Ramos Wants Funds

In today's Guardian, Ramos sends the message to the Spurs board that he will need a serious influx of funds to get the players necessary to break into the top four.

With plenty of speculation about which players Ramos will bring to the club during the summer transfer period, a couple interesting points emerged from the Guardian article.

First, Ramos seems to challenge Levy and the board's emphasis in buying only young players in the transfer market:

"[The budget] is an internal situation we have to look at. The teams in the Champions League are there because they have the highest budgets and the best players.The best of the best are not the oldest, experienced or youngest. It is not about the players' ages if they are good enough."

And, somewhat worryingly, he seems not to have directly conveyed this to the Spurs directors:

The Tottenham manager has yet to meet his executive chairman, Daniel Levy, to discuss next season's budgets, but if his ambitious target is to be achieved, it will require finacial backing.

Tottenham's pursuit of rising young talent has left the team with a lot of potential after three years, but many players have yet to develop. Instead of hitting its stride with high impact transfers, the team seems always to be waiting for its young players to turn the corner in their development.

Moreover, without experienced veteran leadership, Spurs youngsters are less likely to adopt the work ethic and determination that is required of championship contenders.

Ramos' silverware addition to the Lane should hopefully give him some latitude with the board to pursue the type of transfers he is seeking. Spurs will need players who can make an immediate impact if they want to break into the top four.

Darren Bent: Highest Paid Spurs Player

The Daily Telegraph has posted a document, apparently photocopied, which lists the 40 highest paid players in the world. Curiously, the salaries are in pounds not euros. It is impossible to measure the authenticity of this document, but the Telegraph thought enough of it to print it on their pages.

There are a few surprises in there, but none more so for Spurs fans than Darren Bent's purported weekly salary of £94,669, substantially higher than any other Tottenham player. This figure appears well in excess of what West Ham reportedly offered Bent and considerably more than reported in the press. It would also be far beyond any publicly reported salaries for Berbatov, Keane or King.

If true, this document would signal the end of Spurs' infamously rigid wage structure. That could only portend well for Juande Ramos and any summer signings he has planned.

I wouldn't hold my breath, though. This is so out of character for Levy and the Spurs board it seems preposterous.

No one is untouchable at Spurs

Perhaps because he wants to keep the Tottenham players performing at their peak, or perhaps because its true, Spurs coach Juande Ramos has suggested that no single player on the squad is guaranteed their position. The Telegraph discusses the planned upheaval to take place in the summer. In the Daily Mail, Ramos explains his high expectations of player performance:

'What I am interested in is to see how my players respond to the other night in Europe and how they perform until our very last fixture,' he said. 'These matches are important. There are many games yet to play, enough for the players to show what qualities they've got and what kind of standards they can achieve.

This comes on the heels of rumors that Aaron Lennon's position is not safe at Spurs and that he may actually be transferred at the end of the season. Clearly Ramos wants to see development by Lennon whose crossing should show better improvement by this stage. With Inter Milan interested in moving for the young winger, this story cannot be immediately discounted.

Someone to Bale us out

If I learned anything from our disappointing performance today against PSV, its that we desperately need a healthy Gareth Bale in the lineup. Between Gilberto's horrendous errors and spot kick taking that would rival my own, it was obvious that the glaring deficiencies that plagued Spurs today could have most certainly been remedied by him. Bale seems to be a class act on and off the field and we shall keep our fingers crossed for his speedy return.

New Transfer News

The Daily Mail is reporting that Carlos Kameni talks with Spurs are at an advanced stage and a deal may be near completion. Kameni has already indicated to Espanyol that he will not re-sign and his escape clause gives Tottenham a chance to secure his transfer. Interesting point to note: Football-Lineups.com lists Kameni at only 6' 1/2" tall.

Sky Sports is reporting that Spurs are tracking Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero who is currently on loan at Getafe. For what it's worth, the news appears to be coming from Granero's agent. Apparently, player and agent are waiting to see if the 20-year-old will feature in Madrid's first team next year before making a decision to seek a transfer. Madrid value the player at 24 million Euros.

give them an inch and...

Seems that after Juande Ramos gave the squad some room to enjoy themselves after Sunday's fantabulous victory over Chelsea, some of players, highlighted by Captain King, had quite a good time.

The Daily Mail has reported that Mr. King did not take well to being thrown out of a club after becoming too drunk to stand. He reportedly "grappled with bouncers as he tried to force his way back in." Way to go Ledley! At least the man knows how to celebrate in style. I mean, really, who the hell grapples anymore?

I think that Gus Poyet, acting in his official role of interpreter in chief, should have made it clear that when the gaffer let them off the leash for the night he really just meant they should enjoy a light sangria and a cigar.

Eh, really, who cares? We just beat Chelsea in a final! As long as none of them wound up in jail or injured then, in my mind, the night was a total success. Rock on boys!

Tottenham Set to Announce Plans for New Ground

The Telegraph is reporting that an announcement from Tottenham is imminent about plans for a new ground.

Link.