Just like the vulture’s around Shaun Wright Phillips’s Chelsea career, rumours are circulating that Mourinho will offer the tiny winger plus a big bag of cash for Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon (even though it’s been irrefutably proven by Middlesbrough’s official website that Stuart Downing is the better player).
The Times offer a surprising amount of good detail in their article, including:
– Lennon has 3 ½ years left on his Spurs contract.
– Frank Arnesen (now at Chelsea) originally recommended Lennon (then at Leeds) to Spurs.
– Part of the deal taking Arnesen to Chelsea imposed a 12 month ban on Chelsea signing any Spurs players. That period is now up.
– Lennon WOULD be eligible for Champions League action if he joins Chelsea in January.
At this point it’s easy to argue that Lennon is the superior player, especially after he scored Spurs’ winner against Chelsea on Sunday. He’s younger, he’s quicker (though SWP is no slouch) and seems to go past fullbacks with ease and make more happen when he gets the ball. In SWP’s defence it’s been hard to go past fullbacks from the bench.
But it wasn’t so long ago that the little man was being talked about in the same excited tones as Lennon is now, and a lot of that is down to Premiership form.
So while Chelsea would be getting the in form player, a regular place should see the return SWP’s cutting edge. That plus cash could be a great deal for Tottenham as they try to build a squad worthy of competing for the Premiership.