• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

My Football Writer

My Football Writer Norwich City news… comment… analysis

Norwich City – news, comment and analysis

Find the best betting sites
  • Home
  • About us
  • The Team
  • Archives Index
  • Patreon
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contact us

Safri saga finally runs its course as good old George makes him a Saint

2nd August 2007 By Latest News Leave a Comment

Please share

The increasingly bitter Youssef Safri saga duly ended today as the Moroccan midfielder joined Southampton on a two-year deal.

City boss Peter Grant was right – he would never play for him again after a furious Canary chief accused the 30-year-old of telling the Press ?a pack of lies? as to how much he wanted to stay in Norfolk and how much he loved the Carrow Road club.

For after a summer-long link to Tony Mowbray's Baggies, it was actually Saints boss George Burley who rode to everyone's rescue this lunchtime as the official Southampton site first announced today's switch for ?an undisclosed fee?.

Much like his former Portman Road player-coach Mowbray, you suspect that George saw something of the Jim Magilton's in Safri as he became his fourth signing of the summer.

?I'm very pleased that we've signed Youssef as he's a player that I've admired for a long time,? Burley told www.saintsfc.co.uk.

?He's a good passer of the ball and a decent playmaker in midfield.

?He's an experienced player having played for Coventry and Norwich. He's also an international, so all in all he's a very valuable addition to the squad,? added the former Town boss. ?He's not bad at set-plays either so there are a lot of aspects to Safri's game.?

One of which involves him disappearing for the better part of five weeks next January as the 2008 African Cup of Nations kicks in; he will also, in every likelihood, disappear for this autumn's warm-up games as the whole club versus country debate becomes someone else's problem.

Safri's exit was, in fairness, always a transfer waiting to happen; it was why Julien Brellier arrived here in the first place; the two players are too similar to naturally play alongside eachother. Even in a midfield three, you sense that they would have trod on eachother's toes.

And nor did Safri play as high up the pitch as Grant clearly wanted; he was – courtesy of his passing ability – far more of a back-foot first type of player; Grant has, almost from the off, demanded that his Canary side get on the front foot more often; squeeze the ball nearer, if not in, the opposition half – something that never, ever sat easily with Safri's way of either playing or thinking.

It was a clash of footballing philosophies and styles that was always likely to lead to a parting of the ways. The Birmingham Evening Mail had even suggested that it was only a difference in wage demands that had stalled his move to The Hawthorns.

A move that Grant knew nothing about as he waited for the phone to ring Earnie and Etuhu-like with the news that 'By the way, can we talk to the player…' – all in the full and certain knowledge that somewhere behind his back, an agent would have already done the deal.

It was that expectation that kept niggling away in Grant's mind as he tried to bed down a settled and happy side in the run-up to the start of the new season.

Hence his simple answer to a simple question on Tuesday night: Did he want the whole thing nipped in the bud? ?Yep,? he said.

Less than 48 hours later – and with tomorrow night's Vitesse Arnhem game looming large in both the player and the manager's mind – and Grant's wish was granted.

?I'm glad the situation has been resolved quickly,? the City boss told the Norwich City official site this afternoon.

?Saf has wanted to leave Carrow Road since my second day in the job and now he's finally got his wish.?

With only a year left to run on his existing Canary deal and with all parties knowing that a move out of the city was the best course of action for all concerned, the final fee is likely to finish somewhere in the region of ?250,000-?300,000.

Certainly that was the feeling on the South Coast where with the no-show of Microsoft's billionaire owner Paul Allen, money has been distinctly hard to come by – even with some big name exits.

And where is Southampton's first away game of the season? Where else but sunny Carrow Road on Saturday, August 18.


Please share

Filed Under: Latest news

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FIND MY FOOTBALL WRITER ON

As featured on NewsNow: Norwich City news” style=

Norwich City News 24/7

#NCFC LATEST

paddyjdavitt Paddy Davitt @paddyjdavitt ·
4m

#NCFC DW on state of play in the table. 'This game does not decide anything. We will fight on. But we have to be better. We know this.'

Is it 4/6 minimum over Easter pair of games? 'It makes no sense to set points targets.'

Reply on Twitter 1642207820685664256 Retweet on Twitter 1642207820685664256 Like on Twitter 1642207820685664256 Twitter 1642207820685664256
paddyjdavitt Paddy Davitt @paddyjdavitt ·
7m

#NCFC DW feels #SUFC will go up automatically with #Burnley

Reply on Twitter 1642207179011653632 Retweet on Twitter 1642207179011653632 Like on Twitter 1642207179011653632 Twitter 1642207179011653632
paddyjdavitt Paddy Davitt @paddyjdavitt ·
7m

#NCFC DW admits lack of goals in final third is a concern. Put to him Pukki hasn't scored at the Carra in 200-odd days.

'We have to better individually and collectively. We don't have to doubt Teemu's quality. But our offensive players were not able to produce. This is true.'

Reply on Twitter 1642207085482917889 Retweet on Twitter 1642207085482917889 Like on Twitter 1642207085482917889 1 Twitter 1642207085482917889
saund65 Canaries Caption It @saund65 ·
8m

Funnily enough, in retrospect the #NCFC point at Huddersfield and clean sheet at Stoke were pretty good results considering those sides results recently.
But you have to win your home games to be a serious contender.

Reply on Twitter 1642207014888546305 Retweet on Twitter 1642207014888546305 Like on Twitter 1642207014888546305 Twitter 1642207014888546305
mattjohnson333 Matt Johnson @mattjohnson333 ·
8m

So gutted with that #ncfc performance. Managed to convince a few friends who have become disconnected with the club to return, equally my son attended for first time and it was absolutely dreadful. Feeling a bit lost. Worse things in life. I know. But just feel so disconnected.

Reply on Twitter 1642206930285350913 Retweet on Twitter 1642206930285350913 Like on Twitter 1642206930285350913 Twitter 1642206930285350913
Load More...

Copyright © 2023 21VC Ltd | All rights reserved | Not to be reproduced without prior permission.

Disclaimer: The information on this website consists of personal opinions. Whilst we have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the information contained on these Web pages is accurate and correct at the time of writing we do not accept any liability whatsover for any loss or damage caused by reliance on this information.

We do not accept any responsibility for information contained in other websites to which this site links. We strongly advise users to check any information before acting or relying on it.

Developed and Hosted by