27th February, 2012
Nigeria midfielder, Dickson Etuhu must henceforth work his socks off to be relevant in Fulham’s midfield, following Monday’s signing of former Real Madrid and Mali star Mahamadu Diarra. Etuhu, who is jetting out to Kigali, Rwanda from Abuja Monday night on international engagement with the Super Eagles of Nigeria, is overwhelmed by the battle for places in Fulham’s midfield.
The Nigerian star made only 9 starts in 17 games this season, as against last season’s 23 starts in 28 matches.
Etuhu’s chances will further be whittled down by the arrival of Diarra, a defensive midfielder of no mean repute.
Fulham boss, Martin Jol believes he has taken a significant step towards securing Fulham’s Barclays Premier League future after signing the former Real Madrid midfielder Diarra for rest of the season.
Renowned as a tough-tackling anchor man and capped 64 times by Mali, Diarra has been without a club since leaving Monaco last summer. But Jol is convinced he has the experience and physical strength to succeed in the Premier League and was confirmed by the club on Monday pending the successful completion of a visa.
The 30-year-old Diarra made his name in tandem with Michael Essien at Lyon and became Capello’s prime transfer target in the summer of 2006, when the then Real coach urged President Ramon Calderon to see off competition from Manchester United in the race to sign him.
A fee of around £22million eventually took him to the Bernabeu, and he made 122 appearances for Real before joining Monaco as a free agent last January.