SPURS MOVE IN FOR £24M - AND POSSIBLY BELLAMY AS WELL
£24m for Jermain Defoe? According to The Independent, that's what Tottenham have been told they will have to pay to bring the striker back to White Hart Lane just a year after he joined Portsmouth for £7m.
The good news for Spurs is that the Mail reports that 'However, Defoe spoke to Tony Adams yesterday and expressed his determination to link up once again with mentor Harry Redknapp rather than head for Villa Park,' but it remains to be seen whether they are prepared to match Pompey's valuation.
And there's also Manchester City to consider, with the Abu Dhabi-funded moneybags reportedly lurking in the background and also mulling over a move for Defoe and Spurs' other reputed target, Craig Bellamy. 'The advantage Redknapp has is that both Defoe and Craig Bellamy would prefer a move to Spurs over City, but the London club would be no match for the resources of City's owners,' notes the Indy.
One remaining question is whether Spurs have a preference of Defoe or Bellamy or if Redknapp wants to sign both. The Sun says that West Ham have rejected another £12m bid for Bellamy from Spurs.
VALENCIA TO TAKE PENNANT'S PLACE AT MADRID, PENNANT TO TAKE VALENCIA'S PLACE AT WIGAN
It's an incredible tale and the final chapter is set to see Jermaine Pennant join Wigan after he turned down the chance to join Real Madrid in order to take Luis Antonio Valencia's place in the Latics' team as the winger departs - no doubt unable to believe his luck - for the Spanish capital.
The Times says that Juande Ramos, the new Real coach, will complete 'a £14 million deal to bring Valencia to the Bernabéu shortly after the transfer window opens on Thursday' while Wigan hope that Pennant, who is 'in no rush' to leave Liverpool despite only making three league appearances this season, will be persuaded to join them in a £2.5m deal.
But the story doesn't end there.
'A complication is Liverpool's determination to re-sign Emile Heskey, the Wigan forward, another player about to enter the final six months of his contract. Liverpool are confident that a deal for Heskey can be done, and whether the forward departs in January or in the summer, Steve Bruce, the Wigan manager, is already working on a deal to replace him with Hugo Rodallega, the Colombia striker who plays in Mexico for Necaxa', reports the newspaper.
BEN ARFA TO CHELSEA?
That's the line in the Daily Mirror this morning, with our good friend Alan Nixon claiming that Chelsea are about to spend £10m on the 21-year-old French international, who joined Marseille from Lyon in the summer.
But as Ben Arfa was allegedly the subject of a £25m bid from Real Madrid just a matter of months ago, it seems highly unlikely that the French club will allow him to leave for less than half that price.
AND THE REST
Derby want Paul Ince to be their new manager...Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes is wanted by PSV Eindhoven in a cut-price deal...Everton boss David Moyes wants Giampaolo Pazzini to boost the Toffees' push for Europe...Paddy Kenny is set for a £5million move to either Newcastle or Middlesbrough...West Brom have targeted French striker Peguy Luyindula as the man to fire them to safety...QPR are set to beat Cardiff to the £250,000 capture of Aston Villa winger Wayne Routledge...Cardiff want to re-sign Glenn Loovens from Celtic...
...Fulham will have to fight it out with Marseille, Paris St Germain and Borussia Monchengladbach for Standard Liege's USA defender Oguchi Onyewu...West Brom must break the bank to land Real Mallorca's Argentine striker Oscar Trejo....Bolton boss Gary Megson is ready to offer Calum Davenport an escape route from West Ham with a £1.5million swoop...Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has tabled an £8million bid for Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given in an effort to steal a march on rivals Tottenham...West Ham have told Manchester City they will have to pay £20million to buy Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker.
The Frost Is Pretty Gossip
Now let's hear what you've got to say about this item... or anything else happening in the world of football. Send in your opinions, rants, praise or abuse to: theeditor@football365.com
Your Comments
falcongunner
"please, please, please give me shea given. ther's nothing wrong with almunia, but he won't win u a game. given will"
gremlingunner
"Please let the spuds pay 12m for Bellamy. That would be icing on the cake! I dont think Almunia is our problem. Given is a great keeper but we don't really need him. Gooners makes a good point, Matty Taylor is the sort of player we need. Get Arshavin to do the fancy stuff and get Taylor as our enforcer. We'd be unbeatable again!"
paulopeach
"what Boro need to be doing is not buying Paddy Kenny, but cashing in on Downing, and getting in Stephen Hunt and possibly the likes of Gareth Bale and Sylvan Ebanks Blake IF we're forced to sell Tuncay and O'Neil decides to tittle off. "
micko1
"gooners i must pull ye up there horsey,almunia is far less than average and does cost games,gives absolutely no confidence to anyone in the backline and thats one of the most important jobs a keeper has,given at 8 million would be perfect wenger should've signed him years ago cos lehman was 2nd rate too..and 32 is not old for a keeper,ye'd stretch 6 or 7 seasons out of him there,see the sense man,given is a WORLD CLASS keeper,also i think its ironic ye'd spend elsewhere on a keeper and bring in taylor and nzogbia,hangeland is who arsenal need in centrehalf,big commanding bruisers,wheater maybe.so long as your lot dont come back sniffing around our xabi i dont mind,but ye neeed more steel than flair this time."
alansbass
"£24million for Defoe??? Just goes to show that the "experts" prediction that transfer fee's would become more realistic due to the credit crunch proves to be some way off the mark. Portsmouth are obviously eyeing the £20mil Spuds raped Liverpool for in the exchange for Robbie Keane. Also, another point to set alarm bells ringing down at 3 Point Lane - SKY Sports News quoted Daniel Levy as saying "there are only limited transfer funds available". Where exactly has the £50mil from the Keane and Berbatov sales gone? Pavlichenko didn't cost a third of that so where is the rest? and why is it not available to Redknapp to help attempt to plug the sinking ship? Now that the new manager factor has worn off will we promptly see them slip back into the bottom 3? Are the Spuds board cashing in to fill their own boots? How much are we enjoying this!"
dehya
"Almunia rarely costs us games (CL Final excluded!), he's consitent, but he rarely wins us games either - something Given's done regularly throughout his career. I like Almunia alot - he one of my own, but there are better GK's out there, and Given's one of them... I'd like to see it happen."
gooners1990
"Surely there is a betterway to spend 8 mil. Although Almunia is not world class, he rarely cost us games. Given is good but he is 32. We could probably get someone like Neuer or Adler for that price. Or we could get Nzogbia and Taylor. We need CBs, a quality defensive mid, and wide creative, fast midfield players. The only difference between this year and last is that we do not have the wide players to stretch our opponents defense that create space for our passing game. Inler, Yaya, or Velso would do for that. Think about it last year we always won the possession battle which means that your defense faces less pressure. this year I have seen us loss the possesion battle to the like of Villa, Hull, and Fulham. All teams that we should beat and have dropped points to. Common you Gooners! "
thecremster
"5MILLION FOR PADDY KENNY???? ARE YOU AVIN A LAUGH EH"
dehya
"Is Bellamy overated??? I was under the impression everyone knows he's distinctly average - perfect for Tottenham then ;o)"
mattspur
"12m for Bellamy? Do me a favour! Hes one of the leagues most overated player, hes injury prone and a trouble maker. Dont do it Arry. Go get little Micky Owen. "
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