It’s an exciting time to be a Tottenham fan. Juande Ramos clearly has a plan of action, which involves shipping out many members of his current squad, along with a phase of recruitment before next season. Sky Sports report that Spurs are inches away from securing the signature of Giovani Dos Santos from Barcelona, an exciting attacking talent from Mexico.

It appears as though it will cost around £6million to land the forward, which could be relative peanuts if the 19-year-old adapts to the English game (and weather!).

Dos Santos’s father, Zizinho, admitted that his son is proud and excited by the thought of moving to such a prestigious club as he told Mexican daily paper, Record, that a deal was in the offing.

“Nothing has been finalised,” he said. “But it is an honour that a club as important as Tottenham want to sign Giovani, but nothing can be said officially yet.

“The ambitious project that Tottenham have has excited Giovani and he just wants to go there and help the team in any way he can.

“It is obvious that leaving Barcelona is a risky decision, but with his qualities it appears that it could be the best option for him.”

Ambitious project eh! This presumably includes a blueprint for how Tottenham can become a top four team, although will they have problems attracting players without being able to guarantee them Champions League football?

There was much talk before the start of last season over whether Tottenham Hotspur could challenge the ‘Big Four’ of Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. As it turned out, Spurs didn’t even finish in the top half of the table, so that prediction was pretty wide of the mark (a bit like a Darren Bent shot). Now, with Juande Ramos at the helm, there’s more talk about them challenging for Champions League places, although the Daily Mail reports that his predecessor Martin Jol is not convinced the club will ever manage a top four placing. Sour grapes or just brutal honesty?

The Dutch mananger, who has just taken over at German side Hamburg after being sacked by Spurs in October, said: “When I was with Spurs we finished fifth twice.

“It’s not realistic for Tottenham to be top four because the financial differences are too much.

“Everton were the last club to do it and that was merely a one-off.”

Hmmm, I seem to recall the Toffees were toe-to-toe with Liverpool for the best part of last season, thus proving that football is all about the sum of parts, unless you have someone like Cristiano Ronaldo in the team! Plus, Tottenham’s spending over the last couple of seasons is roughly equal to that of north London rivals Arsenal, so is Jol right to make such a bold statement as the above?

Just a shame for Spurs fans that it’s not Dimitar Berbatov, although it must still be great news to hear that Robbie Keane has pinned his colours firmly to the Tottenham mast. The striker had a very strong season for the North London club and the Daily Telegraph reports that the Irishman is loving life at White Hart Lane and is a firm part of Juande Ramos’ plans for next season.

“I’m very content with my life and my time at Spurs.

“I want to play there as long as I’m happy and as long as I’m wanted.

“Over the last three of four years there has always been speculation that I’m going here, there and everywhere.

He said: “I’m having a summer off without people ringing saying ‘Are you going here, are you going there?’

“So I’m looking forward to a nice break and then going back to Spurs next season.”

It remains to be seen who Keano’s strike partner will be next season, although it’s all gone quiet on the Berbatov transfer front, despite the Bulgarian’s agent giving Hleb’s counterpart a run for his money in the flirtation stakes. Tottenham fans, who do you want to see partnering Keane next season?

The Times reports that Juande Ramos is in the running to Sign young French goalie Hugo Lloris from Nice. Tottenham will have to beat off interest from Ac Milan and Lyon for the 21-year-old, and Lloris himself is keeping his options open, batting his eyelashes at all three clubs:

“Lyon have continuity and they are in the Champions League as well, Milan are football and all that follows and Tottenham, they have a great project for the future with a very Successful manager,” (The Times)

Lloris looks to be an excellent prospect – in fact it’s pretty surprising that Arsene Wenger hasn’t had a sniff around him – and a goalie is definitely high up on Spurs’ list of priorities, with schlubby goon Paul Robinson playing awfully and his less-than-capable understudy Radek Cerny scuttling off to QPR after some rotten performances. If Ramos pulls this one off, he will have plugged another gap in the ever growing and impressively talented Spurs squad.

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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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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It’s clear that Juande Ramos is going to to renovate his Tottenham squad in the summer. The Spaniard made a handful of changes during the January transfer window (Defoe out, Woodgate and Hutton in), although it’s likely that there’ll be exports and imports on a far grander scale as soon as the final whistle blows against Liverpool on the final day of the season.

The Daily Mirror reports that two players who may find themselves surplus to requirements are Paul Robinson and Ledley King, something that you couldn’t have predicted at the start of the season.

The Spurs boss said: “We will have to see what state he (King) is in.

We are going to have to wait for the diagnosis of the doctors. We will have to see if he is here next season.

“We don’t know what the squad is going to be like and we will make that decision then.

“Robinson’s injured and hasn’t trained for three weeks,” added Ramos.

“Unless he recovers his fitness quickly, it will be very difficult for him to play.”

Ledley King has been a loyal servant to Spurs for many seasons, although injuries have blighted his career, preventing him from playing a continuous spell of football for the club and hindering his international prospects at the same time. Even so, it will be a sad day if he were to leave the club in the summer, especially as he’s been one of Tottenham’s most consistent performers (when he’s been fit enough to play).

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There have been swirling murmurs of discontent at White Hart Lane recently – over winger Aaron Lennon and his ropey form. Although Lennon is still only twenty, many have accused him of not progressing as he should, he still has that blistering pace but people are still waiting for his other talents to come to the fore. The fact that the much vaunted Adel Taarabt, spoken of with mouth frothing optimisms, is still kicking his heels in the reserves – puts even more pressure on Lennon.
The Sun reports that Spurs boss Juande Ramos was dismayed with Lennon’s craptastic crossing last week, and wants Lennon to do some intensive training sessions. Ramos said of his young charge:

“Of course Lennon practises crossing.

“But we will put on an extra session for him to improve his crossing.

“Everyone has to polish things and improve things to make them better. Lennon has to improve in that area.

“Sometimes you have a player whose performance is way below what it should be but you have to stick with them and make it better.

“Lennon has some very good attributes such as his pace which are very hard to find in players. He must use that to his advantage.”

Will Lennon be able to recapture his form or is this the sign of a more permanent stagnation of his abilities?

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Gareth Southgate has hit back at Jonathan Woodgate’s disparaging remarks about his former club. Woodgate slammed Middlesbrough for lacking ambition and expressed his relief at finally working under a ‘proper manager’ (Juande Ramos) at Spurs. Yesterday Southgate told the People:

“He got it wrong. We have ambition.

“It didn’t bother me that he said he was working for a proper manager now. I am a young guy learning his trade. Juande Ramos is experienced.

“The ambition of the club was an issue. But I think he got it wrong.

“Spending £12million on a player is proof to anybody that there is ambition here.”

Mr Woodgate, the ball is in your court, and we await a suitably snarky retort…

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Everyone knows about the North London rivalry that exists between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur and now everyone will know that they are set to battle for the 19-year old Sevilla left back Diego Capel.

This report suggests that the Gunners are preparing a £8 million bid for the Spanish Under20 international in the summer. Capel is one of the most gifted individuals in the Spanish game and Spurs were linked to the player in the month of January.

But now Arsenal appear to have shot themselves into the race. With Spurs going through a difficult patch and the Gunners on the up, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to guess which club would Capel choose. But Spurs have Juande Ramos as their manager and maybe he could lure Capel to White Hart Lane.

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And it’s all because Glasgow Rangers failed to beat Lyon in their final Champions League group match in December. The Daily Mail explains that the Scottish team’s failure to reach the knockout stages of the above competition means that Alan Hutton cannot play for Tottenham in the UEFA Cup.

A UEFA spokesman exclusively told Sportsmail online: “It is true that Dimitar Berbatov, had he moved to a team playing in the Champions League, would have been able to play in that competition because his current club had not played in that competition.

“But in the case of Hutton, even though he did not play in the UEFA Cup for Rangers, the fact that Rangers have been relegated from the Champions League to the UEFA Cup, means he cannot appear in that competition for Tottenham in the same season.”

It’s not clear whether Juande Ramos was aware of this fact before he signed the Scottish full-back in the January transfer window, although he’ll now be short of cover in Europe with Gareth Bale confirmed as injured for the rest of the season yesterday.

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The Daily Mail reports that Jonathan Woodgate joined Spurs because he can see that they are going places, White Hart Lane is far more accessible to Fabio Capello, and he wanted to escape his coddled duvet cover of a life at Middlesbrough; Woodgate said:

“I could have stayed at Middlesbrough and had the easy, comfortable life, but I wanted to come to Spurs and play for a team who are going places. I want to play for a club with ambition who are trying to win trophies. With this manager and with these players, you can see what they’re trying to build.

“Being at Spurs reminds me of when I was at Leeds and we had all these new players coming in — I was excited. The fans are good at Spurs, the manager has won silverware, he looks the part and he knows what he’s doing — he’s a proper manager.

“I’m playing with good players here. Fabio Capello will come and watch a lot. It’s just down the road for him, but it’s four hours to Middlesbrough.”

So is this cold hearted frankness about his motives for leaving Middlesbrough the best way to treat your hometown club? And calling Juande Ramos a ‘proper manager’ implies that Woodgate thought Southgate was not a proper coach…