Believable

Unfortunately, the rumours surrounding a potential bid from Fulham, and possibly Newcastle, for Zeng Zhi, are a lot more credible than some doing the rounds. For me, Zeng is probably our last saleable asset to the Prem, as opposed to selling at our own Champ level, or lower. The appeal of China's captain, is not restricted, of course, to his ability to play the beautiful game, but the commercial impact his arrival at a Prem club would have, should be significant.

Having said that, I am unclear as to what pure commercial advantage, Charlton have gained from having Zeng Zhi in our midst? At a simplistic level, are there thousands of Chinese people running around in Llanera tops? Even when we were in the Prem, I didn't get the feeling that Zeng was generating significant additional revenue for the club, although I may well be wrong in that, and I am sure his image rights may well have played a part there. The commercial opportunities will also have reduced since our demotion.

I appreciate that his contribution to Charlton beyond filthy lucre, and playing for us, is demonstrable in other ways, but I do wonder if Fulham or Newcastle, if one of them ends up being his destination, might be a little brighter at exploiting the undoubted commercial opportunities he brings.