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Tottenham – Guessing the transfer window
“If we’re going to make a signing, let’s make one big signing. That would send out a message. But it’s difficult finding that player who would make a difference.”
Guessing the mysterious ways in which Harry Redknapp is likely to move during his favourite time of the year is probably a thankless task – but let’s do it anyway. Presumably Redknapp won’t be able to resist doing a couple of mid-to-low-level deals, but lets stick to speculating on who the marquee signing could be.
Fernando Llorente
Big, skillful forward with an abundance of footballing and finishing ability.
Pros: Redknapp and Daniel Levy were reported to have been sniffing around Llorente in the Summer, and anybody who’s watched the 6ft5 26-year-old will know why. Yes, his goal record is slightly underwhelming, but he possesses the physique and the nous to hold the ball-up and link the play. Both commodities that fit very snugly into Redknapp’s attacking philosophy.
Cons: Gouging Llorente out of the Basque Country would take an absolute boat-load of cash – which would amount to quite a risk before ensuring a Champions League revenue next season. Also, given the way Spurs have approached the last couple of transfer windows, there’s nothing to suggest that they do actually possess that kind of disposable income.
Kaka
Off-colour Brazilian star, currently being marginalised at Real Madrid.
Pros: An old Redknapp quality – the ability to get the most out of individual players. Is there a player in the world whose stock has fallen further than Kaka’s? Wishful thinking it may be, but Tottenham could actually be the antidote to whatever ailment is so obviously stalling the Brazilian’s career.
He is also available, reportedly, for a cut-priced £22m.
Cons: It’s ‘Kaka’ and it’s ‘Spurs’. His wages alone would probably make Daniel Levy choke a little bit on his bagel, and the club would probably be unwilling to break the wage structure for anybody other than Luka Modric. There’s also the caveat that the Brazilian may very well be in terminal decline rather than simply ‘out-of-form’ – and nobody needs a £22m deadweight loss.
Leandro Damiao
Internacional starlet long-admired by Europe’s elite
Pros: Very few actually, because his exposure to a more European-style of play is very limited – and he still doesn’t have the international experience to be compared to anybody outside of the Copa Libertadores and the Brazilian league. At a stretch though, he is a close friend of Sandro Raniere…
Cons: He’s not going anywhere, and is recently on-record declaring his loyalty to Internacional. He’ll end up in Europe soon, but it won’t be in January.
Guiseppe Rossi
Pint-sized Italian-American
Pros: Well, the obvious – he scores goals. Villarreal are also currently rubbish, which may make him favour a move to greener pastures.
Cons: Much like Llorente, he would cost a fortune. Plus of course, he doesn’t really have a natural place in the Spurs team – he’s not big enough to fill the role played by Emmanuel Adebayor, and Harry Redknapp has already ruled-out selling Jermain Defoe. On that basis, it’s hard to see Spurs mounting a serious bid.
Gary Cahill
Over-hyped and over-priced ‘next-generation John Terry’
Pros: Cheaper than he would have been because of his contractual situation, but isn’t that the same logic that sees people buy things in the sales that they don’t need? One plus though, he’s young and rarely-injured. Novelty.
Cons: A whole raft of them; Chelsea seem to have this deal all but signed, he’s not better than what Tottenham already have, and the obvious one – he’s not actually anywhere near as good as everybody think he is.
Andriy Yarmolenko
The next great Ukranian export
Pros: Talented, really, really, talented. The Ukranian press have already anointed him as Andriy Shevchenko’s successor, but they’re slightly different players. 22, pacey, skillful, comfortable all across the front line and a goal-threat from anywhere within thirty-yards. And…with the exception of Cahill, probably the cheapest player on this list.
Cons: There’s nothing to indicate that Kiev would be willing to sell their prize-asset just yet. While a move to a more high-profile club is probably inevitable, it won’t happen without an enormous cat-fight between Europe’s elite.
Tottenham to beat Norwich? 8/11 with Paddy Power – claim your welcome bonus here.
Speculative rumours linking Kaka to Tottenham
You have to admire the Daily Express sometimes, they just don’t care what you think of them – not even slightly bothered.
Rumour of the day? Apparently Tottenham are going to pursue Real Madrid’s Kaka in the January transfer window – the basis for the story being that Harry Redknapp wants ‘another creative player to add to his stable of ball players’.
What, because Spurs don’t have enough of those kind of players – Rafael Van der Vaart, Steven Pienaar, Niko Kranjcar, Luka Modric? Really, can anyone see Tottenham forking out the extravagant outlay that would be needed to cover the Brazilian’s wages?
Obviously, like every transfer story involving the North London club, it has to involve Gareth Bale in some way – and The Express do a fine job of crow-baring the Welshman into the article:
‘Real want to recoup about £30million for the former AC Milan player but their long-standing interest in Tottenham’s Gareth Bale could lead them to do a deal if there is some encouragement that the Welshman may be available.’
Yes, it ‘could lead them to do a deal’ but on the other hand it almost definitely will have no relevance to a proposed and entirely fictitious loan agreement.
Good work though.
Torres going nowhere.
The press may speculate, Roberto Mancini may drop hints, but Fernando Torres will not be joining Manchester City this summer. City’s new transfer policy seems to be to pursue anybody that actually wants to come to the club, irrespective of their worth and usefulness within the context of their team. Ultimately, a player of the Spaniard’s quality would always command the attention of Europe’s elite should he become available. Does anybody believe that if Liverpool accept a bid for their prize asset from City, that it wouldn’t be followed immediately by a couple of similar offers from Spain – both Real Madrid and Barcelona have a knack of coming up with the cash whenever necessary.
The sad reality for Garry Cook et al is that without any history or status there are always going to be other clubs which are more attractive to players, regardless of the amount of money involved. Kaka, John Terry, and soon-to-be Torres, have demonstrated that the highest profile players in the game remain out of reach – if Manchester neighbours United had been an option for David Silva, that he would probably be wearing red rather than blue this season.
Harry Redknapp may well have declared it ‘only a matter of time’ before City are genuine title contenders, but it’s hard to see that happening when their buying policy consists of paying way over the market price for second-tier players and heartless mercenaries. When Chelsea became wealthy overnight, they already possessed the spine of a team – the money enabled them to supplement it. In City’s case, they have simply transplanted thirty new players – minus Steven Ireland and Micah Richards – onto their team sheet and crossed their fingers. Far from a dynasty, all the experiment is ever really likely to yield is a very expensive caveat.
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