Tottenham Hotspur were last night encouraged to move for David Villa after the Spain striker's agent claimed a sizeable offer for the player would be considered by Valencia and that he is interested in a switch to White Hart Lane.
Villa has been linked with a number of clubs, including Liverpool and Chelsea, following his stellar performance at Euro 2008, finishing as top-scorer with four goals, and the 26-year-old is set to leave Valencia before the start of the season. The club has hit financial trouble and their owner, Vicente Soriano, yesterday admitted: "We cannot assure people that we will not have to sell one of our stars."
Real Madrid are believed to be preparing a €40m [£31.5m] bid for Villa and his agent, José Luis Tamargo, invited Spurs to do the same. "Many clubs have contacted me about the chances of a player who is guaranteed to score goals in England," he said. "But I am convinced if Spurs present an offer, Valencia will study the subject."
He later added: "David likes London and likes how Tottenham play with Juande Ramos [the manager]. This is a club that excites him."
Tamargo said Spurs have not made an offer for the player but that could change within days should Robbie Keane, as expected, complete a move to Liverpool.
Keane returned to London with the Tottenham squad yesterday afternoon following their three-match tour of Spain. The Irishman did not feature in the last of those fixtures - a 1-1 draw with Hércules - fuelling speculation that he is close to leaving the club. The 28-year-old has already told Ramos he wants to join Liverpool and a deal in the region of £18m could be concluded this weekend.
Spurs - who have reported Liverpool to the Premier League for making public their interest in the Irishman - say he remains part of the squad that is scheduled to play at Norwich City on Monday, as does Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian continues to be linked with Manchester United, whose interest has been reported to the Premier League.
The Portsmouth manager, Harry Redknapp, has defended the sale of Sulley Muntari to Internazionale by claiming the offer for the Ghana midfielder was "too good to turn down". Muntari was in Milan last night undergoing a medical with a view to an £11m transfer to the Italian champions. The 23-year-old was a regular at Fratton Park after his £7m move from Udinese last year but Redknapp says his departure provides him with the funds to strengthen the squad. He is now expected to make a bid for Chelsea's Shaun Wright-Phillips and Reading's Nicky Shorey.
"I wanted to keep him but every player has his price," said Redknapp. "I built the side which got us into the Premier League from the money we got from selling Peter Crouch to Aston Villa. Sometimes an offer is too good to turn down."
The Everton captain, Phil Neville, has signed a new four-year deal with the Merseyside club. Fulham are set to complete the £2m signing of the Sweden defender Fredrik Stoor from Rosenborg.
