The Pros and Cons of Luis Figo

By Nick Raynor
June 22 2005

There seem to be many Pros and Cons when thinking about whether or not we should sign Luis Figo.

Before I start this, it actually looks like a decent signing, as the Pros are mainly facts, and the Cons are unproven opinions, but judge for yourself.

 

Pros

 

Top of the Line – There is no denying it.  Luis Figo is an incredibly talented player and to have somebody of his skill and talent would be great our bid for Champions League football.

 

Been There, Done That – He’s experienced. He’s played in the Champions League and his international team (Portugal) reached the final of the European Championships (after beating England…grr). The point is he has played a lot of games in his time, and he has played them at the highest level.

 

Back of the Shirt – I was taking to somebody whose son, upon hearing the news that Figo might be coming to Tyneside, said “I know who I want on the back of my shirt next season”. This may have meant he still wanted Shearer…but I suspect he meant Figo…Okay, so shirt signings is not a real reason to sign a player, but it’s always an added bonus.

 

Freebie – Real Madrid are letting him go for free so we won’t have to fork out a penny and as said above, he will sell shirts so we MIGHT actually make a profit on him in the first week…

 

Wants to Play – Okay, most players want to play and we have experienced trouble in the past when players have not being playing and got mad. I saw Figo against England in Euro 2004. When he was subbed off, he was cross, which at least shows a desire to play.

 

Living the Dream – He’s always spoke of his wanting to play in the Premiership. With us he’d have that chance so if he’s wanted it for a while, I don’t think he’ll chill out – He’ll work hard to experience the Premiership at the best level possible.

 

Lefty, Righty? – We are in need of a left and right winger, and fortunately Figo can play both sides…not at once, but it leaves us with more options for who we sign for the other side.

 

And One for the Lads… – Have you seen his wife? Helen Syelin is incredibly fit and isn’t scared to strip off. That lass on your background…Yeah, that’s her.

 

Cons

 

Paddy Thrower – No I don’t mean Patrick Kluivert…Doubt he could lift him…

Anyway the point I’m making contradicts one that was made above. He was upset at being substituted against England, which yes, shows a desire to play, but just walking off the pitch in a mood without shaking the substitute’s hand shows a bad attitude. Was he doing it to save time? Only he knows….

 

Free Bus Pass – He’s quite old. 32 is not young for footballer’s these days but we will have to wait and see if he can still do it. I believe that he will be able to cut it, seeing as he’s been playing week-in-week-out for years. Who knows though?

 

He’s Hardly Free – Despite their being no transfer fee, Figo will cost the club a lot in wages. He will have to take a cut as Freddy Shepherd rightly said, from his £90,000 a week jackpot at Madrid, but we will need to offer him something that will bring him to us over the other clubs chasing him.

 

Lazy Like Kluivert? – It was just last year we offered a big salary, to a big name, who was leaving a big club. And that was Kluivert. Now this article isn’t to go on about the faults of Paddy, but we all know why that went downhill. On £66,000 a week, he played poorly and struggled for fitness. We don’t want it to happen again.

 

Bigger Than the Club? – We have no proof of this, but he has been at Real Madrid for a while, and may think, if he moves to Tyneside, that he is maybe doing us a favour, or that he is now a star player and the club should be built round him or some egotistical crap like that. I doubt it though…

 

Find A Pool – There have been some suggestions that is a bit of a diver, which I’m not too sure about. Even if he is, no more than some other players. But still, we don’t want to be associated with cheaters etc…but he’ll soon learn that diving in the Premiership with get you a kick off some burly centre-back.

 

Pension Scheme – Another suggestion is that he is just looking for a payday (like he hasn’t already got one on £90,000 a week) and is just looking for the club that will pay him most as he gets older. I seriously doubt this and hope it isn’t true, but we have to be cautious.

 

Summary

 

So as you can see, most of those Cons are just risks that we will find out if they are true or not if he comes. There is no evidence with any of them really except the age and the wages. If you take a look at the Pros, most of them are factually correct.

 

I was sceptical when hearing upon the possible Figo transfer, but I’m starting to come round. Make up your own mind, but in the end, time will tell…

 

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