Santa finally signs!

In a sense it's quite a relief that so many of the potentially drawn-out summer transfers appear to be being tied up so early after the season's end. Firstly, two of last summer's big talking points, Barry leaving Villa and the Showpony absconding from Old Trafford, both failing to happen then, being either done, or pretty much certain already. One that's grown as tiresome as those has been our year-long pursuit of Blackburn forward Roque Santa Cruz.

Blackburn, understandably, didn't want to do business last August, with new boss Paul Ince hoping to keep his star asset, although the player soon started making murmurings of his intention to quit the club. His form until the New Year was patchy at best, just four goals in sixteen appearances, albeit whilst hampered by a recurring knee injury. A couple of weeks earlier Blackburn's board had bitten the bullet had sacked Ince, replacing him with stuffed brown envelope loving ex-Bolton boss Fat Sam Allardyce. Signing the player from then on, even injured and wanting away, wasn't going to be easy, Sam eager to bleed us for every last pound he could.

The common consensus at the time seemed to be that a deal was a mere formality for January, but we were left with a deadline day face-off, the club, on the back of the Kaka non-deal, not wanting to be seen to overpaying, and Blackburn, knowing we were desperate for a centre-forward, allegedly demanding £20m, even £25m. We tried bartering, sources indicating we went in as low as £12m, which was rejected out of hand, then bidding a further three times, all less than the asking price, all turned down. In the end, the deadline passed, we were left without the targetman we needed, and Blackburn with a player who would go on to score only twice more all season. It was around this time that we learnt, almost certainly through a leak from his agent, that the player had a release clause in his Blackburn deal which gave him the option of leaving once the season had finished should the club receive a certain offer, said to be £17m.

Anyhow, news broke today that a stringent medical was imminent and by teatime we had wrapped up our second big-money signing of the summer, Mark Hughes finally getting his man. I'm pleased it's done, in all honesty, it had been dragged out for far too long. As said yesterday, i don't particularly feel strongly either way about the signing. I'm certainly not disappointed with it, he's shown he can be a real danger at this level, and we definitely need an out-and-out centre-forward, but i think we had other options. My concern, however, is whether we can keep him fit. I'm looking forward to seeing him in a blue shirt, though, i must say, it's been far too long coming.