Rumour Mill - Mostafa Abdellaoue in Profile

As one of the more esoteric names linked to Brunton Park this summer I consulted my usual encyclopaedia to find out more - the Twitter hive mind. Luckily Nordic football expert Charlie Anderson who provides insight and whimsy in equal measure at the superb gibfootballshow podcast answered the clarion. Here are Charlie's thoughts...

"Mostafa Abdellaoue shouldn’t be playing for Tromsø.

It’s not that “Mos” isn’t good enough – he palpably is, or TIL wouldn’t be top of the league – but that he should never have been loaned out there in the first place. The decision was bewildering at the time, and the run of play has upgraded it to inexplicable.

The 22-year-old’s parent club, Vålerenga of Oslo, finished second in Norway’s Tippeligaen last season, but they’re enduring a difficult 2011 and are the lowest scorers outside the relegation zone. Just eight goals from nine games tells its own story, as does the fact that only one player – a midfielder, Bojan Zajić – has scored more than one goal for VIF.

It would be simplistic, though, to say that Abdellaoue would have transformed Vålerenga into a good side. The striker has, after all, only scored two league goals in his eight appearances for Tromsø.

But he’s only one half a fearsome strike duo. The other comes in the considerable form of Sigurd Rushfeldt, the 38-year-old who recently became the all-time leading goalscorer in Norwegian league football.

Rushfeldt is an enormous bull of a striker with an Inzaghian sense of timing. He doesn’t move much, but when he does it usually counts. The wiry and pacy Abdellaoue is the perfect foil, stretching the play and distracting defenders. Abdellaoue is the cloak, Rushfeldt the dagger.

Abdellaoue’s older brother Mohammed – or “Moa”, hence little brother’s similar nickname – moved to Hannover last summer enjoyed had a successful début season in the Bundesliga. Mohammed is much more of a pure goalscorer, so it’s unfair to compare the two, but Mostafa has some way to go to reach similar heights. Winning the league alongside one of Norway’s all-time greats, though, wouldn’t be such a shabby way to start."

Both Charlie and fellow Norway expert Brendan Husebo reckon 'Mos' has potential to play in the Championship. He also doesn't sound like he'd bring attributes which CUFC don't possess - Curran, Loy and Madden can all run all day. Will it happen? Doubtful, but it's nice to learn a little more about a promising young player.