Mustapha-way?

It has emerged today in the Yorkshire press that Barnsley made an attempt to sign Rovers winger Mustapha Carayol during the January Transfer Window to replace the West Ham bound Ricardo Vaz Te. Tykes boss Keith Hill revealed his interest earlier today, stating his 'admiration' of our 22 year old Gambian wizard's ability to provide 'spontaneity'.

This worries me. Muzzy has been far from consistent on the whole throughout the season so far but there's absolutely no doubt that the former Lincoln City player has genuine talent. Even on an off day he can provide a moment of magic that can prove the difference between defeat and victory and that's not something every player has the ability to do, particularly in League Two where it's like absolute gold dust. For that reason he'd be incredibly difficult to replace.

But we may have little choice in the matter if Barnsley up the ante in their pursuit of Muzzy during the summer. Of course, they could attempt to strike a deal now and draft him in on loan until the end of the season, but I can't see the Rovers hierarchy agreeing to it. Muzzy strikes me as an ambitious guy and the opportunity to play Championship football at his age could be too good to turn down, particularly as he may have more than one option to choose from. In the wider national press it's also reported that Watford, the side we knocked out of the Carling Cup in August, and Peterborough United, who seem attracted to every talented player in the lower leagues, have been watching him in recent weeks. Any scouts at the Macclesfield game on Saturday won't have come away thinking that they'd just seen the new Lionel Messi (like sometimes feels the case when he's on form), but they'll know enough about him to form a much more articulated opinion.

In our favour is the fact Muzzy is on a 2 year contract, so any more impressive outings from now until May will see his stock rise considerably and any club wanting to sign him over the summer will have to be prepared to splash out the cash. Even if they did, maybe the draw of being part of something special here under Mark McGhee will entice him to stay with us for next year and beyond. Who knows?

Hopefully he can keep his head down here and concentrate on doing his best for us. He'll get his big move at some point I'm sure and potentially, if he sticks around long enough with us, he could play Championship football with us at the UWE in a few years time.

Maybe I'm dreaming but hey, it's sunny and it's not very often you feel so optimistic about Rovers!