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

Comment 1 - 13 of 73

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hello, fans!I'm an amazing girl from UK. I like­ this team very much. I have a blog on
    -- Seekingtall­ Co m -- I like to share the funny things of the team­ with other fans,esp handsome guys~~

    From greenkate49, on Wed 22 Apr 2:04PM
  2. #5 - unfortunately, most people believe that SKY TV­ 'invented' football in 1992

    From purple_hatstand, on Wed 22 Apr 2:03PM
  3. yidofran - you are in denile or have a really bad­ memory: 2 words for you mate THEO WALCOTT! End Of!

    From clockwise_is, on Wed 22 Apr 1:58PM
  4. its weird when they said beckham cant perform well at­ milan(when milan first announced the signing of beckham­ on loan)..but then they said italian football is a­ slower pace football..i am not agree with­ that..remember when milan won the cl in 2007? they were­ really2 fast...ronaldo cant even got through the solid­ defence of milan because of gattuso who always won the­ ball back from him...and kaka intelligently got past­ evra and heinze easily..beckham is performing well at­ milan not because of slower pace but rather his­ intention and determination to play for his national­ team..

    From Fazreen A, on Wed 22 Apr 1:57PM
  5. This is papers making stuff up, not Spurs looking for­ media coverage! We don't need Beck's, he is too­ old for Prem league and we have the AMAZING and EVER­ IMPROVING Aaron Lennon. Best right midfield / winger in­ the country! End of!

    From yidofran, on Wed 22 Apr 1:42PM
  6. At least Harry you have a sense of humour but you have­ absolutely no chance - but it would be fun if it­ happened just to see Bentley's (the greatest­ footballer in world) face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From M H, on Wed 22 Apr 1:33PM
  7. I think Spurs signing players who used to play for them­ is just a publicity thing. Robbie keane and defoe are­ good players but not amazing ones, yet they steal­ headlines. I think that is the only reason for creating­ gossip about signing Beckham, because they are a­ mid-table team in mediocrity and they need some­ publicity for people to take any notice of them

    From rwlwhite1, on Wed 22 Apr 1:24PM
  8. I'd love to see James Morrison at Sunderland,­ he's better than James Blunt anyday...

    From JojO, on Wed 22 Apr 1:21PM
  9. Who said they have put a bid in for him? Anyone with­ half a brain would realise that its not Spurs making­ bids but papers making up stories.

    Anyway spurs have­ won a double, european trophies and the FA cup 8 times.­ Tiny club really...

    From Si, on Wed 22 Apr 1:04PM
  10. Stay in Milan becks, you'll have a better time of­ it not having the @#$% kicked out of you!! I'm sure­ the misses prefers Milan shopping to Tottenham high­ road!!

    From whatrightnow, on Wed 22 Apr 12:58PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    The bid for an out of date Beckham is typical Spurs -­ they a deluded view of themselves as this big club. I­ cant work out where it has come from.

    I swear they­ just put these bids in just to get the media pages, and­ their name linked with big stars.

    From sdmoores, on Wed 22 Apr 12:57PM
  12. Why sit on the bench in London when you can play in­ Milan???? No Brainer!!!!

    From Phil K, on Wed 22 Apr 12:53PM
  13. Come home Becks, every1 would love 2 see you finish­ your career back in good old England, bet u would as­ well.

    From terri-ann, on Wed 22 Apr 12:38PM
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