Tottenham Transfer Rumor Tuesday: Silly Wages Edition

This summer is starting to drag. When do the games begin? Not until the end of July? Guess we'll just have to keep getting by on transfer rumors. Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp seems to be looking all over the Premier League for players that none of the fans really want and that the squad doesn't really need simply so that he can add to the clubs' leadership. Next thing you know we'll bringing back Sol Cambell and Gary Mabbutt.

Perhaps the most worrying thing, to me, about the window thus far is that we haven't managed to sell any players yet. Both Redknapp and Spurs' chairman Daniel Levy have stressed the need to trim the squad and as yet no one has been sold, released or let go in any way, shape, or form. Why are Robbie Keane and David Bentley still wearing Spurs shirts? This is preposterous.

We're Supposed To Sell The Useless Players: Olympique Marseille are said to be interested in acquiring fullback/central defender Younes Kaboul. I'm sure there is a price that I would let Kaboul go for, but honestly I'm not inclined to let him leave. As a third (or fourth) central defender he's pretty good and he also provides quite good cover at right back. I'm sure at some point he'll want more first-team football, but a team is going to have to cough up some cash for him. The most troubling thing about that article? Kaboul earns £66,000 a week. Christ...

Finally! A Smart Bit of Business: Newly promoted Norwich City and Swansea would both like to take in 19 year-old Tottenham Defender Steven Caulker on loan. Caulker played on loan in the Championship last year with Bristol City and, by all accounts, was impressive. In order to continue his development Caulker is going to need regular games against Premier League competition. I'm not sure if he'd automatically be a starter at either of these clubs, but he'd almost certainly get more games there than he will at Spurs.

#WeNeedAStriker: I have a sinking feeling that I'll never be able to stop using this hashtag. This week we're looking at Brazilian-born Italian striker Amauri. The 31 year-old Juventus striker, who spent last season on loan at Parma, seems to be attracting quite a bit of interest. If his agent is to be believed two English clubs and two Serie A sides are after Amauri. Let me be the first to say, that I do not want this guy. 73 goals in 278 games while in Italy? No thanks.

Looks Like We Have A Plan For If Kaboul Leaves: Though many papers seem to be offering conflicting reports and lots of ITK sources can't seem to agree on whether any approach has actually been made, Stoke City chairmen has found it necessary to come out and say that Ryan Shawcross will not be leaving to join Spurs or anyone else for that matter. Back in May it was rumored that Spurs offered cash plus Sebastien Bassong for Shawcross's services, but were rebuffed. He'd be a good squad addition, and perhaps an eventual starter, but if we keep Kaboul around Shawcross would be superfluous.

We Even Have A Backup To The Backup Plan: Should we not be able to land Shawcross it seems that Spurs would be interested in signing VfB Stuttgart defender Serdar Tasci. The 24 year-old defender has made nearly 200 appearances for Die Schwaben and is attracting interest from Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg, and Malaga. I think, in the long-term, Tasci would be a better signing than Shawcross, simply because it will take the German time to adjust to the Premier League.

Not Tottenham Related, But Still Makes Me Sick: Cristiano Ronaldo has said he would pass on a £150 million move to Manchester City, a move that could see him earn £400,000 a week in wages. Let's put that wage in perspective. For a year that works out to £20,800,000 and in U.S. Dollars that's $34,114,080, giving him the highest salary of any athlete in any sport, surpassing Alex Rodriguez.Meanwhile, the top earner at Tottenham Hotspur, who I believe is Robbie Keane, makes somewhere around £70,000 a week. That's by no means a paupers wage, but still. Also, it seems like wages are the sticking point in the Leandro deal. See, I brought this little section back to Spurs nicely.

Player We're Not Being Linked With But Should Be: This week you're getting two for one, mostly because both players come from the same team and the same country. Want a couple of hints? They're both from the largest contiguous country on the European continent and play for a club that has won 13 league titles in the last 21 years. Give up? I'm obviously talking about Ukrainians (and Dynmo Kyiv players) Andriy Yarmolenko and Artem Milevskiy. Neither is being linked with anyone as far as I can tell, but both are supremely talented. Yarmolenko is often compared to teammate and AC Milan legend Andriy Schevchenko. You can see him playing for Ukraine at this summer's European U-21 championships in Denmark. The 26 year old Milevskiy operates primarily as a second striker and in the past three seasons has scored 54 goals.

Player We're Actually Going To Sign...This Week: I'm going waaaaaay out on a limb here and I'll say we'll actually sign Rio Ferdinand. Manchester United seem to be in the process of upgrading their defense and the 32 year-old may be surplus to requirements at Old Trafford. Harry tried to sign Rio last summer but failed, now it seems like the footballer with the worst vocabulary may be coming to White Hart Lane to provide "leadership" or something. Like the Friedel deal this doesn't really excite me at all, which is how I know it's going to happen.