Gossip: New Spurs deals, Zivkovic for Arsenal

Sarah Winterburn

NEW DEALS AT TOTTENHAM
‘TOTTENHAM plan to splash out £25million to keep Harry Kane and Dele Alli at White Hart Lane,’ writes Paul Jiggins in The Sun, who claim it as an exclusive. We’re pretty sure we have read this elsewhere, but carry on…

‘Striker Kane, currently on £45,000 a week, is likely to be offered a deal worth £70,000 a week. Alli would double his pay from £12,500 to £25,000 a week.’

Jiggins quotes Mauricio Pochettino on the subject of Alli in which he says: “If you are successful the club gives you what you deserve. This club always pays its players a good salary.”

The quote he missed out: “Step by step.”

To be fair, Jiggins writes: ‘Neither star has asked for a new deal and the club have not made any offers or opened talks.’

So his ‘exclusive’ is that a club ‘plans’ to offer their (relatively) underpaid players more money. But they haven’t told them yet.

 

ARSENAL LINKED WITH ZIVKOVIC
He’s the ‘Serbian Messi’ (of course) and his name is Andrija Zivkovic. He is a 19-year-old left-footed attacking player and Arsenal are mentioned along with Tottenham and Villarreal as possible suitors, though the story in AS largely concerns Atletico Madrid.

This is from AS, after being put through Google Translate: ‘Atletico have made contact with representatives of Andrija Zivkovic, Serbian Messi. This is a young 19 year end playing at Partizan Belgrade and is one of the most promising players of Serbian football.

‘With his team, he won the FIFA U-20 under the command of Veljko Paunovic, former Atletico. Zivkovic has a contract until June next year and the entity of the Manzanares want to anticipate other European clubs who are interested in this player, including Tottenham, Arsenal and Villarreal. Valencia last summer was very interested in hiring, but finally one more season he stayed in Belgrade club.’

The same newspaper also claims that Arsenal are ready to trigger the £12.6million release clause of Celta Vigo attacker Nolito.

 

CHELSEA WANT DIAWARA
The Diawara in question is Bologna midfielder Amadou Diawara, who has established himself in the centre of the Serie A side’s midfield at the age of 18. There have been reports that he has already agreed to join Chelsea in January, but his agent insists that his options are still open.

“There is a strong interest of Chelsea,” his agent Robert Visan told Tutto Mercato Web. “I work with Pini Zahavi, who everyone knows, but that does not mean that will he will go to Chelsea.

“Also the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham and Juventus follow him [but] with them I never speak of offers, only football. But now, I repeat, he is indebted to Bologna.”

 

AND THE REST
Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce, who is set to be given a £15m transfer budget in January by chairman Ellis Short, is ready to sell striker Jermain Defoe and midfielder Seb Larsson to raise further funds for a squad overhaul…Switzerland midfielder Gokhan Inler may leave Leicester City in the January transfer window in an effort to secure first-team football.