Should BWFC sign Eidur Gudjohnsen?

As I'm sure you're all aware by now (if not, take a seat, because you very well may feint like a swooning damsel) that former Bolton Wanderers striker, Eidur Gudjohnsen, is back training with the club in a bid to keep his fitness levels up.

I won't lie, I audibly squealed when I saw the photographs of him in a Bolton (training) shirt again.

The Icelandic forward joined the club nearly sixteen years ago now, in 1998, from Icelandic side KR Reykjavik. In his two year spell at the Reebok, Gudjohnsen scored 27 goals in 77 appearances, before his career took off and Chelsea purchased him for a cut-priced £4 million.

He would spent six years at Stamford Bridge, scoring 54 goals in 186 appearances and being a major part of Jose Mourinho's astonishingly successful first stint at Chelsea, winning five trophies in his time there. In 2006, Spanish giants Barcelona recruited Gudjohnsen to replace the departing Henrik Larsson, paying a reported €12 million for his services. He scored a last minute winner on his debut, and would go on to score another 13 goals in 72 appearances. He picked up another five medals in his time at Barça, including the Champions League, La Liga and UEFA Super Cup.

After leaving Barcelona in 2009, Gudjohnsen became what some would call "a bit of a journeyman", turning out for Monaco, Tottenham, Stoke, Fulham, AEK Athens, Cercle Brugge and Club Brugge, in only five years. He now finds him self with out a club and pitching up in windy Bolton to maintain his fitness.

The question I poise to you is: should we sign him?

I'm going to answer it for you with an astounding and ecstatic YES!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking anything massive in length and I'm more than aware that his best years are far behind him, but I just think it'd be so sad if we didn't at least try and see if we can arrange something.

Firstly, the untold amount of experience and expertise he could offer to all our forward players, let alone the youngsters amongst the squad: Clayton, Hall, Clough, Wilkinson and so on, would be absolutely priceless. Just being in the presence of a forward who has won so much in his career must be extremely helpful and insightful to those in the squad who have aspirations of winning things them selves.

And on the subject of winning things, I'd say the vast majority of our squad have never had the pleasure. Bringing in Gudjohnsen may also help usher in that winning mentality within the squad, and raise the standards even higher.

Even though he is in the twilight of his career, in this division, where the standard of defending is often so very poor, I have no doubt he'd still be able to grab a goal or two as well. If memory serves, he was always a player who relied more on his footballing nous, rather than the power in his legs, so I have no doubt he's a player who could be of some use in this league, despite his age.

Just imagine: we're 1-0 down with ten minutes to go, who would you rather see prepped and ready to come on to the pitch, who would fill you with confidence more and make you think "we're not out of this quite just yet"?: the weak and wasteful Jermaine Beckford? Or the experienced and classy Eidur Gudjohnsen?

No contest, really, is it?

As I said, I'm not calling for anything majorly long term, perhaps just a deal until the end of the season, so he can end his prestigious career with us; and I know Lennon hardly strikes as the type of man who considers sentiment much when it comes to football, but I truly believe that seeing a player of Gudjohnsen's stature at the club again would be just so reminiscent of the Big Sam era that it would do nothing but raise the moral with in the club to even loftier heights.

To me, it's a no brainer, but maybe I'm just hopelessly sentimental. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.