Harry Redknapp’s summer spending money was said to be rather limited, and in Spur’s case, in order to buy…they must first sell. Harry proved to be not so keen on selling any of his current squad. He has, however, loaned out a number of young players and cleared up some of the big transfer rumours concerning the club at the moment.
Here is a sum-up of their busy summer on the transfer market as it stands now.
In
Kyle Naughton – Kyle arrived at the Lane this week from Sheffield United. The 20 year old full-back has trained with the first team and featured with the Spurs XI against Aldershot, as well as Barcelona.
Kyle Walker – Kyle was the second signing of the week, also coming from Sheffield United. The 19 year old is currently on duty with the U-21 England national squad and should arrive shortly at the club.
Anton Blackwood – Anton was signed on early in the summer from the Arsenal youth squad. He featured in 12 games last season for Gunners as they won the Premier Academy League and the FA Youth Cup.
New Contracts
Jake Livermore – Jake penned a new contract in June promising his future until 2011 to Tottenham Hotspur. He graduated through the Spurs academy and went on loan with Crewe Alexandra and MK Dons in 2008. He has so far featured in all of Spurs’ pre-season friendlies and scored his first senior goal. It looks that he will not be one to loan out again this season.
Danny Rose – The former Leeds United player is another of those to sign a new contract at the club until 2013. He spent last season on loan at Watford; he may, too, be in Redknapp’s plans for the forthcoming season.
Sam Cox – Another of Spurs’ young players, Sam started 22 of their U-18’s 24 games last season and featured as a substitute in two of the reserve matches. This summer he has signed his first professional contract with the club.
Lee Butcher – After spending last season on loan at Grays Athletic and St. Albans, the youth goal keeper has also put pen to paper and signed a new 1 year contact at White Hart Lane.
Out
Ricardo Rocha – Early in the summer, Spurs released Rocha from his contract. He was the first player of the summer to leave White Hart Lane.
Didier Zokora – In July of 2006, the defensive midfielder was signed from St. Etienne and has since made 134 appearances in a Spurs shirt. After being in limbo with Spanish Liga 1 side Sevilla, the two clubs reached an agreement for the transfer of the Ivorian international.
Chris Gunter – Gunter has been loaned to Nottingham Forest for the start of the new season. Since signing for Tottenham from Cardiff City in 2008, he has made 16 appearances in all.
Adel Taarabt – A spurs player since 2007, Adel spent 3 months of last season on loan with Queens Park Rangers. The two clubs have reached an agreement for him to spend, this time, the entire season at QPR.
Ben Alnwick – The former Sunderland keeper has found himself again loaned out, this time to Norwich. Last season he managed to make his first team debut and played twice in the place of the injured Huerelho Gomes. Ben has previously spent time on loan with Luton Town, Leicester City, and Carlisle United.
David Button – Crewe Alexandra have made a deal for Spurs’ 3rd keeper to arrive on loan this season. Button has had plenty of experience on loan, previously spending time at Bournemouth, Grays Athletic, Luton Town and Dagenham, and last season, Redbridge.
Troy Archibald-Henville – The young central defender has been loaned out to Exeter City during this summer’s transfer window. The two clubs reached an agreement for him to spend the first six months with them and return to the Lane next transfer window.
Gilberto – In this case, his contract was cancelled by ‘mutual consent’ this past week. He joined Spurs from Hertha Berlin in January of 2008, making 10 appearances and 1 goal for the club.
Ryan Mason – Ryan has joined Yeovil on a 1 month loan. He signed in January 2008, his first professional contract, and made his debut against Dutch side NEC Nijmegen in the UEFA Cup last season. He has also scored 28 goals in his 28 appearances for the Tottenham U-18 squad.
Steven Caulker – Steven has also joined Yeovil on a 1 month loan alongside Ryan Mason. The second year academy defender signed his first professional contract earlier this month. He has made 31 appearances for the U-18 spurs and 5 appearances for the reserves squad.
Rumours
Roman Pavlyuchenko – After the way last season went, Russia national coach Guus Hiddink advised Roman to consider every offer that came his way this summer. Pav was receiving interest from Germany, but he will happily stay in North London for another season.
Jermain Jenas – There was report that Aston Villa would make a move to sign the Tottenham midfielder, but that has been proven to be wrong by Harry Redknapp. When asked about the situation Redknapp replied, “I don’t want to sell Jermain Jenas, he is a terrific player. We don’t want to sell our best players.” And he went on to say that the two clubs have yet to hold talks over the mater this summer and were unlikely to do so.
Gareth Bale – Bale has been recovering from knee surgery this summer and has yet to take part in training sessions at the club. Former Spurs coach, Martin Jol, was manager at the time when Bale signed on with the club. Now, the manager of Ajax, Jol has admitted his interest in the Welsh defender. He may be considering making a move to sign him once again. Also reported is that Bale may be in the sights of AC Milan.
Darren Bent – Sunderland’s new manager, Steve Bruce, has confirmed his interest in the Tottenham forward. According to an interview with Sky Sports, Bruce stated that the two clubs were in talks over a fee. Bent could likely be on his way out of White Hart Lane this summer.
Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar – The Dutchman could still be in Tottenham’s reach, but his wage demands seem to be rather steep. After the Real player shrugged off an offer from Stuttgart, Harry is afraid that the same would happen if they were to try for his signature. He said, “I can’t see it happening.”
Peter Crouch – Always having been a favorite of Harry Redknapp, Crouch may very well be a Tottenham forward this season. It’s reported that Pompey have accepted a bid from Spurs, believed to be around £10 million. Harry reported prior to their last match in the Wembley Cup that, “We are not that close. There won’t be any medicals today and I don’t think a deal has been struck yet. I think Daniel (Levy) is still talking to Peter, so hopefully they can get something done.” So, at the moment the deal is a ways off from being complete.
Patrick Vieira – Harry Redknapp seems confident on the fact that Inter Milan player, Patrick Vieira, would like to make a move to the Lane this summer. Harry said, “I think Patrick would improve us. He would give us a real presence in the team. He wants to come because he wants to play football. He would bring an awful lot to our football club.”
David Beckham – It is clear that Beckham would prefer to play his football in Europe again. Earlier in the summer, media reports were speculating that he could end up at a number of clubs in England, Tottenham being one of them. Harry has recently made it clear that the rumours are very untrue. He said, “I don’t know where that has come from. David Beckham is a fantastic player, an amazing professional, but there is no truth in that.” He also stated that they have not made any contact with LA Galaxy player at all and don’t plan to.
Brede Hangeland – Hangeland is not expected in a Tottenham shirt this season, but he was on the managers list as a maybe. Redknapp commented in the news, “Fulham won’t sell Hangeland. No chance.”
Richard Dunne – Dunne stands in the same position. However, Spurs would have liked to sign him as well if they could. As of now, it looks as though there will be no chance in that.
Sylvian Distan – It was reported that Spurs were maybe showing interest in him, but due to Distan signing a new contract at Fratton Park, he is no longer an option.
Darijo Srna – After winning the UEFA Cup with his Ukrainian club, Shakhtar Donetsk, Srna attracted attention from big name clubs across Europe. He is unlikely to transfer this summer as Donetsk are offering him anything to stay. However, a tip from Vedran Ćorluka was that Spurs could try and make a move for the Croatian defender before the summer’s end.
Mario Mandžukić – The Dinamo Zagreb forward reportedly caught the eye of clubs in Germany and England. Mario stated that he would rather play in Germany but they were not ruling any England moves out. There have not been any reports since of Mario transferring, but as the window is still open, anything is possible. And the Croatian stressed his desire to transfer this summer from Dinamo.
Gareth Barry – Before becoming a Manchester City player, Barry very well could have been in Tottenham colours this season. After Aston Villa and City reached their agreement, Redknapp revealed that Spurs were planning to make a bid for him, but were too late.
Roque Santa-Cruz – The same situation stands for Santa-Cruz. Spurs revealed their interest in him, but were undoubtedly too late to make an offer for him.
Stewart Downing – Having impressed Redknapp throughout the season, it was thought that Downing would have transferred in the January transfer window; however, that obviously was not the case. Downing was still on Harry’s summer shopping list, but he, too, was sold before Spurs could make an offer.
As the window is not yet closed, there will be more transfer news to come.
Jill Guthrie
