Transfers - Gossip Shop: Spurs eye Beckham bid

Eurosport - Wed, 22 Apr 20:54:00 2009

Life has a funny habit of repeating itself and if the latest rumours are to be believed, David Beckham could be going home.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Serie A Milan Beckham - 0

Beckham left Tottenham Hotspur's academy to sign for Manchester United on his 14th birthday and the rest, as they say, is history.

The North London club are reportedly preparing a bid to steal the record-breaking England midfielder from under the noses of Milan when his loan at the San Siro expires in the summer.

The Sun points to Spurs boss Harry Redknapp's fondness for resurrecting the careers of veteran players.

It also argues that Tottenham's ability to put the LA Galaxy man squarely in the vision of England manager Fabio Capello ahead of the 2010 World Cup will sway the former Real Madrid man.

GS doubts it though. Any move to Spurs will only happen if Milan decide not to sign him as it is unlikely that he would choose Spurs over the Rossoneri.

Milan are by far the bigger club, will be playing in the Champions League next season and the slower pace in Italy suits Beckham's game perfectly.

They are also unlikely to let him go after a series of impressive performances helped fire Milan to second in Serie A, not to mention the inevitable spike in shirt sales.

Furthemore, Capello is more than happy that Beckham is plying his trade at his beloved Milan, not least because it keeps him away from the distracting media hysteria he faces in England - and saves his legs from a shoeing at the hands of Emanuel Pogatetz.

The same paper's claim that Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is looking to offload captain Richard Dunne to Sunderland makes several assumptions.

The first is that Hughes will still be at Eastlands in the summer, with City's owners yet to prove they share the same patient, long-term vision as Villa supremo Randy Lerner.

The second is that Ireland defender Dunne would want to drop from City to Sunderland, as there are several bigger clubs that can offer a higher level of football than Ricky Sbragia's side, not least Villa.

The third is that Sunderland will be able to afford him - while they are not in the bottom three, they are anything but safe and it is highly unlikely they will shell out £5 million and £35,000 a week if they are in the Championship.

Sunderland have also been linked with relegation-doomed West Brom duo Jonathan Greening and James Morrison, although Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh has ruled himself out of a move to the Stadium of Light. He would rather join Tottenham.

The Daily Express reckons that the latest injury to Craig Bellamy could force City boss Hughes to think twice about a big-money bid for Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz.

This may not initially make sense as having another striker would both cover and compliment Bellamy. But the reasoning is that two injury-prone forwards are worse than one.

Paraguay striker Santa Cruz has only played eight league games so far this season after a series of injuries, although his public insistence that he will leave for a bigger club in the summer appears to have had something to do with his absence.

The former Bayern Munich man has also been linked with Liverpool and Tottenham, who will probably lose one or both of Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko in the summer.

Aston Villa may be forced to sign a new defender with Martin Laursen's career under threat.

Laursen has been a key influence in Villa's return to the upper echelons of the league and it is no coincidence that their slump came after his knee injury recurred.

The Dane could be set for surgery that would rule him out for nine months and, at the age of 31, he is considering hanging up his boots.

Fulham stopper Brede Hangeland and Milan's on-loan Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos could be brought in, while the aforementioned Dunne would be an experienced option.

Blackburn and Wigan are both considering bids in the region of £4m for Bristol City midfielder Marvin Elliott.

The 24-year-old former Millwall player can also play at right-back and would be the ideal signing for Rovers, for whom there are doubts over the long-term fitness of cruciate ligament injury-victim Brett Emerton.

Wigan, who are guaranteed a place in the Premier League and are still in with a shot at European football, would be the more prestigious option for the Londoner, although the likelihood is that boss Steve Bruce would look for a bigger-name signing should winger Antonio Valencia be sold to Real Madrid, Manchester United or Chelsea.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

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    From laurensmith213, on Wed 22 Apr 4:02PM

  2. @20
    Spurs were the first british team to win an­ european trophy , but it was the cup winners cup ,not­ the european cup.
    comment 20 got it right.

    From A.Moaner, on Wed 22 Apr 4:00PM

  3. That's a load of old Tottenham that is. A steaming­ pile of Hotspur !

    From hemingway_paul, on Wed 22 Apr 3:57PM

  4. What a load of rubbsh the only thing Becks would be­ useful for would be to coach Bentley! Theo who?

    From Brendan, on Wed 22 Apr 3:33PM

  5. 20 were Celtic not the first british club to win the­ European Cup?

    From garyhiggins754, on Wed 22 Apr 3:30PM

  6. This isn't going to happen, Spurs is a small club­ with no european football and Beckam want to play at­ the WC in 2010.

    From ethan.cooper, on Wed 22 Apr 3:30PM

  7. no 29 do you ever watch spanish football italian­ football might be slow but in spain a large portion of­ the goals are scored on the counter attack thus meaning­ speed its only really the top couple of teams that pass­ the ball round the whole pitch no different from the­ premiership the top teams in any league make it look­ easy till your up against a team of the same ability

    From Hannah, on Wed 22 Apr 3:26PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hello, fans!I'm an amazing tall girl from UK. I­­ like F1 very much. I have a blog on
    -- W ealthyf ind­ er Co­ m -- I like to share the funny things of F1 with­ other­ fans,esp handsome guys~~

    From lee.cherry74, on Wed 22 Apr 3:15PM

  9. Beckham would be exposed in the english premier­ league.... italy gives him time on the ball so he looks­ good. In england he wont have that time and it will­ hasten the end of his career

    From busybee, on Wed 22 Apr 2:59PM

  10. #12 - the game on the continent (especially in Spain­ & Italy) is played at a slower pace than it is in­ the EPL. The emphasis in those countries (from­ coaching kids through to the international team) is on­ technique whereas here, the emphasis is on winning­ regardless. Look at last night's game between­ Arsenal and Liverpool for example - all that pointless,­ headless-chicken running about with everyone trying to­ play the game at 400 miles an hour for 90 minutes. The­ defending was as desperate as the attacking, nobody­ seemed to have control at any time and, while it was­ hugely entertaining in some ways, both teams were­ constantly giving the ball away and making mistakes. ­ You would almost never see a game like that in Italy­ & Spain, where they understand the meaning of real­ defending and actual, creative attacking play as well­ as the benefits of slowing down and controlling the­ game by passing the ball. In the EPL, it's all­ kick-&-rush and react first when your opponent­ makes a mistake. This is one of the main reasons why­ the EPL teams are doing so well in the CL. Not even 10­ years ago, Spanish & Italian sides used to come­ over here and embarrass the hell out of the naive EPL­ teams by just passing them to death (I remember­ Barcelona scoring 3 in the 1st half at Anfield and then­ passing the ball like it was a training exercise for­ the whole of the 2nd). Typically, the EPL teams­ decided that the only way to better this cultured,­ sophisticated, elegant football was to smother it and­ steamroller it into submission. You defend from the­ front, you try to play as quickly as possible all the­ time, you make sure you are first to the loose ball­ every time. It is a game of hard work and endeavour,­ concentration and scrapping as opposed to one of poise­ and style, technique and creativity. Last year's­ European Championships were a joy to watch because the­ teams playing the most attractive football went the­ furthest and none of the teams from Britain or Ireland­ were in it.

    From purple_hatstand, on Wed 22 Apr 2:59PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Theo who?

    From Daryl S, on Wed 22 Apr 2:52PM

  12. Spurs dont need to be looking to rejuvenate an old­ player - i say leave Becks in Milan where he is playing­ some good football and seek a younger winger with pace­ and the ability to cross unlike Bentley and­ Lennon.
    Spurs will be up with the "Big Boys"­ next year.
    COYS

    From Gary, on Wed 22 Apr 2:51PM

  13. As if.....becks would never sign for a second class­ english side if it was spurs or liverpool....!

    From stuartxland, on Wed 22 Apr 2:42PM

  14. recruitmentch: Beckham is originally from London and­ his wife loves it there. Don't be so confident that­ he won't go to a London club. It is quite possible.­ However, he does seem happy at Milan and he is your­ player now so this is all probably press nonsense once­ again.

    From crispyduck, on Wed 22 Apr 2:35PM

  15. I think that Spurs will be up with the top six next­ season.COYS.

    From a.bice, on Wed 22 Apr 2:26PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I think Spurs won the first European Cup.

    From a.bice, on Wed 22 Apr 2:25PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Why do I keep getting invalid comments? No swearing or­ punting for other sites?

    From a.bice, on Wed 22 Apr 2:23PM

  18. If we decide to keep him in Milano, no other club in­ the world has a hope in hell of signing him. he loves­ it here, and he plays for a club and a manager who­ really believe in his ability. Furthermore he states­ that since being at Milan, his fitness levels have­ improved more than ever before. Personally I want us to­ sign younger players, but he a model professional and I­ wouldn't mind if he stayed. In fact, Pippo has been­ flourishing since beckham's arrival. 9 goals in his­ last 6 starts.

    From recruitmentch, on Wed 22 Apr 2:17PM

  19. I could have just BOUGHT the Sun...

    From CutPR, on Wed 22 Apr 2:12PM

  20. SEEKINGTALL COM.IS A SCAM SITE I KNOW SOMEONE WHO WAS­ SCAMMED HE LOST A LOT OF CASH...KEEP AWAY FROM­ SEEKINGTALL COM AND OTHER SITES LIKE IT

    From robbieisfineshedyahoooo, on Wed 22 Apr 2:11PM
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