Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez     21     Midfielder     Anzhi Makhachkala

We took a good long look at Carcela in the Jupiler league last season and were quite impressed with what we saw.  Coming up to 22 and ticking over nicely in midfield for Liege, Carcela was beginning to really stand out in games and had gained that knack of being at the centre of everything good for his team. Up until recently, Carcela was best remembered for headbutting Cesc Fabregas in a Champions league match in 2008. 

A two footed box to box midfielder in the truest sense of the phrase, Carcela can play pretty much anywhere across the middle of the pitch.  What impressed us most was his high octane approach to matches and we saw similarities to a young Edgar Davids in the youngster’s play.  No cause is ever lost and given the chance Carcela possesses a wicked shot.

We thought it inevitable that someone would come in for the Belgian born youngster, who has since declared his intention to play for Morocco, with Liege unlikely to be able to hang on to their prize asset for too long.  What we didn’t quite foresee was a move to Russia and the chance to pitch up alongside Samuel Eto’o at Anzhi Makhachkala.

Invariably money will have been a big attraction here; no doubt the player, his representatives and former employers will have benefited financially from the deal.  If Carcela still has the appetite to become a significant force in world football, the Russian Premier League does offer a step up in quality and the chance to develop further.  If it turns out that the lure of lucre is all that is on Carcela’s mind then we’ll not expect to hear too much from him again.  The next twelve months will be interesting.

"Top man in Standard’s midfield (Carcela, Defour, Witsel, Van Damme), fast, clever.  Bad injury, went for cash.  Not sure now." - John Chapman (Journalist)

C       Boss the RPL