Who Do You Think Would Be A Realistic Signing For Tottenham?
By Logan Holmes
Many names will appear through the summer as potential signings for Tottenham. Who would you see as a realistic signing for Spurs who would strengthen the team for Andre Villas-Boas for next season.
Which new player will be greeted by this sign at White Hart Lane [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Tottenham will have three priorities in their transfer market strategy this summer.
- Keep Gareth Bale
Their first and main priority will be to ensure that their star player, Gareth Bale, remains at White Hart Lane for another season, at least. The absence of Champions League football is being used as a device to loosen Spurs’ hold on the player who signed a new contract last summer which runs to 2015. Spurs, however, will present a new contract to Bale with a greatly increased salary in their attempt to ward off any number of suitors for him. The club have expressed confidence that Bale will remain at White Hart Lane for the present but the new contract will certainly include a get-out clause should any of the top clubs make an acceptable offer in twelve months time.
- Strengthen the Team
The second objective will be to strengthen Andre Villas-Boas’ squad so that he has every opportunity to field a team which will make the breakthrough to Champions League qualification and possibly bringing silverware to the club. Arsenal Wenger has found at Arsenal that the club’s continual presence in the Champions League is not sufficient for fans and that they want to see the club winning trophies again. So as Spurs plan for next season they will want to be approaching it with a view to achieving both targets.
- Off-Load Squad Players
Will Tom Huddlestone Leave Tottenham this summer? [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]The third element of Spurs’ summer transfer activity will be to off-load a number of players who are surplus to requirement and have not made any contribution to Tottenham in the past couple of years. David Bentley, Heurelho Gomes and William Gallas plus a number of others are likely to be on their way out of White Hart Lane, and according to some media reports it could include some players who have been regular members of the team this season. A report in the Daily Mirror has suggested that Emmanuel Adebayor, Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey and Scott Parker could be among the players leaving during the summer. Those players will be sacrificed to create room for new signings both in personnel and financially.
The media is already full of rumours of the names of players who Tottenham are interested in – some having a familiar ring to them.
A Realistic New Signing
If you could select one realistic new signing for Tottenham who would you want it to be?
My choice you will probably point out is not realistic but it would be Wayne Rooney. As I suggested last March, he would bring a competitive edge to the team which he has acquired during his time at Old Trafford. He knows the Premier League so there isn’t the uncertainty of how a foreign signing would cope with the demands of playing in England. He is probably more suited to playing in England and he and his family are very close so playing in London wouldn’t be as big a wrench as moving abroad.
Rooney’s future with Manchester United has been uncertain for some months and the situation doesn’t appear to have altered with the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and the appointment of David Moyes. He wants to play regularly and the chance to play alongside Gareth Bale should be an attractive proposition for him with the two of them being capable of linking their contrasting strengths into a very exciting partnership.
If signing for Tottenham could be sold to him as an opportunity and to help Spurs develop into a team capable of breaking into the top-4 and winning trophies, surely he could see it as a challenge worth accepting. Such a signing would prove costly to Spurs but would be something worth pursuing for the benefit of the team and show that Tottenham are making a statement of their intent for the coming season.
Who would be your choice of a new signing for Tottenham?