http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/footba ... n-bargains
"£75m Edinson Cavani & Alvaro Negredo were nearly Phil Brown bargains
EDINSON CAVANI joined PSG last week for £55million – just four years after almost signing for Hull City for £2.5million.
By Paul Hetherington/Published 21st July 2013
Hull were interested in signing Cavani for £2.5m in 2009- he has now signed for PSG for £55m
That’s how much Hull offered for Cavani, who at the time was with Palermo.
The Uruguay star, 26, went on to make his name with Napoli and was a target for Manchester City and Chelsea before his megabucks move to Paris.
And the Humberside club switched their striker search, after missing out on Cavani, to Alvaro Negredo, who has just joined Manchester City for £20.6m.
Hull, situated on Yorkshire’s east coast, has a rich fishing history – but for the football club, these were the ones that got away.
Phil Brown, Hull’s manager at the time, told the Daily Star Sunday: “We were in the Premier League and full of ambition under chairman Paul Duffen.
“My chief scout Bob Shaw and assistant-manager Brian Horton went to watch Cavani, who was available at Palermo.
“They recommended him and we offered £2.5m. I remember the negotiations and it was a deal with a number of clauses in the contract.
“When it didn’t happen, we switched to Negredo, who at the time was at Real Madrid. That was going to be a loan for the season.
“We were going to pay £12m, plus his wages, then Real were going to buy him back for £13m. But Cavani eventually went to Napoli and Negredo signed for Seville.
“Why didn’t they come to Hull? The club was not big enough. In Negredo’s case, you were talking about going from Real Madrid to Hull City.
“But the important thing was that we were ahead of the game in terms of spotting these players. That’s where we were at at Hull City.”
Phil Brown could have pulled off two deals of the century
“I wouldn’t mind having either of them on loan at Southend!”
Phil Brown
Brown now manager of League Two Southend, said: “As you can imagine, I have looked at events with Cavani and Negredo in the last few days with great interest.
“I wouldn’t mind having either of them on loan at Southend!
“But I still have Bob with me as my chief scout and the job of looking for players goes on – though admittedly at a different level.”
And one striker Hull did bring in four years ago – the USA’s Jozy Altidore – has just joined Sunderland from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar for £6m.
Brown, who had an ill-fated spell as Preston boss between managing Hull and Southend, said: “We took over a loan he was on from Villarreal in Spain. He was only 19 – a pup – but he had potential.
“He has started to fulfil that potential. He did well in a good league in Holland.
“For a big lad, he wasn’t as good in the air as you would have expected. It was something he had to work on.
“But he was gifted. He was a beast in terms of his physique. He had pace and good technical ability.
“I would say £6m is not a bad price for a 23-year-old with Altidore’s attributes.
“If I was signing him now for the Premier League, I’d be looking for him to get me double figures in terms of goals this season – then 20 in his second year.”
Altidore managed only one goal for Hull in 28 appearances.
But he hit 31 for Alkmaar in all competitions last season.
His last goal was the winner for the USA against Honduras last month."
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