Tottenham Confident of Winning Race to Sign German International Miroslav Klose

Harry Redknapp wants to bring hugely experienced striker to White Hart Lane.

Tottenham have emerged as shock front-runners to snap up in-form Germany marksman Miroslav Klose on a Bosman free transfer at the end of the season. Though an automatic choice for his country, the 32-year old has been confined to the bench for Bayern Munich recently and is ready to seek a fresh start abroad. His stance has alerted Benfica and Juventus, but Sportsmail can reveal Tottenham have also made their interest known and are confident of winning the race to sign him.

SOURCE: Daily Mail

Anyone who thinks that Miroslav Klose has little to offer at this stage in his career should remember the Bayern Munich man’s exploits at last summer’s World Cup when he netted four times and indeed the 32 year old has since gone on to eight goals in the Euro 2012 campaign, indeed the Polish born goal machine is the top scorer in the Qualifying round.

Klose has struggled to get a spot in the Bayern Munich starting eleven but that is mainly down to the good form shown by Bundesliga top scorer Mario Gomez and youngster Thomas Muller. Even in a reduced tole the former Kaiserslautern and Werder Bremen man has netted 52 goals in four seasons and won two domestic titles in the process.

This could be Klose’s chance for a last hurrah after a career spent scoring goals for fun in the Bundesliga and one can see why Redknapp may be interested in a player who could be a quick and cheap, if not long term, fix to his striking concerns.

Thus far this season Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch and to a lesser extent Roman Pavlyuchenko, have all struggled for form this season and that has led to the White Hart Lane boss making unsuccessful moves for a number of striking talents from the likes of Diego Forlan to Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.

Remember just how big an impact Jurgen Klinsmann made at the North London club, he too was the wrong side of 30 when he first arrived at Tottenham for his original spell at the club and then went on to be a success again when he joined on loan for a second shift.

source

Read more...

Manchester United Consider Move for £12m Rated German International Giant

Sir Alex Ferguson keen on bringing solid centre back to Old Trafford.

Manchester United are weighing up a move for Werder Bremen’s vastly experienced centre back Per Mertesacker this summer. Sir Alex Ferguson is known to be an admirer of the giant German international and the recent defensive crisis at Old Trafford has led the Scot to believe he may need another option at the back and will look to make an offer for the 26 year old when the transfer window re-opens.

Having amassed over 70 caps and almost 300 top tier appearances for Werder Bremen and Hannover it is believed that 6ft 6fin defender Mertesacker would be open to moves from the continent and that has led to much interest in the Premier League, primarily from Arsenal. With his side struggling just four points from the drop, in marked contrast to last season’s third placed finish, the tough tackler is keen to explore alternatives to his current Bremen club.

Having five seasons at the Weserstadion and eight seasons in the Bundesliga as a whole, Per Mertesacker has achieved precious little in the way of silverware and despite his undoubted success at international level (two World Cup third-place finishes and one European Championship runners-up medal) he is yet to prove himself at club level and would surely be interested in a move to either the Emirates or Old Trafford.

Manchester United have struggled at the back this term as the usual starting partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic has barely featured together with the former England captain suffering with injury problems that may well curtail his career. Jonny Evans has suffered with poor form that could see him offloaded and whilst Chris Smalling has impressed, Ferguson probably didn’t plan on the youngster being shoved into the first team spotlight quite so soon.

Mertesacker is repotedly available for around £12m and would represent a very solid defensive alternative who may well suit the physical approach of the Premier League.

source

Read more...

Arsenal Likely to Complete Signing of Dutch International Who Confirms He Wants Gunners Move

Ajax keeper makes it clear he wants to move to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal face competition from Juventus for Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg. Tuttosport says Juve are ready to cash in on Gigi Buffon to fund their own transfer plans this summer.

A host of keepers are now under consideration as Buffon’s replacement, including Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari) and Stekelenburg. But the Dutchman revealed to Tuttosport: “If an offer from Arsenal arrives, I will leave.”

SOURCE: Yahoo Eurosport

Well if indeed that quote is accurate, and it is all over the web, then surely that is a pretty damn good indication that the Ajax man wants to move to the Emirates, a move that will surely go some way to helping the North London club from resolving their keeper crisis.

Manuel Almunia was of course the first choice keeper at the Emirates when the season began but a succession of clangers led to the Spaniard being dropped and replaced by the improved, but still inconsistent, Polish international Lukasz Fabianski until he fell foul to injury. Then in came youngster Wojciech Szczesny who looked decent but then made huge errors before also getting injured. Fourth choice keeper Vito Mannone is out on loan and also sidelined.

Arsene Wenger has therefore set his sights on bringing in a keeper and the likes of Mark Schwarzer and Pepe Reina have been mentioned heavily over the past year but news that Dutch international Maarten Stekelenburg is interested in a move to the Gunners will surely lead to 28 year old becoming the favourite to become the next number one keeper at the Emirates Stadium.

source

Read more...