Archive for the ‘Tottenham’ Category

Liverpool and Tottenham are both chasing Utretcht FC striker Rick van Wolfswinkel. The Ducth striker can either play upfront or on the wings and is considered as one of the hottest prospects in European football today. Wolfswinkel was a regular for the Holland U-21 side, and has just recently made his senior international debut.

Director of football Damien Comolli of Liverpool thinks that van Wolfswinkel is a star of the future. Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is also a big fan, and has sent scouts to monitor his progress on several occasions. Arsene Wenger is also a admirer of van Wolfswinkel.

With the January transfer window open Wolfswinkel’s agent Louis Laros has said, “At this moment it is unlikely Ricky will move because I have not received an concrete offer from either Tottenham Hotspur or Liverpool. I cannot say at the moment if it is serious interest, an enquiry, or just rumours. We are waiting for calls from both clubs, as we need an official offer from Liverpool or Spurs to proceed.”

With most teams knowing where they would stand at the end of the season, the English top division has seen titbits of player movement rumours surface over the last few days. Tottenham who could play in the Champions League next season are looking to price away Micah Richards from Manchester City. Doubts have also been cast over Carlos Tevez’s City future after the Argentinian star complained about Mancini’s training schedule in the past week. Manchester City themselves will be dipping into their wallets in the close season. They are keeping a close watch on Kevin Kuranyi and Serbian centre half Neven Subotic.

Both Manchester United and Liverpool are tracking the progress of former Chelsea holding midfielder Lassana Diarra. Hamit Altintop has become a target for Spurs and a host of other clubs including Atletico Madrid as his contract with Bayern Munich is due to expire in a couple of months. With Joe Hart being called back to Manchester City as a result of the injury suffered by Shay Given, Birmingham are now looking at loaning United custodian Ben Foster.

Elsewhere, Wolfburg forward Edin Dzeko has dropped a hint for the Premier League clubs by stating that he would be interested in moving away from his current club at the end of the season. Arsenal have opened talks with Gael Clichy over the possibility of a new deal. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona have been monitoring Clichy’s progress and Wenger would not want to lose the French left back.

AZ Alkmaar’s £5m-rated forward Jermain Lens is attracting a lot of attention from Wigan, Wolves, Sunderland and Newcastle. Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has his eyes on Paraguay international midfielder Cristian Riveros who could well become the Black Cats’ first signing of the new season. And finally, in what could be the biggest transfer of the summer, Barcelona are edging closer to the services of Spanish star striker David Villa.

The Premier League clubs’ chairmen have shot down a proposal which would have seen a playoff being played between fourth and fifth placed teams for the final Champions League slot. As per the current regulations, the top two finishers in the Premier League have direct qualification to the UCL while teams finishing third and fourth have to play qualifying rounds. The proposal mooted that the final Champions League spot be granted to the winner of the playoff which was to be played between the fourth and fifth placed teams in the League after the end of the season. The fortunes of the top three finishing teams were not to be affected.

The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool were quick to voice their dissatisfaction over the suggestion. Other teams in the top half were considerate enough to give it a thought with Martin O’Neill describing it as “interesting” and one that “people might go for”.

Any change in the current format would have needed the approval of 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs. With the television deal in place for the next three years, any change would have reflected only after the current deal expired.

Also, the general consensus at the meeting was that the team finishing in fourth position after a gruelling season deserved to play in the Champions League. The congestion in the English football calendar did not help the change at all. Premier League bosses feared that this change would reduce the significance of the FA’s other tournaments especially the FA Cup. Why mend something that ain’t broken?