Tottenham Hotspur Transfer Rumor Tuesday: Modric, Leandro Damiao, and Vertonghen

Good news everyone! It would appear that we don't have to hear any more stupid Gary Cahill to Tottenham Hotspur rumors anymore. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it seems like Chelsea have a deal in place to purchase the Bolton Wanderers defender for £7 million pounds. He'll fit in well with John Terry and Sideshow Bob at Stamford Bridge.

Now that we're past the Christmas season we're entering into the prime transfer rumor period. Just think, On January 1st the window opens and then it's 30 days of maddening inactivity followed by possibly signing one or two players with only minutes to spare on deadline day. That's how Tottenham Hotspur have to do things, right? It's like we have our very own self-imposed transfer embargo.

Because the window hasn't opened yet the rumors are still pretty sparse, but it's my duty to provide them to you for your feedback. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of good news in this week's post. I'll try to do better in the future.

Modric Moving to Manchester: A month or so ago, Kevin and I criticized Manchester United for not securing the necessary midfield replacement for Paul Scholes. It appears that Sir Alex Ferguson is now set to get that replacement. Recent rumors have United set to make a £40 million bid for Luka Modric. I always thought Luka was a better fit for United than Wesley Sneijder, but I don't like the idea of losing him in January, let alone to one of rivals for the top four. £40 million is a lot of money though and Spurs could probably do quite a bit with that cash. Expect this to be another long window for Luka.

Competition for Vertonghen: In what may be an unfortunate development for Tottenham, a few other English Premier League clubs may have entered the chase for Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen. Manchester City would like to pair Vertonghen with his countryman, Vincent Kompany, and Arsenal would like to do likewise, but with Thomas Vermaelen. Spurs don't have another Belgian to pair Vertonghen with, but they can probably promise him more first team football. However, the allure of the monstrous available at Manchester City may spell the end of Tottenham's pursuit of this particular defender.

Gratuitous Leandro Damiao Rumor: This rumor isn't necessarily Tottenham Hotspur related, but I feel that it's my duty to keep everyone updated on the state of the potential transfer of Leandro Damiao. Things aren't looking good people. Juventus are the latest big club to be linked with the Brazilian striker. When this kid lands at some other big club and scores tons of goals we're going to feel really stupid for not just ponying up the cash to buy him over the summer. Sometimes I really don't like Daniel Levy.

Yet Another Goalkeeper: Back at the beginning of December I profiled Alex Smithies, a young English goalkeeper for Huddersfield. I mentioned he doesn't have a cap yet for the England U-21 squad. Part of that is due to injuries, but most of it is due to Jack Butland.The Birmingham City goalkeeper, currently on loan at League 2 side Cheltenham Town, has represented England at every youth international level and, at only 18, is very highly regarded. A number of teams are rumored to be interested in him. Butland is definitely one for the future, but many believe he has all the tools to be a top class keeper in the Premier League.

#WeNeedAStriker: Tottenham have, according to the Mirror, sent scouts to check out Academica de Coimbra striker Ibrahim Sissoko. Marseille are also rumored to be interested in the 20 year-old Ivory Coast international. The Mirror refers to him as a striker, but if I remember correctly he's more of a winger/inside forward. He's young and still pretty raw. I've seen him play before, I just can't remember when or where. Other information on the kid is sparse at best. He doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. If this is a purchase similar to Yago Falque or Cristian Ceballos then I'm ok with it, but if we expect him to come and be a star, I think we may be in trouble.

Hoilett Rumors Picking Up Steam: Last week Harry came out and admitted that he didn't have many options on the right flank. While this is true, all this has done is increase the flood of rumors linking Blackburn Rovers winger Junior Hoilett with a move to Tottenham Hotspur. I don't really rate the Canadian/Jamaican/English winger. He's too much of a Lennon clone. He has amazing pace and he's a good dribble, but both his crossing and finishing leave quite a bit to be desired. The price is rumored to be around £8 million and for that, I'd have to pass.

Player We're Not Being Linked With But Should Be: If Harry Redknapp wants to find cover/replacement for Aaron Lennon on the right flank then he should forget Hoilett and look, instead, at Udinese winger Gabriel Torje. The Romanian winger would be an ideal fit for the squad. He's 22 years old and like Lennon/Hoilett posesses great pace and good dribbling ability. Torje, however, is also a good crosser of the ball and not a bad finisher. Unfortunately, he just moved to Udinese this summer at a move now is unlikely.

Player We're Actually Going To Sign...This Week: This is the hardest part to do every week. Normally, I would pick Gary Cahill, but that ship seems to have sailed. I've already talked about Junior Hoilett and while I think he's the player we're most likely to sign I hate repeating myself. So, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the player Spurs are most likely to sign is Emmanuel Adebayor. Manchester City seem like they're going to spend more money this window, so they may be inclined to get the Togolese striker fully off the books. As we all know this deal will come down to wages, but if personal terms can be agreed to then I'm confident Adebayor could become a Tottenham player for good.