Tottenham Transfer Rumor Tuesday: Christopher Samba, Juan Mata, And A Lump Of Cole

It seems like we already have wall-to-wall coverage of the Luka Modric transfer saga, so as a result, I won't be discussing it here. Seemingly lost in the shuffle of the Modric and Leandro Daimaio "news" yesterday was the fact that Tottenham Hotspur actually made a signing, albeit a free transfer of a youth player unlikely to make any sort of impact on the first team in the near future. I guess now that we've signed two free players I have to stop complaining about our lack of signings.

The Leandro deal is, in the grand scheme of things, not that big of a deal, but such a signing would have perked up the fans a little bit. It also might have signaled a little bit of intent to improve to any malcontents the Club may have. It's not the same thing as if we would bring in a Sergio Aguero, or CFC's favorite player (seemingly) Fernando Llorente, but it would have been something to hang onto for a bit.

Aside from another GIF party, the only thing that can brighten my mood is either another real actual signing or transfer rumors. I won't be holding my breath for any actual news today so let's dive into some of these transfer rumors.

On To The Next One: Now that Leandro has penned a new deal with Internacional it looks like Spurs will have to turn their attentions elsewhere. Elsewhere seems to be Croatia, because if we lose one Croatian, we have to replace him. Ante Vukusic of Hajduk Split scored 18 goals in 40 games last season for the Croation League runners-up, making him the leagues second highest scorer. Vukusic is only 20 years old, but is on the small side, being listed at 5'9". Not the type of lead the line striker we need, but I suppose at this point Spurs just need someone that can score goals.

This Week's Central Defender: Tottenham have been linked with Serdar Tasci for weeks now, but this week it seems like the press believes Spurs will outbid Liverpool and Arsenal for the services of Christopher Samba. The Congolese (yes, that's the correct term, I Googled it) defender has never much impressed me due to his lack of concentration. He is big and strong and wins basically everything in the air. Not sure if he would replace Dawson or Gallas as first choice, though for £12 million he would almost have to. Spurs may offer Robbie Keane and Sebastien Bassong as makeweights in the deal, but I'm sure Blackburn Rovers would prefer cash.

Don't Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out:  Nothing terribly exciting, just the fact that Aston Villa are allegedly offering £5 million for Alan Hutton. We paid £9 million for him. I don't particularly care so long as he is gone. Also, Fiorentina are said to have offered £12 million for Niko Kranjcar. I'm not inclined to let Niko leave unless it's a really good price. If we sell Luka I definitely would want Niko to stay, but £12 million seems to be a pretty good price for the Croatian.

The Russians Are Coming: Ok, so only one of the pair of players from Lokomotiv Moscow that Spurs are being linked with is actually Russian, but they're coming from a Russian club and that's good enough for me. The non-Russian would be Bosnian Senijad Ibricic. The attacking midfielder/forward only joined Moscow last January, for £5 million, but has impressed so far. The actual Russian is midfielder Alan Gatagov. The 20 year-old has already made 47 appearances for Lokomotiv. Both players could probably do a job for Spurs, but would almost certainly be squad players. If the price is right I'm OK with these moves.

There's No Way This Is Going To Happen: Spurs continue to be linked with Juan Mata. Valencia want £21 million for the Spanish winger and Arsenal are said to have already had a bid accepted. Last season David Silva made a pretty smooth transition from Valencia to Manchester City and I have no doubt that Mata could do the same. He's a very good young player and would almost certainly have no interest playing at White Hart Lane.

A Lump of Cole: Sure, Daniel Levy broke a "gentleman's agreement", but that doesn't mean he deserves this. Joe Cole is, again, rumored to be making a move to White Hart Lane. Hamburger have been linked heavily with the England and Liverpool midfielder of late, but Harry Redknapp's desire to have as many experienced players in his squad may win out. Cole has to be on some pretty high wages, so I imagine that would be a stumbling block for the proposed move.

Player We're Not Being Linked With But Should Be: The difficulty with this section, is not only do I have to come up with a new player every week, but I need to remember which players I've already used. This is getting difficult. This week I'm going with Nicklas Bendtner. The Arsenal striker is a target for plenty of big clubs including Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, but it might be a good idea for Spurs to buy him. Sure, Bendtner plays for Arsenal and maybe he has some attitude problems, but he's worth a shout. At 6'5" he could lead the line, though that may not be his best role and though he hasn't flashed prolific goal-scoring ability the talent is certainly there.

Player We're Actually Going To Buy...This Week: This week's player is Jay Bothroyd, the former Cardiff City striker who is available on a free. Most reports have the Englishman set decide on a move to either Spurs of Queens Park Rangers "imminently". Rumors on various ITK forums have said that Bothroyd has been training at the same facility as Tottenham's Ledley King and that the Cartilage Free Captain himself has convinced Bothroyd to join Spurs. How exciting is that? Ledley might actually be a worse judge of talent than Harry Redknapp. Wonderful.