Kanu Wins Barclaycard Award
West Brom jersey sold out
By Tunde Sulaiman
Nwankwo Kanu's dream start to the season with his new club West Bromwich Albion (WBA) continued Sunday when his performance in the club's 1-1 draw with Aston Villa fetched him the coveted Barclaycard Man of the Match Award.
It was his second straight honour following his opening day performance in the unfancied club's 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park a fortnight ago. The title sponsors gave him a bottle of champagne and a plaque for his five-star performance.
Although he is yet to get on the score sheet the former Arsenal player's silky skills have lit up an otherwise dull side, which returned to the Premiership after winning the Nationwide League Division Championship last season.
With his wife, Nkechi present at WBA's Hawthorn's Stadium for the first time since their marriage in June, the lanky Nigerian international again caught the eye of the Player of the Match selectors with his deft touches and passes as the Baggies put up a display to suggest that they were determined not to go straight back down to the lower division.
Villa manager David O'Leary became the more agitated of the two coaches as the game progressed as the home team took control and should have secured their first three points of the new campaign but for woeful finishing.
A very delighted Gary Megson, who literally broke the bank to bring the former Ajax star to the Hawthorns, was full of praise for the Nigerian whose presence he hopes will attract other big names to the club.
"This is exactly why I brought him to the club. You can see he is a class act his presence has helped rejuvenate the club and I'm sure he will still weigh in with a fair amount of goals. The last time we were up we went straight down because we lacked quality players. He (Kanu) is quality and with him being with us I'm sure it will show that we are a serious club and should attract other players to the club.
"It takes a bit of persuading. But if we can get them here in then we have a chance. Having Kanu at the club helps. You get players who say if it's good enough for Kanu, it's good enough for me," he told The Mirror.
Meanwhile, WBA are already reaping returns on the �1 million spent to convince Kanu to sign for them and not for Aston Villa, with his number 25 jersey the fastest selling item in the WBA Mega Store.
In fact according to the club's website, Kanu's jersey has already sold out just two weeks into the season. Those trying to lay their hands on the jersey, the number, which he also wore at Highbury, have been told to wait for two weeks as the club struggles to get more ready to put on the shelves.
The club has also found a novel way to make further money from their very popular Nigerian by charging �10 for the chance to know more about the Atlanta'96 star on their website.
It appears West Brom decided to cash in on Kanu's popularity when he got the most hits on the club's site with most WBA fans wanting to know more about the player who only a few years ago scored a hat trick against Chelsea with the third being one of the goals of the season when he rounded the keeper to score from a very acute angle.
However, in spite of all these money-spinning moves by the club, the one the fans will cherish most will be if he is able to keep them in the Premiership like Jay Jay Okocha did in his first season at Bolton.
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