Benni McCarthy ought to understand the thoughts passing through Roque Santa Cruz's mind as the opening of the transfer window moves closer. Like Santa Cruz, McCarthy had been consistently linked with a move to a club owned by a billionaire and managed by his former boss but he never did join Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.
Although the Paraguayan striker is odds-on to link up with Mark Hughes at Manchester City, McCarthy told his team‑mate to be careful what he wishes for. "Blackburn is a fantastic place to be," he said. "It is a great family club.It is very close-knit, the people are nice and they always try to do everything they can for you.
"That is the most important thing you can have in football because, if your family life is good, then the football side will get the best out of you. Elsewhere I doubt that is the same and, from where I have been before, I would say, no, it isn't the same.Here, you are appreciated and loved but go elsewhere and you have to start all over again. That makes it really, really hard to get going and who knows whether you will be as popular at your new club as you were at your last one?"
While Santa Cruz's life would hardly be affected by a move to Eastlands – he lives in Manchester – he has placed great emphasis on the happiness of his wife Giselle and his children, Tobias and Fiorella. His brother, Julio, was signed by Blackburn on a three-year contract in the summer.
Since it marks the anniversary of the death of another brother, Oscar,However, his father and manager, Aproniano, has suggested that, if his son, who at 27 has one big transfer left in his career, does leave, it may be for Madrid rather than Manchester. "There is nothing official from Real Madrid but it is logical that Roque is being linked to another club," he said. "If the chance appears and Blackburn agree to let him go, I believe he would prefer to sign for a team who are fighting for the likes of the Champions League or a domestic title." Hughes admitted on Sunday that it would take "three or four transfer windows" before Manchester City are in a position to offer that.
Since his interviews on the subjects have been flatly contradictory– wanting to play Champions League football in one sentence and pledging his loyalty to Blackburn in another – it is hard to tell if Santa Cruz knows his own mind. His signing of a four-year contract in August was not the action of a man desperate to leave.
The emergence of McCarthy and Jason Roberts as a strike partnership, who have scored five goals between them in Sam Allardyce's three matches in charge, makes Blackburn's room for manoeuvre greater. Given that their chairman, John Williams, admitted that one of Allardyce's attractions was his "history of good loan signings and Bosmans", Santa Cruz would represent their only substantial source of transfer funds, and the need for a high-class specialist right-back to ease the burden on Andre Ooijer (who plays for Holland at center-half)is pressing.
Since they would treble the £3.8m Hughes paid Bayern Munich for Santa Cruz in July 2007 and that Matt Derbyshire represents adequate cover for Roberts and McCarthy,logic suggests Blackburn will do business. Whether it is with Manchester City only January will tell.
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