William Gallas to sign for Tottenham and Chelsea miss out on Neymar
Former Arsenal captain William Gallas is on the verge of signing for Tottenham Hotspur.
He will have a medical at White Hart Lane today after leaving Arsenal on a free transfer this summer. According to reports he will be offered a one year contract at £90,000-a-week, more than what Arsenal were offering to the 33-year-old.
The Frenchman was on £80,000-a-week at the Emirates after moving from Chelsea in 2006 and made over 140 appearances for the club. He was told by Arsenal he would have to take a pay cut if he wanted to stay. In 2008 he was stripped of the captaincy by manager Arsène Wenger after he publicly criticised the team, but returned to form last season, forming a strong centre-back partnership Thomas Vermaelen.
Gallas becomes the sixth player to make the switch from Arsenal to Tottenham. The most recent and famous one was Sol Campbell back in 2001, as he moved from Tottenham to Arsenal on a free transfer, stating he wanted to play Champions League football and wanted to challenge for honours at Arsenal.
Tottenham meanwhile will go for Everton’s Steven Pienaar for around £6million. The South African has one year left on his contract and has yet to sign a new deal. Another former Arsenal player Alexander Hleb , who is currently at Barcelona, could also go to Tottenham and has been told he is no longer required at the Cam Nou.
Chelsea have missed out on Neymar as he has signed a new five-year deal at Santos. The 18-year-old was wanted by the Premier League champions, but they have been unable to prize the Brazilian away from his homeland.
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has revealed Alberto Aquilani will go out on loan, possibly to Serie A. The Italian signed for £20million last season and has not been able to get into Liverpool’s starting line-up on a regular basis.
Birmingham City are set to make a £6million move for Tottenham right-back Alan Hutton. Manager Alex McLeish also wants to secure the services of Wolfsburg striker Grafite, but could face a problem in trying to obtain a work permit for the 31-year-old Brazilian.
Blackburn are set to get Fulham midfielder Jonathan Greening on loan for the season. The 31-year-old is not going to be a part of new manager Mark Hughes’ plans for the new season, and Blackburn have been given permission to speak to him. Also, Matt Taylor of Bolton is a target for Blackburn as well as West Ham for around £2million.
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