£500k For Cardiff's MacLean ?!?

Striker Steve MacLean has completed a move from Cardiff City to Plymouth Argyle and former manager Paul Sturrock on a 3 and a half year deal.


What is staggering however is the £500k price reported for the transfer. MacLean joined in the summer on a free transfer from Sheffield Wednesday. He has a good scoring record but is prone to injuries.


Despite a bright pre-season, MacLean struggled at Cardiff - missing a penalty on debut against Stoke City. An untimely injury saw him lose his place in the side, and despite recovering quicker than expected, he has shown very little since.


Not particularly pacy, tall, strong or skillfull, MacLean is a finisher but scored just once for Cardiff - against lowly QPR early in the season and he has rarely looked like adding to his tally.


Plymouth must have liked what they saw in a brief cameo when the sides met on New Year's Day. Strangely, MacLean's only contribution was to spurn a golden opportunity to seal the win, by fluffing a 1-on-1. He also displayed some terrible distribution in gifting possession to Argyle several times.



Nevertheless, his brief spell at Ninian Park is over and with £500k from the deal, it looks good business. It is unlikely that any of that money can be earmarked for a transfer fee, but it (and the added slack on the wages) should loosen the purse strings sufficiently to get a loan player in to bolster the attacking options.