There Are Shay Given Transfer Rumors, Apparently

It seems as though QPR is interested in veteran Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given. I'm not going to link to any of them, because they're all a part of the same recursive loop of transfer gossip, but you can find them in all the predictable places. I don't suppose there's any reason to believe that QPR wouldn't want Shay Given; Shay Given is really good! Paddy Kenny is only a little bit good, and he's probably leaving anyways. Given is pretty much exactly the kind of signing QPR seems to love making, too, so on most counts this rumor passes the sniff test.

But while it makes enough sense to gain steam as a transfer rumor, I'm still not buying it. Villa are going to want a pretty hefty chunk of change for Given, and QPR is in need of more than a new keeper if they'd like to take a big step forward. Additionally, he's on pretty hefty wages and isn't getting any younger; is that really the kind of asset you want on your books if you end up going down? There are players worth taking risks on; Shay Given, despite being totally awesome, isn't really one of them. Now, just because something is stupid doesn't mean QPR wouldn't be interested in doing it. But it doesn't make much sense for Villa either, with large portions of the fanbase still skeptical of Randy Lerner's intentions and Given being one of the only players on the squad liked by pretty much everyone. That's not really the kind of player a team trying to regain public trust up and sells for a decent offer.

So yeah, I'm not buying it. But even if Given isn't heading to London, QPR needn't venture away from Villa Park in order to fulfill their goalkeeping needs. Mr. Hughes, could we interest you in a Brad Guzan?