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A day we all knew was inevitable has finally arrived. After a pretty small amount of speculation, since we all agreed that this was coming, Jonathan Woodgate is no longer a Tottenham Hotspur player and is free to sign with any team. A former England international and Real Madrid player, Woodgate was an immensely talented player whose playing time has been restricted by injuries for years.
After a season and a half of actually playing regularly and staying fairly healthy for Middlesboro, Woodgate moved to Spurs for a fee of £7 million. His second half of the 2007-08 season and the entirety of the 2008-09 season was successful for Woodgate, but injuries restricted him to three league and four total appearances for Spurs over the last two seasons.
Jonathan Woodgate, like Ledley King, is one of the most talented defenders of his generation, and like King, he would have been able to challenge John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Jamie Carragher for regular time in the England team had he stayed healthy and played regularly throughout his career. He's a great player and he comes off as a great guy, and I sincerely hope that he recovers from his injuries and plays regular first team football for someone next season.