top player. A horrible player to face as we saw last term Bellamy can score goals and would have suited us perfectly on the wing now with Valencia’s injury, considering he operated wide competently for City last term.
Last season I think it would have been hard to find a City player that out performed him as he turned it on against big and small teams (he had stormers at both Old Trafford & Stamford Bridge). He is Premier League tried and tested and is also a winner.
Of course his attitude and temperament is equally as important but it seems in all the furore about how much of *insert expletive here* he is, the good he does is lost. I notice how very few are quick to report on the work the ‘Craig Bellamy Foundation’ does in Sierra Leone.
Finally anyone who reacts to John Terry the way Bellamy did is OK in my book!