Stambouli at WHL; £3.5M to loan Welbeck and Fryers set for exit

New signing Benjamin Stambouli will be in attendance at White Hart Lane this afternoon to watch his new side take on Liverpool in the Premier League.

Numerous reliable sources have confirmed that Stambouli will be in London to finalise is move from Montpellier today, and will take a seat to watch his new teammates play the crucial 3rd League game of the season.

Defensive midfielder Stambouli is set to cost in the region of £4.7million, and was considered a suitable replacement following the breakdown of talks between Spurs and Southampton for the sale of mirror-image midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin.

In the mould of Schneiderlin and costing not even a fifth of the price, Stambouli could quickly become one of the bargains in Pochettino’ side and his style of play sees him fit in nicely next to Etienne Capoue in Nabil Bentaleb’s role.

Montpellier’s website confirmed the move yesterday, with interest from Swansea, Fiorentina and Marseille all beaten off by Franco Baldini.

Stambouli’s signing could see the end for Brazilian midfielder Sandro while Lewis Holtby could also make way, with rumours that Bentaleb himself may also leave on loan.

Deadline Danny
And Pochettino is still confident that a deal to bring Manchester United forward Danny Welbeck to Spurs on loan for the season will go ahead, even if the chase goes down to deadline day.

Welbeck is out of favour at Van Gaal’s United, failing to fit in his “revolutionary” 3-5-2 and is said to be in favour of a move to White Hart Lane, however chasing clubs such as Spurs, Arsenal, Everton and Sunderland are all shy of his £15million permanent transfer fee.

A loan deal looks like the better option with United naming a £3.5million price tag for the season – consisting of a £1million fee plus his £2.5million wages.

Welbeck has been named in the England squad to face Switzerland and Norway in the coming weeks, and has a prolific international record scoring 8 goals in 26 appearances.

The 23-year-old is desperate for first team football and knows that he will need to leave Old Trafford in order to fulfil that.

Palace for Zeki
It is the same story at Spurs, however. Former United man Ezequiel Fryers now looks set to exit N17 in search of his own first team football, with Crystal Palace the likely destination for the young defender.

Tony Pulis was keen on the 21-year-old before he left Palace before the start of the season, but Neil Warnock has picked up the reigns and is also keen for the deal to go ahead.

Fryers, who can play left-back or centre half, played 16 times for Spurs last season including 7 league appearances. However with two impressive left-backs ahead of him in the pecking order and a handful of central defenders fighting for a place, his £3million pricetag looks a certainty for Palace.

The deal is said to be completed today. Good luck Zeki!

COYS

 

I will await the end of this window to comment properly on my opinions of Tottenham's dealings. It seems quite probable that much of what the article expects to happen, is indeed likely to come about. Perhaps much more activity? We'll wait and see. Personally, I would not consider making Sandro available for transfer, though again there is a strong suggestion that he will be allowed to move on with Stambouli seeming an immanent addition to the squad. I suspect some deals are all ready to be done with players aware of possibilities to move on?