I don't know why people keep on saying "he could've done a job at this level", because he really couldn't, at least from his appearances for us this season, even though his record at Blackburn was good. It was the exact same shit as it was last season: if he played from the start, he would basically offer no presence up front; he was only a threat when he came on as a sub and could go full-pelt for 20 to 30 minutes, and if we were going to turn down 6.5 million or whatever it was because losing a super sub was going to immeasurably fuck us, well, I think we have much larger problems (well, we do.)
I agree with most of that, but still maintain that he was probably closest to the type of striker we need. We need a striker who can lead the line on his own, hold the ball up and bring others into play. So far, we have spent the best part of £40m on strikers and still haven't got one who can perform that role.
The problem was that he couldn't lead the line on his own or hold the ball up. However, he could bring others into play with his 2nd or 3rd touch after gathering the ball from his poor 1st touch.
There was only one way to play him and that was with wide players that could get in front of him and pull the ball back to him as he is a very good player running onto the ball. Sadly, we didn't play that way last season or this, so, getting money back on him was a good deal but does show a lack of attacking intent.
