Jozy Altidore’s miserable spell at Sunderland is now almost over, but it will stand as a reminder to players that the big money deal isn’t always the right one.
At the age of just 25, the forward is abandoning European football and returning to MLS branded as one of the biggest transfer failures in recent Premier League history, Sunderland having received a solitary league goal in return for their £6.5m ($9.9m) transfer fee.
Altidore will surely go down in Sunderland legend as one of the club’s worst ever signings. His time in the Premier League, on a reported £30,000 ($45,000) a week salary, has been so fruitless that he is likely to feature in ‘waste of money’ lists for years to come. But he could also count as one of the most badly-advised players of recent years, a victim of football’s propensity for ill-thought out deals.
This is, after all, the second time in his young career that he has been a big-money failure.
In 2008, Villarreal spent a reported $10m to bring an 18-year-old Altidore from New York Red Bulls. A raw talent, an exciting prospect he may have been, but he was clearly far from ready to play in the Spanish top flight. The New Jersey born forward made just six appearances for the club scoring once and was loaned out to then second division Xerez where injury meant he failed to make a single appearance.
Altidore needed games and goals at a club where he could be sure of starting, having chances created for him and where Villarreal could keep an eye on his progress. Instead he was sent to Humberside, a season on loan to a Hull City team struggling in vain against relegation from the Premier League. In 28 appearances he again managed just one goal and looked well short of the quality needed for that league.
Not surprisingly Hull didn’t exercise their option for a permanent move and Villarreal, looking to cut their losses, let him go to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. It was a step down in standard and profile but finally, Altidore started to deliver on his promise.
At Hull he had looked like a lumbering, unsophisticated old-school ‘target man’ but in Holland he bloomed. His 38 goals in 59 appearances for the club came with backheel flourishes, clever touches and tricky dribbles. He scored with both feet and his head, from close range and long range.
“On and off the ball and linking up with the players around me, I just got better. It’s that simple,” said Altidore.
There were reports of interest from Serie A and the Bundesliga, as well as from several English clubs.The World Cup finals were a year away and Altidore had established himself as the first choice No9 for Jurgen Klinsmann and could be confident of a prominent role in Brazil. Another year of progress in Holland could have left him in the perfect position in the transfer market after the World Cup. A well-thought out move to a European club could have maintained his progress. Instead he signed for Paolo Di Canio’s Sunderland.
The switch always looked a dangerous one for Altidore because, for all the club’s greater pedigree, it so obviously risked a potential repeat of his dreadful season with Hull. A bottom-half team, potentially involved in the relegation battle, with chances at a premium and the constant pressure caused by the fear of the drop, is no easy environment for any player to prove his worth, let alone one so evidently reliant on confidence.
By January of his first season, Altidore, looking like the Hull City version again, was already receiving boos or ironic cheers from Sunderland fans. It only got worse. His self-belief visibly drained and into his second season and the fans had simply given up on him.
A comedic miss from three yards out against West Ham last month, where Altidore ended up on his backside, prompted more pity than anger.
“I feel sorry for him and that is not good for a striker,” wrote former Sunderland player Don Hutchison in his column for the local Evening Chronicle. “He doesn’t want to be a figure of fun or a figure of sympathy, he wants to be proving himself as a Premier League striker but he’s had enough chances and not done it now. Unfortunately I just don’t think he’s good enough for the Premier League, which is a bit of a problem for Sunderland”.
A bit of a problem for the player too. When Altidore was speculatively linked by a tabloid newspaper with a move to relegation-threatened Burnley, their fans rushed to an internet forum to make clear that there was no way they wanted the striker at their club.
American fans know Altidore is capable of better than he showed at the Stadium of Light. His performances for the US national team are evidence that he can lead the line effectively and score goals. His record playing in the Stars and Stripes stands at a respectable 25 goals from 76 appearances.
Perhaps he simply wasn’t up to Premier League level, perhaps the Dutch league was the kind of standard he is suited for but it is hard to escape the feeling that Altidore’s career in Europe could have been so much more enjoyable and productive had he – or his advisors – made more sensible career decisions.
Regular playing time and frequent goals in MLS should repair his confidence and Klinsmann can only benefit from that. But Altidore’s experience should be a warning that the right career move isn’t only about the right amount of money.
