By Soccernet staff
William Gallas is available on a free transfer
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp
has confirmed that William Gallas is on the brink of
joining the club, describing the signing of the former Arsenal
captain as a "no-brainer".
Gallas left Arsenal on a free transfer in June having failed to
agree a contract extension with the club he joined from Chelsea in
2006. The French defender made 145 appearances for the Gunners,
scoring 17 goals.
Following France's disastrous World Cup campaign, Gallas was
targeted by Panathinaikos but could not agree personal terms with
the Greek side.
Despite reservations over the reaction of Tottenham fans to a
former Arsenal captain arriving at the club, Redknapp is determined
to strengthen his defensive options with Jonathan Woodgate a long-term injury
victim and Ledley King often
unable to play two games in a week.
Gallas will undergo a medical on Friday afternoon before making
Tottenham the third club he has represented in London.
In recent seasons, David Bentley,
Rohan Ricketts and Jamie O'Hara
have all crossed the North London divide, while Sol Campbell
famously made the reverse journey in 2001.
Redknapp on Gallas: He gets annoyed with
people who are not as professional as he is, which is not a
bad thing.
"He's a no-brainer on a free transfer," Redknapp said.
"He's never asked for big money here. The chairman's agreed a
one-year contract with him and the wages are more than
reasonable.
"He's done nothing wrong. What's he done wrong? He's not the
first player to go from Arsenal to Tottenham or Tottenham to
Arsenal. It happens all the time. He won championships and all
sorts at Chelsea.
"He's a great lad as well, smashing fellow. I've been absolutely
really impressed with him. He'll improve Tottenham and that's all
I'm concerned about. He wants to come here and play and I think
that shows the character. He could say, 'I played at Arsenal; I
daren't go there'. He's got the bottle to want to come and play
here.
"I don't think his attitude's ever been questioned. The only
problem he has, he gets annoyed with people at times - they tell me
- who are not as professional as he is, which is not a bad thing.
That can't do any harm.
"He wants everybody to be as professional and want to win as
much as he does. If he can bring that to this team as well, that'll
be a good bonus for us. Whenever we've played against him over the
years, I've always thought he was a world-class defender.''
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger did not expect Gallas to move to
White Hart Lane, but has dismissed suggestions that the defender
was a disruptive influence at Emirates Stadium, despite being
stripped of the captaincy for criticising team-mates in public.
