With reports that Emmanuel Adebayor will finally get his dream move to AC Milan coupled with Roque Santa Cruz’s tepid displays, it is unsurprising that this weekend’s red tops have linked Manchester City with a move for the 27-year-old striker.
Similarly, with Spurs not holding on to Eidur Gudjohnsen and with Robbie Keane’s future likely to be away from White Hart Lane, Harry Redknapp will likely sign a striker to boost his team’s Champions League campaign.
Besides Manchester City and Tottenham a whole host of other English clubs have been linked with Cardozo including Everton, Newcastle and Aston Villa so don’t be surprised if he ends up at an English club this summer.
Cardozo did not set the world alight during the beginning of his career but over the past two seasons he has begun to develop a formidable reputation as a striker of true class.
He began his career with Nacional, where he quickly became a fan’s favourite and the clubs top scorer bagging 20 goals in 34 games. His displays led to him being named Paraguayan Footballer of the Year in 2006.
Cardozo’s reputation blossomed and it was Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina that acquired his services for $1.2 million. He made an instant impression, netting 11 goals in 16 games for his new club. In his solitary season at Los Leprosos he netted 21 goals in 33 games.
In 2007, Benfica signed the striker for €11.1million and his rich vein of form continued. He played a starring role in helping them to the League title and two Portugese Cups. The Paraguayan has scored 56 goals in 82 appearances at the Lisbon club with 36 of them coming last season.
He stands at 6ft 4inches and is as strong as an ox making it difficult to knock him off the ball. His aerial ability is excellent and he is able to hold the ball up and bring both his strike partner and midfielders into play. He possesses a formidable shot from outside the box and is a free kick specialist.
Last season he was top scorer in both the Portuguese League and Europa League. For all his attributes his technique is not the best and he is not especially fast. He is not able to beat defences by latching onto through balls.
Manchester City’s determination to spend big prior to UEFA’s spending regulations kick in, means that they will be linked with a whole host of top goal scores. Whilst Cardozo’s form has been excellent he has not proved himself in a big league yet and would represent a big gamble for Roberto Mancini and the Citizens.
Similarly question marks have to be raised over Cardozo being a good fit for Tottenham. Redknapp already has a big target man in Peter Crouch and this could be yet another name to throw into the hat of players linked with Spurs this summer.
