Spurs spree nets Malbranque and Chimbonda
Jon Brodkin and Dominic Fifield
Wednesday August 30, 2006
The Guardian
Tottenham Hotspur are braced for a breathless close to the transfer window, with yesterday's purchase of the Egyptian striker Mido merely the start of hectic activity at White Hart Lane. Steed Malbranque and Pascal Chimbonda were last night poised to join the club, and at least two players are set to depart.
After a busy day of negotiations Spurs agreed a fee with Wigan Athletic for Chimbonda and looked certain to get Malbranque from Fulham in a deal which is likely to see Wayne Routledge move in the opposite direction. Chimbonda's arrival clears the way for Lee Young-pyo to join Roma, the club from whom Mido has signed for Spurs for £3.4m.
Tottenham need to improve on a disappointing start to the season which has featured defeats to Bolton Wanderers and Everton, and the signings should boost the squad and fans. The club is not short of funds, especially after selling Michael Carrick to Manchester United, and their outlay on Mido, Malbranque and Chimbonda will amount to about £11m. They have already spent heavily on Didier Zokora and Dimitar Berbatov.
Spurs are set to beat West Ham to the signing of Malbranque after trumping the Upton Park club yesterday by agreeing a deal with Fulham for the midfielder worth £2.5m. Malbranque's preference is to join Tottenham. He had been due to have a medical at West Ham but has switched his attention to Spurs.
Tottenham moved swiftly after West Ham had a £2m offer accepted for the 26-year-old, and the deal is attractive to Fulham because it carries a higher value and allows them to end their search for a right-winger by getting Routledge. The former England under-21 international joined Spurs from Crystal Palace last summer but failed to establish himself and spent the second half of last season on loan at Portsmouth.
The impending arrival of Chimbonda will end Tottenham's lengthy pursuit of the French right-back. Their chairman, Daniel Levy, has agreed a fee with Wigan's manager, Paul Jewell, that could rise to the asking price of £5.25m, and only a medical can now prevent Chimbonda from making the switch to White Hart Lane that he has craved all summer.
Wigan will pocket a significant profit on Chimbonda, whom they bought for £400,000 from Bastia a year ago. Chimbonda has since broken into the France squad, and Jewell has a ready-made replacement in Emmerson Boyce, a summer signing from Crystal Palace. Jewell is still looking to add a left midfielder to his squad and also hopes to sign Jason Euell from Charlton Athletic, though he faces competition from Middlesbrough for the 29-year-old. Charlton, meanwhile, are hopeful of signing the Senegal defender Souleymane Diawara from Sochaux.
Chimbonda's move to Spurs will clear the way for Roma to get Lee, who has been playing at right-back ahead of Paul Stalteri this season but will be used in his more traditional left-back role by the Serie A club. Lee spent only one season at White Hart Lane after joining from PSV Eindhoven.
"Tottenham and AS Roma have agreed in principle to the transfer of Lee Young-pyo," Lee's agent, Chin Sung-won, said yesterday. "We are in talks with AS Roma on detailed contract terms. You can consider the deal as almost sealed, as the only remaining procedure is the player's decision."
Roma are confident of sealing the deal and also hope to get Rodrigo Defendi, a 20-year-old defender, from Spurs. Mido was delighted to return to Tottenham, where he was on loan for 18 months and got 11 goals last season. "I'm very happy to be back," the striker said. "It was, and it always will be, a great honour for me to play for Tottenham. I always knew in my heart I would be coming back. It is a fantastic move for me, I have some good friends here and it will be good to be back with the lads."
Tottenham's head coach, Martin Jol, said: "He knows I like him as a player, his strength in the air and his mentality. It's an excellent addition to the squad and our striking options are now complete."