Tottenham Hotspur Transfer News - Three players linked for key positions at White Hart Lane
There are two persistent transfer stories this week and one relatively new one, all of which may have certain logic for Tottenham Hotspur, to fill key positions. The three players linked to White Hart Lane are Hugo Lloris, Joao Moutinho and Adrian.
At present Spurs are extremely short of recognized strikers in the squad. Whilst Emmanuel Adebayor is on the verge of a permanent return to the club he performed for so well on loan last season, Spurs’ only main striker – Jermain Defoe – is being linked with a £5m move to Reading.
Spanish newspaper Marca are reporting that André Villas-Boas is interested in Atlético Madrid striker Adrian. Credence can be lent to this in several ways. Arguably Villas-Boas' reputation is strongest and most respected in the Iberian Peninsula, and a move for Adrian would be taken seriously. Adrian is also extremely versatile, able to play in any of front six positions, and this versatility may be an attraction for Spurs. Not only would Adrian boost the squad depth in the forward positions - last season the Spaniard scored 14 goals in 38 starts for the Madrid team - but could add cover across the attacking midfield. Adrian could potentially be a useful squad addition.
With Brad Friedel entering the last year of his contract and uncertainty over the futures of Heurelho Gomes and Carlo Cudicini, the goalkeeping area has been acknowledged as one of the main areas to be addressed this summer. The top contender, according to theSun appears to be Olympique Lyon keeper Hugo Lloris. At only 25 years of age Lloris would bring a wealth of experience to Spurs and be the long term No 1. However, there appears to be some brinkmanship going on between the two sides, with reports recently that Spurs had bid £13m for the French stopper, disputed by Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas denying any official bids had been received, instead stating a deadline of Monday for bids to be received. Whilst no official bid may have been received, negotiations between the two clubs may be ongoing prior to any official bid, as reported in the Daily Mail.
There appears to be mutual respect between Joao Moutinho and Villas-Boas, Moutinho stating in the Daily Mail how much he would like to work with his ex-manager again, whilst Villas-Boas lavished praise on Moutinho’s ability and performance at Euro 2012. Moutinho is arguably a player who is not only similar to Luka Modric in style and position - the deep lying play maker linked away from White Hart Lane - but is perhaps one of the few in that role who may be available. With reports in the Telegraph that Real Madrid have raised their offer for the Croatian playmaker to £40 million, there may be a strong likelihood if true that this will be accepted. If so, an offer for Moutinho may well follow. Villas-Boas in his press conference on Wednesday stated: "If something happens he is a player we are looking at with some interest." The midfielder has a buy-out clause of £31million, but this is normally an opening negotiating point, and Daniel Levy may be expecting to pay considerably less than this - Moutinho’s apparent desire to work with Villas-Boas again an advantage for Spurs in talks.
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