[Archived] Blackburn Sign Chilean Superstar Carlos Villanueva

[chileandude]

Update from the Audax camp...

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Audax President: "Fabián Orellana will not play in Colo Colo or the 'U'" (the two big teams in Chile)

Valentín Cantergiani clarified to latercera.com the situation of the striker and of Carlos Villanueva in Blackburn.

"¿Fabián Orellana wearing the Colo Colo or Universidad de Chile jersey?, no chance". With these words the president of Audax Italiano, Valentín Cantergiani, discarded any option for the striker to change teams in the national league.

"That information has no truth in it. If Fabián stays in Chile he will continue playing in Audax. I assure you that he will not play in Colo Colo or the 'U'", the businessman sustained emphatically to latercera.com.

In any case, the Audax president recognized that there is little chance that the author of the goal in the historical victory over Argentina will remain in the country. "We are managing various offers, but there has yet to be a decision. If I see him here next season? I don't think so, I see him playing abroad".

Even though he did not want to give away the possible destination of Orellana, it is known that the main alternatives are in México.

WAITING FOR VILLANUEVA

Another of Audax worries these days, apart from the election of their new manager (it would be José Horacio Basualdo), is the future of Carlos Villanueva, who is on loan in the Blackburn Rovers. Cantergiani explained his situation.

"He is on loan with a contract until June of 2009. What happens is that his contract contains an exclusivity clause for Blackburn, but it expires the 31 of December, in other words, starting the 1st of January we could negotiate with other clubs", said the president.

"Until now, Blackburn has communicated with us to express their intentions of purchase, but we have nothing concrete", he assured. "If there are other interested teams? Yes, there's always interest for Carlos, but we have to wait for Blackburn's decision", he finalized.

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Anyway this news is a bit old 05/12 (sorry guys, been a bit busy) ....so the sacking of Ince will probably change things...

Personally...I don't think Blackburn will buy him...considering their situation and current predicament...this is no time for Blackburn to make long term investments.

But I don't see him in Chile either, Audax will probably sell him to some other team in a weaker league...France maybe.

[stuwilky]

June - we have him on a season loan with an option to buy at a fixed price in Jan. If we dont then he simply becomes available to others and also the price could increase.

Increase?

Surely he'd have to perform for that to happen.

[den]

Rovers pass on the option of paying £5m now.

[Hughesy]

Sensible of the club. Lets hope he can secure himself a move by performing on the pitch.

[Montfort]

Rovers pass on the option of paying £5m now.

Whatever the final outcome, he will remain one of the most exciting players I have ever seen in a Rovers shirt bar none - even if it was against Grismby. If we cannot get match winning performances from him then it will be a tragedy. Not sure where he would play though and who we would sacrice from the team for him

[gazsimm]

i think its a good move for rovers to pass on signing Carlos at the moment. I have not seen enough in him to be convinced he is worth the 5 million they are asking for. If he wants to stay at Rovers now its up to him to prove himself and try and force himself into Sams team.

[Amo]

It was obvious we would decline the buy-it-now option when he's hardly started a game. I feel for the guy, because he's an exciting talent but we need to maximize that ability. I hope Big Sam can find room for him, but he knows best.

[LeChuck]

Whatever the final outcome, he will remain one of the most exciting players I have ever seen in a Rovers shirt bar none - even if it was against Grismby.

If it wasn't for YouTube none of us would give a toss about Carlos, we've all blown expectations completely out of proportion on the basis of a highlight reel.

Let's face it...what does he actually have to his play? Or more to the point; what does he lack in his play? He's not a striker, but he's not fast or strong enough to play in midfield...so where does that leave him realistically?

There are very players of his ilk (i.e. small, weak and slow) that are successful in the Premier League...and the ones that are were supremely talented in another department (think Zola, Juninho, Kinkladze, Scholes etc.).

I'd love to be proven wrong but I just don't think he's equipped for the Premiership, he'd be better off going to Spain or some other European league.

[philipl]

Sam has a track record of picking up unlikely players.

I doubt we will see much of Carlos whilst we are in a relegation position but if Sam gets us set up playing the way he wants us to and we get some momentum then if he sees the potential in the lad, we'll be seeing more of Carlos.

[den]

Some interesting posts from HERE onwards!

Any of those posters want to comment on their comments?

[tonyoz]

Looks like he's gone!

Today's Guardian:

"Blackburn, meanwhile, have told the Chile international Carlos Villanueva he can use the January transfer window to find a new club despite them signing him on loan until the summer. Rovers will not take up the option to buy the 22-year-old midfielder, who was brought to Ewood Park on a 12-month deal by Paul Ince."

[Bobby G]

Id be surprised if we let him go now especially when we paid for a full season loan!

[Lurid Coat]

Very sad, as I had high hopes for the lad:

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,1...4705823,00.html

"Villanueva set for Rovers departure. Blackburn have told Carlos Villanueva he can use the transfer window to find a new club despite them signing him on loan until the summer."

[Majiball]

I hope its not true.

1 Million of our very rare and hard earned pounds on a six month loan deal, annoys me no end. I thought we had him till the end of the year regardless.

I wonder what kind of established player we could have gotten for that kinda money?

The kid deserves more time, all the players raved about him saying he was different gravey, Inceaganda yet again from our club. Given that I am certain the training prior was about as much use as training for a bobsled race in Jamaica, I'd like to see how he reacts in more conclusive learning environment, especially now Dunn will be in his favoured position.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

How much time does he need to impress though?

I want him to succeed as much as most people but lets be honest here. He trains every day with the club so they know what he's about. When he's had an opportunity, he hasn't grasped at it and made himself a definite first team starter.

Maybe he doesn't have the right attributes to play for a team like Blackburn. If we're honest, he'd probably fit in better at a top club who get more time on the ball and has specialist players who do the rough and tough stuff. At Blackburn, they've all gotta put in a good shift because we don't dominate games like Man Utd or Liverpool do.

Maybe it just wasn't a great time for him to come to Blackburn. It was a good decision from Paul Ince to get him on loan first rather than a straight permanent transfer. Now we can be glad we didn't spend £4 million on him.

[rover6]

Okay, Den, you seemed to have been right - but I would still argue that Villaneuva has not been given a proper chance.

He's obviously a tremendously gifted player. I just hope we don't live to regret not giving him a better chance - after all, we all know how long some foreigners of much talent have previously taken time to settle in England.

Sadly, it does not look like he'll feature in Allardyce's scientifically enhanced kick 'n' rush revolution.

[Majiball]

OK we need to part with 4M to keep him he has not proven himself a 4M must have.

But is that not the reason he's not signing, 4M on someone who will not make an immediate impact in our situation is not the way forward.

the adaptation was always going to take time, I'm not convinced his first 6 months will have been in a conclusive learning environment. Two weeks after BFS's arrival and a lot of our players look rather different to those under the previous regime. I wonder what Villa could do with six months under BFS N Co.

Tevez, Mascherano hardly set the league on fire in their first six months, look at them now. Now I'm not saying that he can emulate them, but both show that 6 months is not enough time to judge the lad. You have to remember how different the style of play/lifestyle is over here compared to other countries, it takes time to adapt.

I've moved to a different country and six months in I was still not settled or even fluent.

At the end of the day our 4M is better of elsewhere at present. But I am annoyed that we where told that we had him for the year with the option in January regardless.

However I'm not convinced this is the last we will see of him in Europe.

[modes98]

I think you are missing something Majiball. £4m in the english transfer market will buy you very little, IMO Villaneuva has shown signs that he can do it but hasn't been given the time to adapt to the english game. Granted we can go and look elsewhere, but having him on loan til the end of the season means we are in a strong position, as i don't think anyone else will buy him in the mean time.

[Eddie]

Some interesting posts from HERE onwards!

Any of those posters want to comment on their comments?

We've not seen enough of him for anyone to pass serious judgement. Only time will tell who was right, I'm still fairly certain that he is a very talented player and could be a very useful player in this league.

[den]

We've not seen enough of him for anyone to pass serious judgement. Only time will tell who was right, I'm still fairly certain that he is a very talented player and could be a very useful player in this league.

Yes we have Eddie.

[chileandude]

Maybe he doesn't have the right attributes to play for a team like Blackburn. If we're honest, he'd probably fit in better at a top club who get more time on the ball and has specialist players who do the rough and tough stuff. At Blackburn, they've all gotta put in a good shift because we don't dominate games like Man Utd or Liverpool do.

This is what I think. Blackburn is old school English football. A lot of running and pressing and muscling opposition out. Not pretty, but get's the job done and has worked well for Blackburn. Villanueva doesn't work in this environment

Question for the veterans in the forum. Has any classic play maker made it big in any Premiership club, excluding the big 4?

I see Modric who is similar to Villanueva in many ways...let's compare:

Luka Modrić (Age 23)-----Carlos Villlanueva (Age 22)

-----1.74m---------------------------1.73 m--------------

----At.Mid-----------------------------At.Mid--------------

--Croatian MVP 2007-----------Chilean MVP 2007-----

----Apps: 18(2)------------------Apps: 7(4)------------- (I'm including League Cup)

-----Goals: 2----------------------Goals: 1---------------

...the main difference is playtime. Neither has necessarily taken the Premiership by storm...

[The Rover of Finland]

This is what I think. Blackburn is old school English football. A lot of running and pressing and muscling opposition out. Not pretty, but get's the job done and has worked well for Blackburn. Villanueva doesn't work in this environment

Question for the veterans in the forum. Has any classic play maker made it big in any Premiership club, excluding the big 4?

I see Modric who is similar to Villanueva in many ways...let's compare:

Luka Modrić (Age 23)-----Carlos Villlanueva (Age 22)

-----1.74m---------------------------1.73 m--------------

----At.Mid-----------------------------At.Mid--------------

--Croatian MVP 2007-----------Chilean MVP 2007-----

----Apps: 18(2)------------------Apps: 7(4)------------- (I'm including League Cup)

-----Goals: 2----------------------Goals: 1---------------

...the main difference is playtime. Neither has necessarily taken the Premiership by storm...

Excellent post. But have say no for Carlos. Not a type of player Rovers need. I bet Modric have some regrets too over choosing Spurs instead Italy.

[FourLaneBlue]

Question for the veterans in the forum. Has any classic play maker made it big in any Premiership club, excluding the big 4?

Tugay? While he might not roam forward so much anymore he still directs play for our team when having a good game...even at 38!

The problem with Villanueava is that I do not know where we should even play him. Certainly we cannot afford luxury players right now...and if he cannot do a job on the wing then I cannot see him getting much more playing time at all with us.

[tchocky]

Yes we have Eddie.

Interesting way to state an opinion. It almost sounds as if you're speaking on behalf of everyone

I can understand if the manager thinks he's too much of a luxury in our current position. But in a different situation who knows what would have happened?

[American]

I'm sure Den would have given up on Henry after his first few appearances, as well.

He's had his bad moments, but also a couple of good moments (first half against Boro), but hasn't been played consistently enough to know which we would see more in the long run.