Darren Norris
PERHAPS the most surprising thing about the persistent speculation regarding Richard Dunne’s Manchester City future is the club's and Mark Hughes’ silence on the issue. The Dubliner has been strongly linked with a move away from Eastlands with Sunderland thought to be his likely destination.
While it’s tempting to dismiss this as mere transfer speculation the fact that City have failed to say Dunne will be staying and the refusal of Dunne himself to say he intends to stay is significant. You know how it goes. Club declares interest in signing player. If the player’s current club wants to keep him they issue a statement stating the said player is indispensible and is not for sale. The player issues statement to the same affect stating he is happy at the club. On the other hand, as looks to be the case here, if the player’s club are willing to sell they say nothing and wait for an official approach.
There is little doubt that Dunne would be an excellent signing for Sunderland but one has to wonder why City seem to be willing to let him leave and why Dunne himself would want to move.
Admittedly he didn’t have the best of seasons at City in 08/09 but prior to that he was their best and most consistent player – he was named the club’s player of the year four seasons in a row after all - over a number of seasons. Yet now it seems he could be surplus to requirements. Why? One would have thought that given Dunne’s superb leadership qualities, presence, fearlessness and power Hughes would be looking to build a team around him.
The 29-year-old may have struggled on the club scene last season but his Republic of Ireland displays rarely dipped below the outstanding while his heroic display in Ireland’s most recent World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria in Sofia was truly sensational. As the saying goes form is temporary, class is permanent.
And while, aided by the seemingly endless wealth of the Abu Dhabi group, City have already spent big in the summer adding Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz to an already gifted if inconsistent squad as they look to break into the top four it seems perverse that they are entertaining the possibility of letting their best centre back leave.
After all it’s not as if there are that many top defenders around. Indeed Dunne like John Terry at Chelsea, Nemanja Vidic at Manchester United or Jamie Carragher at Liverpool is a throwback to a different era when defenders were real hard men who marshalled their defence like generals. What Hughes needs to ask himself is would Chelsea be willing to let Terry go or would United sanction Vidic’s exit from Old Trafford? He would also be wise to ask how many players of Dunne’s ilk are around? City’s resources may be vast but how could even they justify selling Dunne for £5m and spending £20m or £30m on a player of less ability?
Equally having endured nine seasons at a struggling club it’s hard to understand why Dunne would consider leaving the club just when it finally seems to be going places. And given that Sunderland only just avoided the drop last season surely going to Wearside would be a step backwards for a player of his ability. It is perhaps understandable if he feels a little under appreciated. City executive chairman Gary Cook’s ill-advised and offensive quip when explaining his aim to make City a global brand that ‘‘Richard Dunne doesn’t roll off the tongue in Beijing’’ was hardly confidence boosting and must have disappointed the Dubliner. That said Dunne would struggle to justify swapping a possible challenge for Champions League qualification at City for, at best, mid table mediocrity at Sunderland.
Ultimately given Dunne’s ability and City’s ambition both parties might live to regret it should there be a parting of ways.
