Wither Distin?

With the news that Sylvain Distin will be packing up his gear and putting Manchester City blue in his rear-view mirror, it gets you thinking about where he SHOULD land if he indeed stays in the Premier League. Here's a quick breakdown...

1) Pompey - knows the 'keeper pretty well from their time together at Citeh and after a year of rotating central defenders due to injury (mostly caused by the brittleness of old age) - Distin would be welcome relief. He isn't a spring chicken but he hasn't been a consistent injury casualty like Primus, Campbell, et al.

2) Newcastle - let's see...he's a veteran player, he's foreign, he's a defender, he plays a physical game - anything here NOT scream Big Sam? Actually, he'd be a great signing while NUFC look for some younger options.

3) Aston Villa - continuing yesterday's trend of mentioning Villa everytime a reasonably-good-but-not-great player is being discussed - he'd really solidify the Villains defence in the way that Martin Laursen was supposed to before suffering injury after injury after injury...(there are probably bigger priorities though).

4) Reading - exactly the sort of signing they need to solidify their place in the Premier League. The defence was OK but Distin would represent an upgrade.

5) Everton - more likely to go young than add a veteran but Lescott/Yobo/Distin would be a great 3-man rotation (assuming they can find full backs who will allow Lescott to move back to the middle where he belongs).

6) Arsenal - a stop-gap measure for sure but Senderos doesn't seem to be the answer and Gallas and Toure are pretty much the same player (the smaller, more technical half of a potentially excellent central tandem). Distin would also be a great mentor for Johan Djourou who still seems like he has the potential to be the long-term answer opposite a Toure/Gallas-type partner.

In other random news, I saw a rumor that Everton are chasing Phil Bardsley. If this is more than just hype and he is really available then there should be a lot of interest in him between Everton, Villa, Newcastle, Blackburn, and Bolton all of whom really need a solid right back who can get forward a little bit as well.