Tottenham Hotspur have long had the need for an established striker and they could yet sign Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor.
Adebayor, who played for Arsenal before moving to Eastlands, has been told he has no future at City, after the £38 million arrival of Sergio Aguero, and Tottenham are known to be interested.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp hopes to seal a move for the striker soon, saying: “The chairman is talking to Man City about the player but where they (the negotiations) are at, I genuinely don’t know.”
The Togo international fell out with City boss Roberto Mancini last season and the Italian has made it clear the £25 million striker has no future at the club.
Spurs and City have been in negotiations for some time over a possible deal, with Adebayor’s reported £170,000-a-week wage packet proving to be the only real stumbling block.
Adebayor spent the second half of last season on loan at Real Madrid, where he scored twice against Tottenham in the Champions League quarter-final first leg clash between the two teams at the Bernabeu.
During that match Spurs fans chanted abusive songs at the former Arsenal marksman, but the player himself said this summer the songs would not put him off signing for Redknapp’s team.
Spur’s have been in the market for a striker all summer after Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko all failed to score regularly last season. The deal currently being negotiated with City is thought to be a loan deal, with the possibility of a permanent transfer at the end of the season.
Redknapp has been linked with a number of other strikers this summer, including Twente hitman Bryan Ruiz. The Spurs was in Holland to watch the Costa Rica international score in Twente’s 2-2 draw with Benfica on Tuesday night, but admits a deal for the forward is unlikely as he is more concerned about adding to his midfield, which has been hit by injuries to key players.
“I went and watched the game and watched him play,” said Redknapp, who was speaking ahead of Thursday’s Europa League play-off first leg against Hearts at Tynecastle. “He is a good player but we are more desperate in other areas.
“I don’t think anything is going to happen. He’s a good player that I have watched before. I just like going to watch football matches so I thought I’d just go and see the game.”