Tottenham Rumours in January 2013 Transfer Window (1)

Spurs don’t want to sell Gareth Bale. [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]It’s only Day 1 of the January transfer window and the rumour mill is already in full swing with numerous stories concerning possible Tottenham signings during the next month. The rumours didn’t actually wait for 1st January, they started in the press, on message-boards and on Twitter through December with the first that I noticed being suggestions that Wesley Sneijder was set to join the club. The article was based on comments over Christmas by a respected Italian journalist, Tancredi Palmeri, with the player thought to have agreed terms with Spurs although Tottenham and Inter Milan have not agreed a fee. Sneijder has not played for Inter for three months due to a dispute over talking a pay-cut.

Following on from that, it was suggested that he was to join Liverpool, then it was Manchester United who were in pursuit of the Dutchman and today’s newspaper, according to the Mirror, suggests that Tottenham and Liverpool are in a two way battle to sign him.

Through December, Real Madrid put out feelers in the media of their interest in Gareth Bale. It would appear that they expect to sign him next summer but were reported to have been testing the waters with a bid of £33 million. Following Bale’s hat-trick against Aston Villa on Boxing Day, Andre Villas-Boas had stated that Bale who signed a new contract last summer would not be leaving.He told the Sun,

"“I have no concerns at all about the possibility of Bale going in January. It’s very difficult because in England there are no release clauses and a player of this dimension has a market value that is not obtainable to most of the clubs.”"

It was reported that Tottenham had placed a value on Bale of £66 million in an attempt to warn off suitors. I don’t like to see Spurs put a price on Bale or any player, it suggests, to me, that the club is open to negotiation and may encourage interested clubs rather than deter them.

The weekend speculation had Tottenham as one of a number of clubs looking to sign Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace. Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs are watching the situation with the weekend papers suggesting that the two London clubs were prepared to offer £7 million as an opening bid. Zaha is a winger/striker who has made over 100 League appearances for Palace since his debut in March, 2010. He made his England debut as a late substitute in the last international against Sweden. He is an outstanding talent and it is expected that he will be leaving Palace soon.

• Yesterday Twitter came to life suggesting that Spurs were close to signing Joao Moutinho from Porto.

"@Adam79Suter: Fee agreed, now sorting out payment terms with FC Porto #earlybusiness #no8 #moutinho"

Following the failure of the summer long chase for the midfield player at the end of august, it had been thought that Tottenham were unlikely to renew interest. Moutinho who was part of Andre Villas-Boas successful Porto team, was a top target for the Spurs manager when he took over so Spurs may have decided to try again. There were quotes, reportedly from the Portuguese press, supposedly coming from Moutinho,

"“I would like this move to happen, Tottenham are a great club with great ambitions and a world class manager. If I were to tell you the deal was done I’d be lying, but it is very close now. I expect to be at Tottenham soon.”"

• Sunderland had expressed an interest in signing Danny Rose from Tottenham. Rose has impressed at left back while on loan at the Stadium of Light but after Saturday’s win over Sunderland, Villas-Boas stated that the player was not for sale.

Over the weekend it was suggested that today’s opponents might be interested in signing Tom Huddlestone with Fulham interested also.

• Then, finally, it was suggested on a Spurs messageboard that another long standing Tottenham target may still be on the radar. It was suggested that Leandro Damiao could be coming to Tottenham with goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes moving to Inter as part of the deal. Spurs were reported to be involved in talks at the time of the Olympics for Leandro but they came to nothing so I could see the deal for Gomes going through but Tottenham have found Internacional very difficult to deal with. Even when they signed Sandro in 2010, negotiations were very protracted.

A Deal Completed

As reported on HotspurHQ during December, Carlo Cudicini has reached agreement on a deal to sign for LA Galaxy.

My request from Tottenham would be three-fold.

1. A striker
2. A creative midfield player to replace Luka Modric who has been voted the worst signing of the season in La Liga by readers of the Marca newspaper in Spain. Modric received almost 33% of the votes.
3. Transfers be completed early and not the annual 31st January frenzy.

Here’s hoping but I’ll not hold my breath!

[Disclaimer: This article is not a definitive record of the transfer speculation on Tottenham nor can I vouch for the accuracy of the information as I have no ITK connections]