5 Feasible Summer Destinations for Liverpool Forward Rickie Lambert
Rickie Lambert is one Liverpool player who looks set to leave the club this summer, and there should be a plethora of clubs lining up for the 33-year-old striker's signature at the end of the season.
Lambert made a fairytale £4 million switch to his boyhood club last summer, but he has barely featured for manager Brendan Rodgers' side.
Of Lambert's 19 Premier League appearances for the Reds, only five have come as a starter, amounting to just 595 minutes overall and heralding a meagre two goals.
The striker was the subject of a late £5 million transfer deadline-day bid from Aston Villa in January, but he decided to stay on Merseyside, according to John Percy of The Telegraph.
Since his decline of a move, Lambert has made four appearances for the Reds, totalling just 20 minutes.
It would be fair to assume that Lambert will be offered the chance to leave Liverpool in the summer, but where could he end up?
Here are five feasible summer destinations for Lambert, rounding off with a possible return to a former club.
Aston Villa
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Perhaps the most obvious choice for Lambert this summer would be returning to the interest of Villa, if new manager Tim Sherwood considers his predecessor Paul Lambert's decision an astute one.
Liverpool's Lambert revealed the main reason behind him turning down a move to Villa Park in January was a lack of time to decide.
"The deal was agreed," he told James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo. "But in the end, there just wasn’t enough time to say ‘yes'—to make a decision in the space of four or five hours for the next two-and-a-half-years."
Lambert detailed a discussion he had with Rodgers on the matter: "I got a phone call from the gaffer about 4 p.m. saying Aston Villa had come in. He said he didn’t want me to go but basically offered me the chance if I wanted to play football, which is fair enough."
This lack of assurance from Rodgers surely highlights just why he should move in the summer; he is unlikely to be offered more game time next season.
If Villa return for Lambert in the summer, a move down to the West Midlands may be a wise choice.
Burnley
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That relegation battlers Burnley are still in with a chance of staying in the Premier League for next season, given the comparative calibre of personnel in Sean Dyche's squad, is phenomenal.
Ahead of the season's opener against Chelsea, Dyche responded to speculation linking the club with Watford striker Troy Deeney, as relayed by Liam Blackburn of the Press Association (h/t the Mail): "We still feel that we can add to our numbers, which we're looking to do."
The centre-forwards on Burnley's senior books—Danny Ings, Ashley Barnes, Sam Vokes and Lukas Jutkiewicz—have scored 14 goals between them this season, which adds to Burnley's struggle.
Jutkiewicz's summer arrival in particular was presumably sanctioned to provide the Clarets with some much-needed physicality, but the 26-year-old has so far failed.
In January, Dyche told reporters including Blackburn (h/t the Mail) that "it is [fair] to say we are looking for players who've had a feel of the Premier League."
Lambert should tick all of the boxes for Dyche: an experienced, physical centre-forward, with 30 goals in 94 Premier League games.
Add to that the fact that Dyche, as Rodgers told Burnley's matchday programme in March, according to Chris Boden of the Burnley Express, is someone the Liverpool boss is "proud to call a friend."
Lambert to Burnley in the summer is a perfectly feasible move, so long as Dyche beats the drop this season.
Crystal Palace
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With Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew struggling for numbers during his first transfer window in charge of the club in January, he turned to Lambert, enquiring as to the availability of the striker on a loan deal.
"We are kind of monitoring strikers,” Pardew said, as reported by The Independent's Miguel Delaney. "I had a conversation with Brendan [Rodgers about Lambert], but I don’t think Rickie is going anywhere. I think Rickie wants to stay there and try and win his position."
After January, Pardew's strike-force stands as Dwight Gayle, Glenn Murray, Marouane Chamakh, Shola Ameobi and Yaya Sanogo, who have scored 10 goals between them for Palace this season.
With Pardew seemingly steering his new side clear of relegation this season, another move for Lambert in the summer can be expected.
Having failed to win his position at Liverpool, Lambert could well decide to move to Selhurst Park.
AFC Bournemouth
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Eddie Howe's AFC Bournemouth side look increasingly likely to secure promotion to the Premier League for next season, and they could start planning their summer transfer activity with this in mind.
Howe is another manager with a positive relationship with Rodgers, as he told Paul Joyce of the Express back in January.
"Without a doubt he is a role model for me. Take away everything he has done in management and he is also a brilliant person. I went to watch him work at Swansea for two days. He sat with me one afternoon and we talked football for about four, five hours. I know if another manager did that, they’d be looking at their watch going, ‘I’ve got work to do’. He never did that. I couldn’t believe his generosity.
"
Rodgers' signing of Lambert last summer parallels that of Howe's BBC Sport-reported loan signing of Kenwyne Jones in March.
Jones is a similarly physical, plan B-model striker, worlds apart from the then-injured player he was signed to replace: Callum Wilson, whose pacey, dynamic style is reminiscent of the Reds' Daniel Sturridge.
If Bournemouth are promoted this season, Howe could use his ties with Rodgers to replicate this by signing Lambert in the summer, gaining a physical edge and some vital Premier League experience
Southampton
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Finally, another feasible move for Lambert in the summer would be a return to former club Southampton, who were reported to be interested in re-signing the striker in January by Izzy Horsefield of the Express.
"Lambert made his £4 million move to Anfield in the summer returning to his boyhood club, but the striker is keen to secure more first-team opportunities to keep his place in the England squad," Horsefield claimed. "A move back to St Mary's could offer him more starting opportunities."
However dubious this transfer-window link was, a move back to Southampton would make sense for Lambert.
Ronald Koeman's side have soared in the Premier League this season, but for much of the second half of 2014/15 this has been despite the goalscoring woes of Graziano Pelle.
Pelle has scored just eight goals in 30 league games for the Saints, with his last coming in a 3-0 win at home to Everton in December—the striker looks to have suffered a crippling fatigue, with Koeman's side lacking reinforcements up front.
Lambert would offer Koeman a similar striker to Pelle, with comfortable ties to the club and an understanding of Southampton's structure.
A summer move back to the south coast would make sense for Lambert, who could compete productively with Pelle.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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