Harry Redknapp launched a £35 million bid for Giuseppe Rossi
The reports in Spain suggest that Tottenham Hotspurs tested Villarreal nerves with an amazing deadline day £35 million swoop for Italian and former Manchester United forward, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Giuseppe-Rossi-c15027.
The deal would have more than doubled the club record fee of around £16m, paid for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Luka-Modric-c22857.
Rossi has gone from strength to strength since leaving Old Trafford, and is now a regular for Italy and the main man at the third best team in Spain, Villarreal.
The £35 million figure would leave him, alongside Andy Carroll, as the joint eighth most expensive player of all time, above the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dimitar-Berbatov-c11254.
Villarreal were not interested in the offer and rebuffed the bid as they are fighting for a Champions League spot.
It is well-known that Manchester United have a first option clause in Rossi’s contract, enabling them to match any accepted bid for Rossi and have it automatically accepted, but there is no way we would even consider paying that much for him.
This wasn’t a problem for Redknapp or Spurs, however, “Daniel always said that if we found the right player then we would have gone for him but it was difficult”, Redknapp said. "He tried something with Rossi. I think he offered £35 million in the end. It’s
hard to get top players unless you pay top money. You couldn’t get Rossi because Villarreal don’t want to sell you him”.
That’s not surprising when you consider that the Villarreal side, currently doing so well in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Santi-Cazorla-c32505 notably household names.
Spurs are bidding for everyone they lay their eyes on, just to keep their fans happy, they have reportedly made enquires about the La Liga duo http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Karim-Benzema-c20350.
Speaking of the Frenchman, another theory is that Spurs were trying to force Real’s hand in the market, leading to Benzema becoming available to them for a knock-down fee, much like Rafael van der Vaart did in the summer.
Whatever the plan, it will now have to remain on ice until the summer.
I’m not sure how genuine, but it’s a sign of Spurs ambition that they were at least trying to make something happen in the transfer window. Redknapp is look out for a quality striker to add to his burgeoning strike force and central defender to turn his
side into title contenders.
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