Knock me over with a feather: Roberto Soldado's transfer to Spurs CONFIRMED. I had seen him mentioned as a target before the window opened - the conventional wisdom was that he'd move somewhere this summer because of Valencia's money problems. I just never thought Spurs would meet the price. In the end, they activated his release clause (30m euros) in their second club-record fee of the summer. I couldn't be happier - he was the player I wanted most in this window - a legit proven goal scorer in his prime.
Yesterday, Spurs sold Steven Caulker to Cardiff, which I didn't understand at all. I guess AVB just didn't rate him. I did though, and as an Academy product and only 21 years old, I thought they should have kept him. He does need more first team football though, and he wasn't likely to get it at Spurs this season.
In a related non-move, Spurs had reached an agreement for his replacement - Vlad Chiriches of Steaua Bucharest. The fee had been agreed, and the transfer was even announced by a Romanian league official and the Steaua manager or DoF or something. Then yesterday morning it was called off - the club owner called from [censored]ing prison and said the player is not for sale. I couldn't help but laugh as I read all of this - it's how transfers typically go for Spurs and I'm surprised some crazy BS like this didn't scuttle the Soldado deal.
Finally - the elephant in the room - Gareth Bale. I've been confident up until now that he wouldn't be moving this summer. I don't think that's the case anymore. Real Madrid / Marca's tapping up has had the desired effect of turning Bale's head. The British press certainly aren't helping matters - they are just acting as an echo chamber for Marca. They all have such a boner for a transfer saga like this that they don't realize that it's not in the interest of football in Britain to see its biggest stars sold off to other leagues and other countries. I'm just glad that Daniel Levy holds all of the cards. He doesn't HAVE to sell, but Real Madrid most certainly do HAVE to buy at nearly any cost. After they way last season went and the fact that Barca went out and bought Neymar, Real can't just walk away from this dick measuring contest. I'd be disappointed if Spurs accepted any less than 100 million pounds in a deal. And you know what? For as much as I'd like to continue to see Bale in a Spurs shirt, that kind of money could go a long way toward the new stadium. That's a huge chunk of debt that the club wouldn't have to maintain.
When I said this it didn't mean I wanted the headlines to change to Suarez.
