Roman Pavlyuchenko to stay at Tottenham Hotspur; Everton’s Jermaine Beckford to be fine after injury scare
Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko aims to stay at White Hart Lane, as claimed by his agent. Pavlyuchenko played a key role in Spurs’ best ever 4th finish in the league, making the club eligible for the Champions League this season. The problem lies with the striker’s scoring ability, as he is seen as more of play maker than a goal scorer. With 44 appearances for the Spurs since joining in 2008, Roman has only scored 10 goals, signifying that the 28 year old may not be suitable for the Premier League. In his previous club in Russia, the hitman scored 89 goals in 141 appearances, which shows that the striker doesn’t lack quality, and has that natural talent to score goals. It is reported that owing to his poor form in the Premier League, Roman Pavlyuchenko may well be heading back to Russia, with a few Russian clubs showing interest in the 6 ft 2” striker.
Spurs paid a hefty 10 million pounds for the highly rated striker in 2008, but the centre forward has found it difficult to score for the side. His former club, Spartak Moscow, along with Lokomotiv and Zenit, are rumoured to be interested in taking the hitman back to Russia, as many believe that Roman may not be cut out for the Premier league. The Russian’s agent, Oleg Artemov, however, has snubbed any such speculations and claims Roman to be a key player for Tottenham Hotspur’s manager, Harry Redknapp. The agent stated that the Spurs’ Chairman, Daniel Levy, himself doesn’t want the Russian to leave, as Levy considers the striker instrumental for Redknapp’s side. The agent claimed that Roman also has no wish to leave England in the near future, but confirmed that should the 28 year old leave Spurs, he would only sign to a Russian club.
The agent confirmed the speculations regarding interests from various clubs for the striker, claiming that Sporting Lisbon along with former club Spartak Moscow have shown their interest for the 28 year old. Oleg, however, added that Spartak’s interest was not specific, and the matter has died down. Claims for other Russian clubs, including rivals Zenit and Lokomotiv, were snubbed by Roman’s agent, claiming them to be nothing but rumours.
In other news, Everton manager David Moyes has alleviated fears regarding newly signed player Jermaine Beckford’s injury, who was seen limping off from the field in the pre-season friendly against Preston North End. It was reported that Beckford may have suffered a serious injury, as his situation was unclear following the match. The striker looked to be in great pain, and many feared that the striker may be out of action for atleast a couple of weeks.
Everton signed the 26 year old striker from Championship side Leeds United, and was phenomenal since coming on as a 61st minute substitute for Leon Osman. Beckford scored his first goal for the club on 23rd July (against Preston), and added a second one only 14 minutes later. The striker perhaps had the best debut of his life for the Premier League club, but had his perfect evening ruined after he was seen limping off the field towards the end of the match. Everton won 3-0 from Preston North End, recording their first pre-season win. The injury was feared to be an ankle injury, which he may have suffered while playing on the field. Moyes has, however, played down any concerns over the fitness of the striker, claiming that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. The manager added that he didn’t think the injury was that serious, stating that when he was taking a shot on goal, he got a knock on the top of his foot. David Moyes expects the 26 year old striker to be back in training on perhaps Monday or Tuesday, and assured that there was nothing of concern regarding Jermaine Beckford. Beckford scored a total of 72 goals in 126 appearances for Leeds United, and looks to establish himself at his new club Everton.
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