Tottenham to announce Andre Villas-Boas as manager this week
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Your support makes all the difference.Tottenham Hotspur expect to get confirmation from Andre Villas-Boas today that he has accepted their offer of the manager's job. They will then announce later this week that the 34-year-old will succeed Harry Redknapp at White Hart Lane.
Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, wanted a manager in place by the end of Euro 2012, when player trading begins in earnest, although he has already started identifying particular targets.
Villas-Boas impressed the club in his interview and Levy is convinced he has learnt from the mistakes he made at Chelsea. When his eight-month stint at Stamford Bridge ended in his dismissal, the club went on to win the Champions League and the FA Cup.
Tottenham had always sought a high-profile replacement for Redknapp and, while the likes of Laurent Blanc and Ralf Rangnick were considered, Villas-Boas was considered the most suitable figure in a relatively limited market. Brendan Rodgers would have been at the forefront of Spurs' thoughts but, by the time matters came to a head with Redknapp, Rodgers had already signed with Liverpool.
There is a good chance that Spurs will sell Luka Modric this summer, although he will go abroad, most probably to Real Madrid, if he is permitted to leave. Gareth Bale has signed a new four-year deal at the club, although that does not rule out him leaving next summer. However, the new deal puts Spurs in a strong position if they decide to cash in on the player after this season.
The club hope they can sign Gylfi Sigurdsson, who was on loan at Swansea City last season, from Hoffenheim. They are also in the market for a new centre-back, given their fears over Ledley King's fitness for another season. The deal for the Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen, from Ajax, has stalled. Their attempts to sign Leandro Damiao, the Brazilian striker at Internacional, have also come to nothing.
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