Tottenham Sign Bentley, Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin Next?
David Bentley has completed his transfer to North London, with a £15million move to Tottenham Hotspur that could rise to £17million. He has put pen to paper on a 6-year contract.
The 23-year-old former Arsenal winger made it clear to new Blackburn manager Paul Ince that he wanted to leave Ewood Park, and Tottenham was always his first choice. Despite Blackburn initially demanding £18million, the club have accepted that Bentley no longer wanted to play for Rovers.
Bentley played down talk of his Arsenal links in this mornings news conference, saying:
“It means the world to join Tottenham. I grew up through the Arsenal youth team but it’s not a problem for me, all my heart is at Tottenham.”
It seems Bentley is confident that the new look Spurs’ team that Juande Ramos is building can break into the elite top four this season.
“We can do anything we want, anything we put our minds to. You’ve seen what Ramos did last year; the fitness and level of play has risen and I want to be part of that, hopefully we’ll keep progressing and doing well. It’s all there for us - if we’re all up for it it’s quite possible.”
He added;
“I want to be as successful as possible at Spurs and I’ll give my all every day to do that.”
“The club has paid a lot of money for me and I want to repay that. I’ve never been happy with second best and I will give everything to succeed.
“If I do that and everyone else does that in the dressing room we’ll be going places because the talent is here.
“I want to be part of something special, something that will grow and grow. A club like this deserves it.”
Click Here For David Bentley’s News Conference
Meanwhile, sticking with Spurs, according to the BBC the club are in talks with Russian international striker Roman Pavlyuchenko with regards to a £15million move to White Hart Lane from Spartak Moscow.
The 26-year-old looked impressive throughout Euro 2008, scoring 3 goals. The BBC reports that the player met with club representatives some time last week, but no deal has been reached yet.
Tottenham are also heavily linked with a move for Russian strike partner Andrei Arshavin who made a name for himself in last months European Championships. Current club Zenit St. Petersburg - UEFA Cup winners last season - have declared that they have received no contact from Spurs as yet.
Spurs have been busy in the transfer market this summer, with £45million being spent on new talent. David Bentley follows Giovani dos Santos, Luka Modric, and Heurelho Gomes to North London.
Meanwhile, Robbie Keane has moved to Anfield, Paul Robinson to Blackburn, and Steed Malbranque, Pascal Chimbonda and Teemu Tainio to Sunderland.
It’s also widely reported that Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov WILL leave Spurs before the start of the season.
