Spurs to Make Bid for David Villa?

With only a few days left in the 2012-2013 season, the various newspapers, websites and blogs that write about English Premier League football are starting to ramp up their transfer rumor stories. Persuant to that, several sites are now reporting that Tottenham Hotspur either have made, will make, or are considering making an "audacious bid" of around £10m for Barcelona forward David Villa. Typically, none of these articles have anything along the lines of quotes or objective proof.

Transfer rumors involving Tottenham Hotspur striker signings are not new of course, and at some level making one is akin to shooting fish in a barrel: it's an area of desperate need, and everybody knows it. We should all expect for Tottenham Hotspur to be linked with just about every available (and unavailable) striker at some point this summer. However, due to the number of sources that are reporting it, the Villa rumor has a different feeling about it. Where there's smoke, there's often fire, although there was LOTS of smoke regarding Leandro Damiao last January and it turned out to be Internacional owner Giovanni Luigi blowing cigar smoke in our faces. So let's not take this at face value quite yet.

But, let's assume for a minute (bear with me here) that this rumor is true. On the surface, this seems more like a Harry Redknapp move than a Daniel Levy signing. David Villa is 31 and is no longer a spring chicken. While at his peak he was one of the best strikers in the world and played for a Barcelona team that was practically unbeatable, he's now seemingly surplus to requirements at the Nou Camp, despite playing 25 games and scoring nine goals for the Blaugrana this past season.

Past history has indicated that Levy is typically loath to do two things: spend too much money, and buy older players for positions of importance. There isn't much doubt that David Villa would be an improvement to our striking options – despite his age, he still clearly has a nose for goal and certainly has the pedigree to make an impact for a Tottenham team that desperately needs help up top. This past season, Villa has struggled with injury as his body has started breaking down, and hasn't been as consistent as in the past. Also, Levy isn't likely to spend stupid money for any 31-year old striker with little to no resale value, and with Villa reportedly making around €7m/year in wages, it's clear that the Spanish striker would need to re-evaluate his monetary priorities before making a move to north London. Finally, with Spurs likely finishing fifth and missing out on Champions League football, it's not implausible to suggest that Villa might not want to move to a club that's not competing at the highest level of European football.

However, the plural of anecdote is not data, and we've seen Levy make some remarkable deals for older players like Rafael van der Vaart and (yes) even William Gallas, who gave a couple of solid years to the club before joining the glue factory this season. It's not out of the question that this could be a real actual thing. Landing David Villa would give the squad an experienced, proven striker, and would certainly make a big splash for Tottenham Hotspur in the off-season.