Weren't They All Chasing The Wrong Striker

So, Aston Villa have picked up striker and renowned intellectual Marlon Harewood for 4 million English pounds. Good for them.

Wigan, Portsmouth, Birmingham City, even Manchester City (pre-Sven) had all been linked with a player whose goalscoring record last season was woeful. All of these clubs wanted Harewood because of his performance the season before.

But haven't they all forgotten something? Or, rather, someone. The West Ham striker they all should have been trying to buy is Bobby Zamora.

Zamora was West Ham's top scorer last season (Carlos Who?), scoring 11 Premiership goals. He got 10 the season before - not that many fewer than Harewood, who started far more games.

He's a cut above Harewood as a player and would have been available for around the same price.