On Tuesday, Tottenham Hotspur agreed a permanent deal for Emmanuel Adebayor for a fee believed to be around £5 million. After finally ended the lengthy pursuit of the former Manchester City striker who was on-loan at White Hart Lane last season, the club now look to push on and secure yet more deals before the end of the transfer window.
Tottenham had been eager to sign Adebayor after he impressed during his loan-spell last term. After being brought in by former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, the Togolese striker scored 18 goals in all competitions.
The deal to get the former Arsenal man who also enjoyed a brief loan-spell at Real Madrid, had dragged on for several months after issues with the player’s wages. With two years left on his Manchester City contract, Adebayor was not willing to take a pay-cut and Spurs would not break their strict wage structure so instead City accepted that in order for the deal to be completed, they will have to pay the difference between his £175,000 wages at the Etihad and his new wage of around £80,000 at the Lane.
Now the club, who were unfortunate to miss out on a place in this season’s Champions League after sixth place Chelsea’s success in Munich in May, have turned their attentions to attacking midfielder Willian, currently of Shakhtar Donetsk. The Brazilian would be the perfect replacement for Luka Modric who is expected to become a Real Madrid player any time soon.
Willian was left disappointed earlier this summer after Donetsk rejected an offer from Chelsea, with the Blues describing the demands of the Ukrainian club as too high. Now it seems the club are happy with Tottenham and are said to be discussing a deal for £20 million.
The 24-year-old has spoken of his desire to help Spurs get back into the Champions League – a competition he has experience of playing in. Willian has one three league titles during his time in the Ukraine and four domestic cups as well as the UEFA Cup in 2009. He can play as a second striker or as a winger and scored 31 goals in all competitions in five years for Donetsk.
Andre Villas-Boas is also back in the market for another Brazilian – Olympic Silver medalist, Leandro Damiao. After being originally put off by Internacional’s asking price earlier this month, AVB is hoping he can use the club’s transfer of midfielder Sandro from the same club two years ago to smooth over a deal and bring the striker to North London.
These deals however, could pave the way for Jermain Defoe to leave the club as Sunderland look to pounce but Spurs fans will be hoping this is not the case. Defoe, who netted against Newcastle in their 2-1 defeat at St. James’ Park and last week against Italy, is a proven goal-scorer and you can never have enough options up top – just ask Manchester United.
There has also been some notable transfer activity going on in the opposite direction – out of White Hart Lane. Spurs have sold Sebastien Bassong to Norwich City for £4 million and have agreed a fee of £9 million for Michael Dawson to join Queens Park Rangers. Tom Huddlestone has also been loaned to Stoke.
What do Tottenham fans think of the ins and outs at their club this transfer window and who would they like to see come in or go the other way?
image: © wonker
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
