David Villa a triple swoop target ?
Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos will continue his
summer spending spree with a triple swoop for David Villa, Andrei
Arshavin and Vedran Corluka, according to reports in the UK
press.
However, if Spurs want to secure all three deals they will have
to stump up another £60million, having already spent £40million on
five players during the transfer window. The Sun claim
that Tottenham are ready to smash the British transfer record with
a sensational £32million swoop for Valencia striker Villa and will
fund the bid with the sale of want-away striker Dimitar Berbatov to
Manchester United for £30million.
Real Madrid are also interested in signing the Spanish
international, who helped La Rojas win Euro 2008, but
Villa's agent Jose Luis Tamargo insists his client is keen to head
to the Premier League.
'David likes London and likes how Spurs play under Ramos. If
they present an offer, Valencia will seriously study the subject,'
Tamargo said. If the deal goes through Spurs chairman Daniel Levy
will make the striker the club's top earner with a huge
£100,000-a-week deal.
Meanwhile, The Independent claim Zenit St Petersburg
playmaker Arshavin is on his way to White Hart Lane after the
Russian club lowered their asking price of £21million. Tottenham
have offered £15.6m for Arshavin but, having banked around £20m for
Robbie Keane could easily increase their offer to an acceptable
level.
Arshavin has told Zenit that he wants to leave and the Russian
club's president Alexander Dyukov is due to meet with the player's
agent, Dennis Lachter, in Madrid to discuss the Russia
international's future.
The 28-year-old forward has rejected an improved contract offer
from Zenit and although the £50,000-a-week deal at Tottenham is not
the most lucrative on offer Arshavin still wants to move to
London.
Spurs boss Ramos is also set to boost his defence with the £6.8
million capture of Croatian international Corluka from Manchester
City, according to The Times. The continuing fitness
concerns about captain Ledley King and the erratic form of Michael
Dawson means a defender is a high priority for Tottenham.
Although Corluka played as a right-back at Eastland's last
season Ramos views the versatile defender as a long term
central-defensive partner for Jonathan Woodgate.
Spurs have been very busy rebuilding the side this summer under
former Seville coach Ramos: England's David Bentley, Croatian star
Luka Modric, PSV keeper Gomes, Barcelona's Giovanni Dos Santos and
Crystal Palace starlet John Bostock have already joined the
club.
