Friday, July 17, 2009

The Madrid striker interest continues . . .

After inking the signings of the "Kyle duo" today, Harry Redknapp is continuing his interest in another duo-Real Madrid strikers Klass-Jan Huntelaar and Alvaro Negredo.

Madrid reportedly need to sell at least five players before they go on another spending spree, and Spurs are reportedly interested in both the strikers and winger Arjen Robben.

Negredo appears to be the closest to a deal, as there are reports emanating out of Spain that suggest that the deal with the Spaniard could actually be completed by the weekend. Negredo, who many Madrid fans feel could be the next great Spanish footballer, has spent the last two seasons with Alemeria, where he scored 32 goals in 70 appearances.

The 23-year-old had been linked to Liverpool earlier in this window as a makeweight for Xabi Alonso, but the Anfield club seem to be more interested in receiving a massive sum for the midfielder than a striker.

The Daily Mail suggests that Tottenham's bid for Negredo means that Redknapp thinks he is losing out to Stuttgart for the signing of Huntelaar, but that is not necessarily the case.

Stuttgart have had a bid (believed to be €15.5 million) accepted for Huntelaar, but the ex-Ajax man doesn't seem particularly thrilled about heading to the relative backwater of Germany, even if it does mean Champions League football. Instead, Huntelaar has been stalling on the move by delaying talks with Stuttgart, essentially hoping that some English team will drop from the sky with a solid bid for him.

Huntelaar, who is 25, has been one of the major prospects in footballing circles for two or three years now, so it was huge when he finally headed to Madrid in January. He didn't fit in right away, however, scoring eight goals in 20 appearances, a solid output but not quite what was expected of him. Huntelaar could play at any club in the world and would be an ideal target man to work with Jermaine Defoe and receive crosses from the scintillating Aaron Lennon.

Tottenham are reportedly putting together a deal for him and, hopefully, it's enough to get the job done. There is some concern that Arsenal could hijack the deal if they sell Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City in the coming days, but Arsene Wenger seems to be more interested in Marouane Chamakh, in part due to the Bordeaux striker's much lower price tag and strikingly similar skill set.

Bringing in Huntelaar and Negredo, which Redknapp should definitely try to accomplish, would mean the end of Darren Bent and Roman Pavyulchenko (and possibly Robbie Keane, again) at White Hart Lane, but Huntelaar in particular has been discussed as the "first big guy" type of signing, the respected player who changes the way a club is perceived amongst the footballing world. (If this move somehow works out, I'll write about this more extensively.)

Harry should do everything he can to buy both Huntelaar and Negredo, as both players receive the kind of respect that Spurs are hoping to work their towards in the near future, hopefully as soon as August 15th.

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