Spurs agree £10.9m Berbatov deal
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Your support makes all the difference.Tottenham Hotspur yesterday completed the £10.9m signing of striker Dimitar Berbatov and hope to follow it up in the next few days by securing Wigan Athletic's Pascal Chimbonda.
Spurs have had a £3m bid rejected for the 27-year-old right-back, who caused anger when handing in a transfer request minutes after the final League game of the season. Wigan have publicly stated they want £6m for him although it is understood they will settle for £4m.
Spurs are also tracking another French defender, Lucien Aubrey of Toulouse, but face stiff competition from Monaco and Marseilles for the 21-year-old while inquiries have been made about a third Frenchman, 19-year-old Hatem Ben Arfa from Lyon.
Ben Arfa, like Berbatov, is a forward and head coach Martin Jol appears to be concentrating heavily on shaking-up his striker options. Spurs will allow Mido to return to Roma, as his loan spell is up and no deal has been agreed, while they are also keen to listen to offers for Jermain Defoe.
At the same time Spurs are weighing up approaches for Crystal Palace's Andrew Johnson or Blackburn's Craig Bellamy. Both are being sought by a number of Premiership clubs.
The arrival of Berbatov is, however, a statement of intent. The deal was first revealed by The Independent and falls just under the club record - £11m to Dynamo Kiev for Sergei Rebrov.
The Bulgarian international will arrive from Bayern Leverkusen on 1 July once he has secured a work permit. He said yesterday: "Tottenham is a club that is building something special. The squad has some terrific young players, an excellent manager and coaching staff and I am looking forward to playing my part."
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