Cats new boy set England target

Aug 27 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

ROY Keane has challenged Anton Ferdinand to use his £8m move to Sunderland to force his way into the England squad after suggesting the player needed a new challenge to unlock his vast potential.

Ferdinand will become Keane’s most expensive signing when he finalises the details of his departure from West Ham today, surpassing the initial £7m fee paid for goalkeeper Craig Gordon last summer.

And his new manager is convinced the former England Under-21 international has chosen the perfect time to galvanise his career by swapping the comfort zone at Upton Park for a fresh challenge on Wearside.

“Maybe Anton needed a new environment to get his career on to a new level,” said Keane, who revealed Ferdinand may not be able to make his debut for the Black Cats for a couple of weeks as he is carrying a slight hamstring injury.

“He has had a very good club in West Ham, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes when a player comes through the ranks, and they have been there since they were a young kid, I think sometimes they get to a bit of a crossroads.

“They think ‘which road am I going to go on? Am I going to go to another level or just stay where I am?’ Again, I think it is one of the deals we are doing which suits everybody.

“He has played over 150 games and we’re on about players with a bit of experience so, for all his rawness, he has a few games under his belt. He knows the Premiership, he is English, it’s a good price, so it suits everyone. But it will be up to Anton if he goes up to the next level.”

That level, Keane explained, is full international honours. The 23-year-old was widely tipped to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Rio when he first broke into the West Ham first team and, although his new manager is wary of drawing those sorts of comparisons, he knows the talent is there for a player who still has plenty of room for improvement.

Keane said: “I think he’s got an international future, very much so. He is 23, very raw, he is learning his trade. He is in one of the toughest positions in the team. The spine of the team is always the toughest.

“I think full-backs and wingers have got it easy. I think centre-midfield, centre-half, centre-forward are the toughest in the Premier League. He has made plenty of mistakes, like you see lots of centre-halves do every week. But I think with the environment we’ve got and the coaches we’ve got, it can certainly take him to another level and there is no reason why he can’t go on to become a top, top player.”

Indeed, Keane likened Ferdinand’s position to that of Kieran Richardson as both are young and English, but both have seen their progress falter in recent years. Keane added: “We have players like Anton and Kieran at the club and they will both feel as though they can play for England and rightly so. Trust me, though, that will come down to the players themselves. We are trying to create that environment, that foundation, but it all comes down to the player.

“Kieran Richardson has come back like a new player in pre-season. That is not down to me, it is down to Kieran. He is looking well, he is training well. Mentally he looks really up for the challenge.

“Remember three or four years ago, Kieran was a regular, or he certainly played a few games for England and scored a few goals. There is no reason why he can’t get that back, but it is only down to one person and that is Kieran Richardson. It is exactly the same with Anton and I’m sure he’s looking forward to this new chapter in his career.”

Meanwhile, Sunderland have rejected a £1.5m offer from Wolverhampton Wanderers for Danny Higginbotham and Keane has warned he will not be allowing anyone to leave on the cheap despite a summer spending spree of more than £30m.

He said: “We paid good money for Danny and he has done well for us. He played 20-odd games in the Premier League last season and scored three goals. If someone tells me his value has halved in that time, then he won’t be going anywhere.”

One player who did leave the Stadium of Light yesterday, however, was former Scotland defender Russell Anderson, who has joined Burnley on loan for this season.