Bony 5/4 favourite to join Spurs

In Tottenham News Shorts Issue 3 I listed the bookmakers odds for Swansea striker Wilfred Bony's next move.



Now the stories are emerging that Spurs have lined him up as a back-up to Loic Remy, if Remy gets his desired move to Arsenal, who in turn have Remy as one of their back-up option for Mario Balotelli.

The odds on a Wilfred Bony transfer are: 5/4 to Tottenham, 4/1 to Everton, 8/1 to Liverpool, 12/1 to Arsenal and 18/1 to Borussia Dortmund in Germany.

Incidentally Cardiff City centre-half Steven Caulker is 1/6 to join Everton and 16/1 to join Tottenham.

Swansea have placed a price tag of £19 million for Bony who while happy at Swansea has indicated he would be interested in a bigger club.

The striker hit 25 goals last season and is currently leading the attack for Ivory Coast at the World Cup in Brazil. His agent, Dalibor Lacina, is not interested in the Newcastle United enquiries and revealed he wants to move to a top six club with ambition.

"I spoke to Newcastle about Bony last summer. Newcastle should have bought Bony a year ago but they didn't believe in him

"They could have signed him for £10 million, but they said they weren't sure if he was good enough, that he was only playing in Holland [with Vitesse]. Now he is worth £20m.

"The next step for Bony is a top-six team in England or a top team in Germany, Spain or France, or he will stay with Swansea.

"We have a certain strategy. Bony is in a totally different place to Newcastle and wants to move to a club with ambition."

Tottenham want to sign Romelu Lukaku but we are outsiders for his signature, Spanish champions Atlético Madrid have made him the best offer at the moment. There is intense interest in him from other major leagues, Roma and Juventus in Italy, Wolfburg in Germany, plus a host of premier League clubs.

West Ham have been turned down over a loan move, Everton want him as well as ourselves. So much interest and a World Cup makes getting transfer signings in early almost impossible but that doesn't stop the preparation work with agents. Every club must have options, a list of targets in order but also targets where everything must fall into place, fee, wages, etc.

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Alternatives to Lukaku are Remy and Bony, who both have Premier League experience and the proven ability to score goals given the chances. With so many players not performing last year when new to the league, playing is safer is a wise move. Pochettino brought Osvaldo, who we were linked with, but again he didn't shine. Not everyone can play at the tempo required.

The football is faster, more physical, some players require that little extra time on the ball and some need teammates who have their team sense ability. Spanish players grow up learning to play as a team, Northern European grow up learning to play as individuals in a team. You saw it again with England last night, a bunch of individuals trying to work out how to play together without having the inbuilt natural sense.

That is not a problem for Bony as Thierry Henry pointed out to the BBC. The former French striker is impressed with the Ivorian believing him to be underrated.

“He didn’t start so well in the Premier League but then we all saw what he was all about. He can finish with his left foot, right foot header – not that I can comment too much on headers – but he is a great finisher.

“He is great one against one, he is strong, has pace, he has it all. He is always about and if you cross the ball in the box he will be there because he has great movement.

“Maybe because he is playing for Swansea sometimes people don’t like to give credit to players playing for smaller teams.

“We all know he is coming to the end of his career but if you can keep Didier Drogba out of a side you know you are doing something right.”

Alan Hansen in his first day of punditry at the World Cup agreed with Henry.

“He’s a real handful and I think he’s underrated. He is so good in the air but as far as movement and hold-up play are concerned he’s (also) very, very good. He’s like a tank.

“I think he’s ideal for the Premier League but I would be amazed if we were seeing him in a Swansea shirt next season.”

It remains to be seen how many strikers Tottenham will bring in and how many they retain after letting Jermain Defoe go. A new system, a new boss, it is entirely possible that two strikers could be signed while letting one leave.

Emmanuel Adebayor will be in the last year of his contract and can arrange a move in January for a free transfer next summer. Roberto Soldado will be known by Pochettino from his time in Spain and will know if he fits his system, I have my doubts. Harry Kane is young and learning.

An all action, hard working finisher could be just what Tottenham need.

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