ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR will demand Asamoah Gyan as part of any deal when Sunderland bid for Peter Crouch, who is their number one attacking target this summer.
Steve Bruce, the Sunderland manager, has money to spend after the €22.5 million sale of the midfielder Jordan Henderson to Liverpool and he needs reinforcements up front, where Gyan is his only fit, established striker.
Bruce, who has Fraizer Campbell as a long-term cruciate knee ligament casualty, wants to sign three new strikers.
He would not want to lose Gyan, whom he signed from Rennes for €14.5 million last summer, but the Ghanaian would relish the prospect of a move to Tottenham.
Gyan is disappointed his Ghanaian team-mates, Sulley Muntari and John Mensah, have left Sunderland to return to their parent clubs, Internazionale and Lyon respectively, following the end of their loan spells.
Bruce was unhappy that Crouch chose Tottenham over Sunderland in 2009 when he left Portsmouth – Sunderland had offered €13.5 million to Tottenham’s €10 million – but he is over the snub and he is ready to try again for the England international.
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, considers Crouch as the striker he would most like to keep from his quartet.
He is ready to sell Robbie Keane, who has fallen out of favour, while he would listen to offers for Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe.
Pavlyuchenko’s €80,000 -a-week wage has proved a stumbling block to moving him on in the past. Redknapp wants to create room for his priority signing, a high-quality centre forward, and the latest name to be linked to the club is Adel Hernandez, Palermo’s 20-year-old Uruguay international.
Tottenham have had an €12.5 million bid rejected by Internacional for Leandro Damiao, the 21-year-old Brazil striker, and are expected to return with an improved offer.
“It’s true that Tottenham have made a bid,” said Hernandez’s agent, Vincenzo D’Ippolito. “But for the time being, I know that Maurizio Zamparini (the Palermo president) has turned it down, although I do not know what the figure was.
“If indeed it was €10 million (as reported in Italy) then it would be considered too low as the value of the player in the market is €20 million.”
Redknapp was asked whether Crouch would be leaving White Hart Lane this summer. “I doubt it,” he said. “I like Crouchy. He is a good player for me and he is a great lad as well.
“I love him as a fella so he is really not one that I am looking to shift. We are looking to bring a striker in, but he is not one of those that we want to sell if we can help it.”
Redknapp acknowledged that Sunderland had money to spend, although it is understood Bruce has not yet been granted access to the proceeds of Darren Bent’s €20 million sale to Aston Villa.
“Henderson has gone to Liverpool so they have got some money to spend,” Redknapp said. “Perhaps Niall (Quinn, the Sunderland chairman) or Brucie will be on the phone trying to buy one or two of ours.”
Guardian Service
