Bruno Cheyrou has finally ended his career as a Liverpool player after agreeing to join Rennes in France.
Cheyrou was hailed as the next Zidane when Gerard Houllier signed him from Lille four years ago, but despite the white boots he just never managed to live up the reputation. He’s been out on loan for the last two years, clearly not even considered worth a chance by Rafael Benitez.
Now 28, the player managed to get into the French national side at one stage but for whatever reason just couldn’t perform at the standard expected of him. He scored five times in his 48 appearances for the Reds, including one at Chelsea that sticks in the mind.
Rennes plan to unveil him “officially” today, although they actually broke the news on their website yesterday.
As much as Cheyrou arrived with a lot of hype about how good he was going to be, another player who promised much but just seemed unable to deliver was Irish winger Richie Partridge. He wasn’t signed for a huge fee, instead coming through from the academy, but it really was felt by many that he had a lot of potential. He had a spell on loan at Coventry where he impressed hugely.
Gerard Houllier didn’t see any potential though and farmed him out on loan for much of the time. To be fair to Partridge he was also extremely unlucky in that he suffered more than his fair share of injuries. Last summer Liverpool finally released him, his Anfield dream over.
Now Partridge has signed for League One side Rotherham. His new side have their work cut out next season, starting off 10 points behind everyone else but the 25-year-old hopes to help them claw that deficit back quickly. He spent last season at Sheffield Wednesday but was released by manager Paul Sturrock. He passed a medical today and signed a two-year deal. Rotherham boss Alan Knill said: “I am confident Richie will do a great job for us. He is really looking forward to playing for us and I am sure the fans will soon establish him as a favourite.”