Do the Jackson Martinez stories make sense?

Plenty of transfer talk at the moment about striker Jackson Martinez but as usual little common sense. The story is that Tottenham are willing to pay cash plus throw in Roberto Soldado to secure him.

Do the Jackson Martinez stories make sense?


Constantly hyped up, he did OK at the World Cup, not the sensation that some headlines have been suggesting lately, he scored 2 goals against weak opposition, Japan in 2 games, one a substitute appearance. In the whoscored ratings he figures in 85th place.

Putting the hype aside he is a decent striker with a scoring record in Mexico and Portugal. He is 28, under contract until 2017 and as is usual in Iberia, has a high release clause valuation, £31.65 million (€40m - $49.52m).

Porto have appeared to be willing to sell previously if they can get somewhere near that inflated valuation. It is normal to place a high buyout clause in contracts that clubs do not expect to get but is a method to ensure they get a good return on players they have bought. Eric Dier was secured cheaply because he kept refusing contracts where his club, Sporting, wanted to insert a high release clause.

His age is a worry, he is similar in age to Soldado when we bought him and Tottenham have a youth policy to try and create stability long term. Youth sides do need some experience in them though and definitely a goalscorer so perhaps goalscoring should for the moment be the overriding factor while Harry Kan continues to develop.

He joined Porto in July 2012 when we were also reported as being interested in him, he moved from Chiapas FC, formerly known as Club de Fútbol Jaguares de Chiapas (Jaguares) for £7.74 million (€9.78m - $12.11m) and the reports are that we will offer the full £31.65 million.

That sounds most un Tottenham like, we have a £26 million (€32.88m - $40.69m) striker who has flopped, a £30 million (€37.94m - $46,95m) player who has flopped, both who have never played in the Premier League, so we'll spend £31.65 million (€40m - $49.52m) on another?

His scoring record can't be argued with really though, but then nor could Soldado's. Martinez has scored 14 goals in 18 games this season, 8 in 11 Portuguese Primeira Liga games (965 minutes), 1 in 2 UEFA Champions League qualifying games and 5 in 5 UEFA Champions League group games against BATE Borisov (Belarus) 3 goals, FC Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) 2 goals and Athletic Club Bilbao (Spain) 1 goal.

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Last season however against stronger opposition in the UEFA Europa League he wasn't so successful, in 2 games against Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) he scored 0 goals, Napoli (Italy) 1 goal and Sevilla (Spain) 0 goals. Porto joined that competition from the UEFA Champions League where he scored 2 goals in 6 games, Austria Vienna (Austria) 2 goals, Atletico Madrid (Spain) 1 goal and Zenit St Petersburg (Russia) 0 goals.

His scoring record to date is impressive in each country he has played in but can he continue that in the Premier League, as we have seen that is not a guarantee, nor is spending money a guarantee of success, only if it is spent on the right players.

PERFORMANCE PER CLUB
ClubApps
FC Porto109746
Chiapas FC693611
Independiente Medellín28217

There is no way Daniel Levy will pay £31.65 million for him, he isn't worth it, £20 million (€25.29m - $31.30m) maybe. Having said that figures are just that figures and having bought Soldado for £26 million there is scope to value him at anything to get a deal done. If for instance we paid £6.25 million (€7.90m - $9.78m) and retained Soldado's valuation at £26 million, then it makes sense, effectively one out and a striker bought cheaply.