Woodgate: on his way to the bright lights of
London?
Tottenham have agreed a £7m deal with Middlesbrough for
Jonathan Woodgate - and they are also hoping to tie up the signings
of Tiago, Alan Hutton and Gilberto da Silva Mela before the
transfer window closes.
Woodgate, who is known to have impressed Juande Ramos during the
rare times he played for Real Madrid, will now head to London to
discuss personal terms. However, the chances of Boro winger Stewart
Downing joining Woodgate at White Hart Lane are now said to be
"close to zero" by sources close to the deal.
Instead Spurs will redouble their efforts to sign Juventus
midfielder Tiago for £9m - a deal they expect to go through when
Mohamed Sissoko completes his move from Liverpool to Juve later
today. The one sticking point remains Tiago's wages, with the
midfielder wanting £50,000-a-week and Spurs offering £10,000-a-week
less.
Elsewhere, Spurs believe they are close to agreeing a pre-contract
deal with Hutton that would see the Rangers defender move to London
during the summer, and they are also hopeful that the Hertha Berlin
left-sided wingback Gilberto will be moving to London in a £2.5m
deal after he fell out with his club over his demands for a new
contract.
"[The move] is all in the hands of Dieter Hoeness [Berlin's general
manager]," Gilberto told Bild. "If he says I may go, I am away."
Hoeness, meanwhile, sounded just as trenchant: "Our entire
recruitment budget for the winter break would be taken up meeting
Gilberto's demands," he said.
Spurs are becoming a very good side... They will have a few new
players joining them very soon... Hopefully they won't be in time
for this match... But we can be sure they will have another one or
two new players for the second meeting next week... 
