In other news, various sources indicate that Man City are ready to offer £8m plus speedy left winger Martin Petrov to land David Bentley from Spurs. It has been quoted in  most places that the deal to take Bentley to Spurs from Blackburn was worth £15m and as such, this would represent a hefty loss. But much of that fee was related to performance (he hasn’t performed), appearances (he’s hardly appeared), success at Spurs (we haven’t succeeded) and international caps (his international career has tailed off dramatically).  With that in mind, £8m sounds like a good deal to me for somone with a classic case of good player, wrong club.

• VIDEO: Best of Harry Redknapp interviews including loads of Effing and Blinding (2 Comments)
• Redknapp explains Keane and Hutton departures – Both still have Spurs futures (30 Comments)
• Veloso To Spurs? Agent: “We Will See Soon”… (10 Comments)
• Begovic Deal Back On? (4 Comments)
• Frantic Dash To Seal £10m Striker Switch (8 Comments)

Left footers Diego Capel and Hatem Ben Arfa have both been  linked recently but do Spurs need them? With the alarming dip in penetration and creativity in the Tottenham side since the injury to Luka Modric, it is highly tempting to say yes. But that would ignore the fact that Gio Dos Santos has also been out injured for the duration of Modric’s absence and that Niko Kranjcar is only just beginning to show signs of settling properly in the side.  With Modric due for a return to action in Tottenham’s next match against Wigan and Dos Santos due back shortly, is this knee-jerk stuff from the press? And would the raw talents of Ben Arfa and Capel offer anything that we don’t already have?

The need for another ball winning central midfielder however is an entirely different story and an intriguing one too. Harry Redknapp has gone on record with his admiration for both Sulley Muntari and Sandro this season. And with Wilson Palacios the only other ball winner in the Spurs squad, you can see why. However, there are complications with both transfers; Muntari  isn’t too chuffed about turning his back on the guaranteed medals on offer at Inter this year and the Sandro waters are being muddied by a pesky Tevez style third party ownership scenario.

A few months back there were strong murmurs on the boards about one Miguel Veloso turning up at The Lane. An outrageously good player with equally outrageous off field problems, Veloso is a proper ‘Arry signing.  Villa and Bolton are the other teams to have been linked with him recently and so he’s probably gettable. If the Muntari and Sandro deals fall through, don’t be surprised to see a Spurs move for Veloso.

Whatever happens, it should be a fun month in January. I want a top-notch central defender though. Thoughts on who?

• VIDEO: Best of Harry Redknapp interviews including loads of Effing and Blinding (2 Comments)
• Redknapp explains Keane and Hutton departures – Both still have Spurs futures (30 Comments)
• Veloso To Spurs? Agent: “We Will See Soon”… (10 Comments)
• Begovic Deal Back On? (4 Comments)
• Frantic Dash To Seal £10m Striker Switch (8 Comments)

Gio Dos Santos has told us that he wants to stay and fight for his place at Tottenham. He told Spurs official site:

“I think the coach knows I’m a good player and I want to do well for Tottenham. I came here to play, I love the fans and they’ve always supported me and I have everything here.”

This is great news, he’s obviously got something and Redknapp seems to be managing him well. Maybe he needed knocking down a few pegs last season after coming in from Barcelona?

Roman Pavlyuchenko however looks like he’s off back to Russia with Zenit sniffing around and a bid of £12m reportedly in the offing. He’s just at the wrong stage of his career for a battle of the magnitude of that facing him if he wants to get into the Spurs team. Pity, but that’s life.

Sport.co.uk yesterday revealed that Sulley Muntari’s agent is in talks with Spurs and Inter about the Ghanaian moving to The Lane.

I can’t believe the negativity around about this guy coming to Spurs.  Yes he’s not wanted by Inter but that doesn’t make him automatically pap. He was top notch at Portsmouth and has been brilliant at times for Inter too. He had a spat with Mourinho about Ramadan fasting earlier in the season and has since been used sporadically. His dodgy situation at Inter smacks  of a personal problem between him and Jose, not a football one.  Also, he’s not a left winger as many have been saying he is! He can play there but his main position is central midfield. Muntari would act as a partner for Palacios or a replacement if Wilson gets injured. He’d also provide some proper competition for Jermain Jenas – if Mr Marmite is still at the club.

If you didn’t catch it yesterday, here’s a great video of Muntari showing off his tackling, shooting and passing.

When Muntari was being linked with Spurs over the summer, it was in a swap deal for Jenas. We all know about Mourinho’s respect for Jermain. Could this be what’s on the cards?

• VIDEO: Best of Harry Redknapp interviews including loads of Effing and Blinding (2 Comments)
• Redknapp explains Keane and Hutton departures – Both still have Spurs futures (30 Comments)
• Veloso To Spurs? Agent: “We Will See Soon”… (10 Comments)
• Begovic Deal Back On? (4 Comments)
• Frantic Dash To Seal £10m Striker Switch (8 Comments)

Tottenham target Sulley Muntari and Inter manager Jose Mourinho are at the centre of a row in Italy about sports and religios abstenance, possibly (hopefully) bringing Muntari’s move to Spurs a step closer.

Muslims abstain from eating or drinking during daylight hours in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

And Muntari, a practicing Muslim, is sticking to his guns on the matter, despite protestations from Mourinho, who subbed Muntari after just 30 mins of Inter’s last match against Bari.

Mourinho said: ‘Muntari had some problems related to Ramadan, perhaps with this heat it’s not good for him to be doing this (fasting). Ramadan has not arrived at the ideal moment for a player to play a football match.’

COYS

Various national newspapers are today reporting that the Jermaine Jenas to Inter Milan move is back on.

According to The Times, any deal taking Jenas to the San Siro would involve Sulley Muntari heading in the opposite direction in a part exchange deal. No details have been released as to what sort of cash would change hands with both players commanding a similar value of around £10 million to £12 million.

No player has split opinion amongst Spurs fans more than Jermaine Jenas and you can take part in that debate here.

But what stuns us at Tottenham Blog is the apathy from sections of the Spurs faithful towards the potential arrival of Muntari.

Make no mistake, this is a top, top player. He played 24 matches under Jose Mourinho at Inter last season and scored some important goals from midfield. He’s adept at playing the disciplined holding position with his man mountain strength, bags of determination and biting tackling (as evidenced in the video above). Muntari is also swashbuckling in the box to box role, he’s got a hell of an engine, good passing both long and short and a beast of a shot.

In short, he’d be the perfect partner for Wilson and the perfect replacement should Palacios get injured. Exactly what the Spurs squad needs. But will Jose let him go?

COYS

Bits and pieces around the web and the papers today about a Spurs move for Inter Milan Striker Victor Nsofor Obinna, with £3 million the figure quoted.

We saw this boy play a few times when he was at Chievo and he’s got the right attributes to be a success in the Premiership. He’s fast, direct, powerful and explosive (he does somersaults when he scores too).

But he’s also inconsistent and not particularly prolific. He scored a meagre 22 goals in 82 appearances for Chievo before a move to Inter Last summer where he didn’t establish himself at all.

Don’t read too much into that though. Obinna was embroiled in one of those dodgy Italian deals involving part ownership and was actually suspended at one point in the 06-07 season for having a contract with both Inter and Chievo.

Chievo got relegated that year and Obinna’s inevitable move to Inter came earlier than planned for both player and club. Everton actually had a loan bid accepted immediately after Obinna signed for Inter but his work permit application was rejected. In other words, he was never part of Jose’s plans for last season.

At 22 years old, age is on his side and one of the few things that worries us about Spurs squad this year is the stature of all four strikers. They’re all internationals and none will accept not playing regularly.

Maybe a move for a younger player, with possibly Keane being shipped out and money from his sale being pumped into a central midfield player isn’t out of the question?