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It appears that Juande Ramos has acquired another piece of his stonking great jigsaw puzzle [Read the rest of this entry »]

With Euro 2008 acting as a stick in the spokes of the summer rumour mill, all Liverpool fans have to feed off is ‘The Continuing Story of Gareth Barry’. Will he? Won’t he? Oh for heaven’s sake guys, just sort it out and let the papers move on to something more Interesting.
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…So says Slaven Bilic! [Read the rest of this entry »]

Although plenty of clubs have shown an interest in Dimitar Berbatov since he (or should that be his agent) declared that his time at White Hart Lane was up, none have been forthcoming in terms of lodging a bid for the Bulgarian striker. Which has obviously come as welcome news to Tottenham Hotspur, who have made sure that the player is only going to leave in the summer if it’s at the right price.

The fabulous read that is the Sofia Echo report that Spurs have offered Berbagol a brand new contract to continue his good work with Robbie Keane, with the forward getting £10k extra in his weekly pay packet if he signs on the dotted line. Fingers crossed Spurs fans…

The prospect of Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov leaving current club Tottenham Hotspur in one of this summer’s blockbuster transfer moves appears increasingly less likely with every passing day.

Despite serving as fodder for numerous transfer gossip column inches in the closing stages of the Premier League season, talk of Berbatov leaving the White Hart Lane club has quieted down, with none of the interested parties apparently putting in a bid for the striker.

Valued at 30 million pounds at one point by head coach Juande Ramos, Tottenham seem to have successfully scared off potential suitors, among them the freshly-crowned European champions Manchester United and Barcelona.

Tottenham fans will certainly be dancing in the street if this one comes off. There’ll be children swaying and records playing if the Bulgarian decides to be part of the Ramos revolution, while he’s bound to get some decent service from Keane and new signing Luka Modric. Go on Dimitar, you know you want to!

The signing of Luka Modric showed just how Juande Ramos’ stewardship of Spurs had helped the club to beat all and sundry to top quality players! Now it appears that another big name is very close indeed to securing a move to White Hart Lane.

Spurs do appear to be closing in on the signing of Barcelona’s Mexican midfielder Giovani dos Santos for an initial £6m. (The Times)

19-year-old Giovani closed the season with a fantastic hat-trick as if to display his wares to the world prior to a potential move, and it seems odds-on that he will leave the Nou Camp. The diminutive attacker, available for a total fee of around £12m, appears to have the footballing world at his feet, so it’s understandable that Spurs fans are overjoyed that he may well be about to join Ramos’ revolution!

There’s not yet been any indication as to whether Dimitar Berbatov is 100% leaving White Hart Lane, nor where he’s likely to end up. Sure, there’s been the usual links to Manchester United and Barcelona in the press, while the latter have also been linked to selling Samuel Eto’o to none other than Spurs.

The Daily Mail report that Juande Ramos has recently given up the ghost as far as the Cameroonian international is concerned, chiefly because Tottenham refuse to pay an astronomical £107,000 a week to a player who is widely thought to have seen better days. It’s clear that the Spurs manager is going through various squads in La Liga with a fine toothcomb in a bid to acquire some decent stock and another striker is now thought to top his wishlist.

The attempt to sign Eto’o shows Ramos’s ambition for next season, having already bought Croatian Luka Modric for £15.8m but he will probably now turn to Real Zaragoza’s Diego Milito.

Zaragoza are looking to sell the Argentine, who scored 17 goals this season, to ease their debts following their relegation to Spanish football’s second division.

It’s clear that the north London club will be giving Liverpool a run for their money next season as far as a healthy Spanish contingent is concerned. Ramos is extremely knowledgeable about all things Primera Liga, and it would be no surprise to see him pick up some bargains from abroad, as opposed to Tottenham’s previous policy of recruiting young English talent.

It’s goodnight from him as far as Dimitar Berbatov’s Tottenham career is concerned, one of the most talented players ever to wear a Spurs shirt. It’s now crystal clear that the Bulgarian is leaving White Hart Lane in the summer and, although Manchester United have reported interest, it could well be that the player moves to Italy or Spain instead due to an astronomical price tag.

The Times reports that Juande Ramos is starting to adjust to life without his star striker, although surely he doesn’t see Darren Bent as someone who can come in and replace Berbatov like-for-like? Who do you think the Spaniard should sign as a replacement?

“It depends on what the offer is and whether the club will accept that,” Ramos said. “I know big clubs want to sign him. The player will only go to a club if he wants to. We want the player to be happy. He has the key to this and it is up to him.”

Ramos admitted that he has considered several replacements who would be capable of building a partnership with Robbie Keane. “Obviously, we have to cover our backs in case the player decides to leave and we have to have options to replace him,” Ramos said. “There are great players in Europe that can do just as well as Berbatov.”

But how many of them want to sign for Tottenham? Magic Juande has shown he has pulling power by attracting the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, Alan Hutton and Luka Modric to Spurs, although to sign a top-class striker when all you have to offer is UEFA Cup football will prove to be a tricky test for the Tottenham manager. There’s a good chance that a forward will be snared from a Spanish club, where Ramos has an in-depth knowledge after his time at Seville.

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Not content with snapping up the exciting Luka Modric for £16.5million, Tottenham are looking to bolster their midfield further by adding the Premier League journeyman Lassana Diarra to their ranks. The midfielder has already been on the books at Chelsea and Arsenal, before joining Portsmouth during the January transfer window. Many have suggested that if the player had stayed at the Emirates, they may have put up more of a title challenge.

The Guardian report that Spurs have been sniffing around Diarra for some time, while let’s remind you of the player’s loyal words upon joining Portsmouth.

“The people at Portsmouth know that I will not spend my life at the club,” said Diarra after completing his £5.5m move in January. “I was able to add a clause to my contract. If I shine, if a really big club wants me, I already know that everything will go well. I don’t want any more battles.”

The wheeler-dealer that is Harry Redknapp won’t led the midfielder leave without making a decent profit from the sale, that’s for sure. Diarra’s last efforts in a Pompey shirt might be helping them secure the FA Cup before flying the nest to join his fourth Premier League club in the space of a year. If Pot Noodle is the slag of all snacks, what does that make Lassana Diarra?

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It appears that Kevin Keegan is going to be handed a pretty sizeable war chest for new signings, if the Daily Mail are to be believed. The Newcastle manager’s hands were seemingly tied in January, causing the team to tumble down the division until the past few weeks where they have undergone a resurgence of sorts.

Nevertheless, it’s clear that some serious strengthening is required if the Magpies are going to finish in the top eight next season and chairman Chris Mort has pledged that there will be plenty in the coffers to add some quality to a fairly average-looking squad.

Mort said: “Over the summer, we will look to strengthen the squad further.

“In addition to making any immediate fixes that may be required, as with everything else we have done since Mike acquired the club, we will want to acquire players that can help make Newcastle United a top team for the medium and long-term, not just for the next season or two.

“That is why we put a substantial offer in for Luka Modric, who is aged 22.

“It is frustrating that Modric, like (Jonathan) Woodgate before him, should take less money than we offered to move to the bright lights of London, and European football with Tottenham next season, but these are the sorts of difficulties that should get easier to address once we build a squad that competes at the right end of the table.”

Aye, there’s the rub for Newcastle. The old chestnut of trying to attract star names to Tyneside without any guarantees of European football. In order to be at the right end of the table, you need some decent players in the first place – who can the Geordies sign to put them on the right path?

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When Spurs brought in Juande Ramos as their new manager, they weren’t just appointing someone who could kick the team into shape and get them playing as a much more organised and fluent outfit. The North London club have also got someone at the helm who will attract star names to White Hart Lane in a way that Martin Jol never could.

The Daily Mail report that Luka Modric has cited the Juande Ramos factor as a reason why he chose to sign for Tottenham last week ahead of the likes of Newcastle and Chelsea. The Croatian looked pretty decent against England at Wembley a few months ago and we’ll see a great deal more of him in the Premier League next season.

He said: “I want to play for Tottenham in international football – Champions League or UEFA Cup games.

“I want to achieve big things with the club and be in the top group of teams in the Premier League. I am happy that the coach Juande Ramos wanted me, it is the most important thing that the coach wants you as a player.

“It is right that many clubs in England were interested in taking me, but my favourite from the first meeting was Tottenham because I am a big fan of coach Ramos.”

This is the first of many instances where Spurs will be flashing the cash and bringing in some fresh talent to the club. Will this be £16 million well spent, considering Darren Bent was a similar price when he arrived from Charlton last summer?

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The Times is giving us both barrells of journalistic integrity with journos Matt Hughes and Russell Kempson who are telling us that Chelsea are planning to nab Dynamo Zagreb’s Luka Modric in the summer, and they think that they can bag him for less than half of the quoted £20 million asking price.

Apparently the Webster ruling:

“which enables players under the age of 28 to buy their way out of the remainder of their contracts when they enter their fourth year.”

is the reason that the Stamford Bridge club think they’ll be able to get Modric at a cut price, and that:

“Modric will be able to buy himself out of his contract for as little as £1.5 million during next January’s transfer window, giving Zagreb little option but to cash in or risk losing as much as £10 million this summer.”

So will Modric become yet another jewel in the Chelsea crown?

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