Tottenham beat writer says Janssen deal “is going to happen”

Greg Stobart is a name familiar to many Tottenham Hotspur fans. Currently a senior football reporter for Squawka, he’s a journalist that’s had connections to Tottenham in the past and is someone who generally knows what he’s talking about when it comes to dealings at White Hart Lane.

Stobart, in a video clip on Squawka, was extremely optimistic about Tottenham’s deal for AZ Alkmaar striker Vincent Janssen, coming straight out and saying that the deal “is going to happen.”

The article itself is bizarre, with Squawka News reporting on a Squawka News video that features an interview with Squawka News chief reporter Greg Stobart. Squawka is weird and mostly not reliable, but Stobart is neither, and he gives some interesting insight into the latest development of this transfer story, which is itself both weird and tiresome.

It’s going to happen. It’s very tense between AZ and Tottenham.

...They’ve been trying to get AZ to talk to them, “let’s see if we can get some add-ons, let’s sit down, we’ll fly out to Holland to talk, or speak on the phone,” but they’ve been completely ignored, not even told to go away.

By [Janssen’s] agent they’ve been made well aware that €20m will do the deal. AZ accepted a €20m bid from West Ham and [Janssen] turned them down. He’s desperate for Tottenham.

Tottenham expect to get it done this week. They were going to make the bid on Monday night; I haven’t heard anything since. But certainly they’re getting their ducks in a row and they want to get him in to get a good preseason.

The wild mood swings from this transfer alone are enough to drive me to beta-blockers, but Stobart usually is clued in to goings on at the club. Looked at through this lens, it’s optimistic news. What’s interesting here is that Spurs seem to be getting their information by doing an end-around of AZ entirely, and going through Janssen’s agent. That once again implies that Janssen is desperate to make the deal and leave.

Also optimistic is the fact that AZ is previously on record as having accepted a €20m bid from West Ham. If Spurs are ready to offer that kind of cash and Max Huiberts decides not to be a humungous jerk about it a la Jeremy Peace, then this is all good news.

One way or another, however, let’s just let it end. I’m not sure my heart can take it.