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Helguson Profile

 Heidar Helguson, Bolton Wanderers

Heidar Helguson

Born: 22nd August 1977, Akureyri, Iceland

International Honours: Full level

Position: Striker

Squad Number: 18

Former Clubs: Lillestrom (Norway), Watford, Fulham

Wanderers manager Sammy Lee added to his striker options in July 2007 when paying Premiership rivals Fulham a fee of up to £2.2 million for their Icelandic international centre forward Heidar Helguson.

Heidar is an old fashioned target man with great aeriel ability and a strong work rate which often compensates for goals. He is an expert penalty taker and remains cool under pressure.

First coming into English football from Norwegian club Lillestrom in January 2000, he became Watford's record signing at £1.3 million and soon endeared himself to the fans at Vicarage Road with six goals in the final half of the 1999-2000 season.

The Hornets where relegated at the end of his first season at the club and the following two campaigns where spent in and out of the team as Graham Taylor was replaced by Gianluca Vialli in the Watford managerial seat and didnt seen to use Helguson to his potential.

Ray Lewington's arrival as manager at the Hertfordshire club in 2002 spelled an upturn in fortune for Helguson as he was back on the goalscoring trail hitting 16 goals in Division One for the 2002-2003 season.

2003-2004 saw him suffer with various injury problems in a stop/start campaign but he more than made up for it twelve months later when receiving the Hornets Player of the Year award and hitting over twenty goals in the second tier of English football.

Two summers ago Fulham paid a fee in excess of £1 million to bring the Scandinavian back to the top flight and after an indifferent start he soon became a hit in West London.

Forming a useful partnership with fellow front man Brian McBride, Helguson hit eight goals in his first season at Craven Cottage including a double against West Brom and one against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium in a game where he also scored an own goal.

On Boxing Day 2005 he took part in a thrilling West London derby against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and managed to get on the scoresheet with a cheeky penalty which was calmly put past Blues keeper Petr Cech.

Last season Helguson had a bad time in front of goal with just four strikes for the season and he often endured the wrath of referees on more than one occasion having picked up ten yellow cards and a red in the game against Tottenham Hotspur.

Bolton will be hoping that the Icelander can follow in the footsteps of his countrymen Gudni Bergsson, Arnar Gunnlaugsson and Eidur Gudjohnsen, all of whom excelled during their time at the Reebok Stadium.

2007-2008 saw him get off to a good start by netting against former club Fulham in August 2007 but an ankle injury kept him out of action for the majority of the campaign.

He netted the winner in a crucial relegation battle against Reading in February but appearances from then on in proved few and far between prompting manager Gary Megson to send him for extensive summer surgery in Belgium.

BOLTON RECORD: 6 APPEARANCES, 2 GOALS

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