According to ESPN Soccernet, Tottenham received a “big-money” bid from an unknown club for defender Gareth Bale. Wales national coach John Toshack said,

“It was a big-money bid - it’s big money to me anyway. You’ll have to ask Tottenham, they know about it. Gareth is aware people are looking at him and people are interested.”

However Toshack would not reveal the club, saying,

“I wouldn’t do that out of confidence for the people who have informed me … He’s still a young lad and there’s things he has to learn but there are a lot of people looking at him and taking an interest in him.

“I just hope he can take his club performances into our games at international level. He’s in Champions League football now, which is another platform for him to show what he can do, and if he steers clear of the injury problems he has had he’s got everything going for him to be a big, big player.”

UPDATE: According to Tottenham’s official website, Tottenham have confirmed that the club has reached an agreement with Real Madrid for Rafael Van Der Vaart.

September 1st, 2010: According to Sky Sports News, Tottenham were not able to hand in the paperwork in time before the deadline due to technical reasons. Tottenham have request “special dispensation from the Premier League” to sign Van Der Vaart.
August 31th, 2010: According to Sky Sports News, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is still unsure whether they signed Van Der Vaart in time. Redknapp said,

“It’s still dragging on. We are just waiting to see whether it’s all gone through … We are waiting for clearance. The chairman is dealing with it and Darren Eales the secretary, there is nothing more I can do now.”

August 31st, 2010: According to Marca, Tottenham were able to finalize the deal for Rafael Van Der Vaart in time.

August 31st, 2010 According to the Metro, Tottenham went all the way to the transfer deadline trying to sign Real Madrid midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart. Now we are forced to wait and see whether Tottenham were able to complete the deal for him before the deadline expired.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Liverpool were unable to afford West Ham striker Carlton Cole because a deal to sell Ryan Babel to Tottenham fell through.

Due to their lack of funds, Liverpool offered to sign Carlton Cole on loan until January for £1million and they were willing to send Ryan Babel to West Ham on loan for the same time period.

According to Tottenham’s official website, Tottenham have signed Spartak Moscow goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa on a season-long loan.

According to Sevilla’s official website, Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano, who has been linked with Tottenham this summer, has signed a two-year contract extension with his club that will keep him there until 2013.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Tottenham have made a £7million + player (thought to be either Robbie Keane or Jermaine Jenas) bid for West Ham United midfielder Scott Parker. However it is reported that the cash offered is nowhere close to West Ham’s valuation of Parker.

According to the London Evening Standard, Tottenham have not made any bid for Aston Villa youngster Ashley Young. Aston Villa caretaker Kevin Macdonald said,

“We’ve not had any contact from Tottenham for Ashley Young, nothing at all. We’ve not had any bid from them at all … Clubs are going to be coming in for some of our top players because one or two of them have been tremendous.

“They have shown some great form at the start of this season. I would like to think the club wouldn’t sell them but who knows … If it was down to me, I wouldn’t sell them.”

UPDATE: According to Tottenham’s official website, Tottenham have completed the signing of free agent defender William Gallas. Gallas signed a one-year deal with the club.

August 19th, 2010 According to Sky Sports News, free agent defender William Gallas is set to undergo a medical for Tottenham tomorrow. It is reported that talks between the two are at an advanced stage and that a deal could be completed this weekend.

According to Tottenham’s official website, Tottenham have agreed to sell 21-year-old midfielder Adel Taraabt to QPR.

UPDATE: According to Paul Hetherington at the Daily Star, Manchester City rejected a loan offer from Tottenham for striker Craig Bellamy.

It is reported that the club does not want to send Bellamy to Tottenham as they don’t want to strengthen their rivals, who finished one spot ahead of them in the standings last season.

July 30th 2010: According to Mike Whalley at the Manchester Evening News, Fulham manager Mark Hughes is interested in signing Manchester City players Roque Santa Cruz, Stephen Ireland, and Craig Bellamy.

Hughes was responsible for signing strikers Santa Cruz and Bellamy while he was at Manchester City.

According to Anthony Clavane at MirrorFootball, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is interested in Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland. However his price tag could prevent any deal from happening. Redknapp said,

“I like him, but he is expensive … Maybe he’ll be £11m or 12. We wouldn’t be in a position to spend that much on him if that’s what they’re wanting.”

According to the Express and Star, Birmingham are interested in signing AS Monaco striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, who played on loan for Tottenham last season. Gudjohnsen is also drawing interest from Fulham, but Birmingham are considered the favorites as Fulham’s main priority is signing a manager.

UPDATE: According to West Ham United’s official website, West Ham United have rejected a bid from Tottenham for midfielder Scott Parker. West Ham chairman David Sullivan said,

“I made a promise that I would not sell Scott and I will not, for any amount of money, break that promise to the West Ham supporters,” he told the club’s official website.

“Scott is not for sale at any price, to anyone. West Ham supporters, for too long, have had owners that sell their best players and promise one thing and do another.

“This is a new era. We are building a bigger, better West Ham and when we make a promise, we honour it.”

July 26th, 2010: According to Alan Nixon at MirrorFootball, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is interested in signing West Ham midfielder Scott Parker. However it is reported that Tottenham will only offer around £8million.

July 24th, 2010: According to ESPN Soccernet, West Ham United have slapped a £20million price tag on midfielder Scott Parker.

July 12th, 2010 According to the Birmingham Mail, West Ham United midfielder Scott Parker, who has been linked with Aston Villa, could be available at the right price. Co-owner David Gold said,

“If Manchester City pay £50 million for James Milner, Aston Villa then have that £50m and as a commercial entity they are going to want to replace Milner … Scott Parker is probably one of the best players who was not at the World Cup and the price gets accelerated because Aston Villa have that money from Manchester City.

“Scott Parker is not for sale, but what happens if someone offers £200m? It’s a laughable scenario, but who would have thought after all those ‘over my dead bodies’ that Ronaldo would leave Manchester United?

“I believe Scott Parker is our talisman, I have got a picture of him in my office doing something similar to what John Terry did at the World Cup - diving at someone’s feet to head the ball away … Scott is Mr West Ham – we will see where that takes us.”

According to Sky Sports News, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp admitted that the club is going to try and sign a goalkeeper. Redknapp said,

“I’ve got Gomes and I’ve got Carlo, which is good, but the young lad David Button is going out on loan so I feel we need three keepers.

“Carlo is coming back from a bad accident so we don’t want to leave ourselves short. We’ll be looking to bring another keeper in to give us three goalkeepers.”

Redknapp has been linked with Spartak Moscow goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa so far this summer.

According to Sky Sports News, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp admitted that he would like to bring in a few more players to bolster his squad. Redknapp said,

“We need two or three players who can make the difference … We’ve got a big squad, but I do feel we need just that little bit of quality in one or two areas if we’re going to move on from where we were last year.

“Fourth place last year was marvellous, but I think this is the best chance Tottenham have had in how many years to really push on and maintain that, and become a regular top four team and maybe push for a championship.

“We’re never going to get a better chance so now’s the time to have a go at doing that. So I still feel with two or three players it would make the difference and give us the squad we need. And if we get them in I think the sky’s the limit for us.”

According to ESPN Soccernet, Arsenal are once again interested in Nice striker Loic Remy. It is also reported that West Ham United improved their offer for the striker. Nice chief executive Patrick Governatori told L’Equipe,

“On Tuesday we received a new proposal from West Ham, for a full payment in cash … If Liverpool want to sign Loic, we need clear rules and commitments from them. But West Ham are hot for the player and we want to complete the transfer before the end of the month.”

Also, the updates page for Loic Remy was getting too long so we decided to create a new page just for his updates. The page can be found under “Loic Remy” in the sidebar section: Top Transfer Targets

UPDATE: According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool completed the signing of Joe Cole after Cole passed his medical.

July 19th, 2010: Todays biggest signing of the day was surely made by Liverpool when they signed Joe Cole to what is reported to be a four-year deal. Here are some links with reactions and information to the signing that I felt our readers would like.

• The Liverpool Echo has a video of Neil Prentice (Head of Sport at the Liverpool Echo) where he expresses his thoughts on the signing.
• Liverpool’s official website has all the reactions from Liverpool fans on Twitter
• MirrorFootball has a nice article that describes Joe Cole and why the club signed him, including several videos showing off his talent.

More importantly, we’d love to hear all your reactions to this signing in our comments section.

July 19th, 2010 According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool have agreed to terms with free agent midfielder Joe Cole. Cole is set to undergo a medical in the next 48 hours.

Sources are indicating that the deal is for four years and is worth around £90,000-a-week.

UPDATE: According to the Daily Mail, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp admitted that the club might sign goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa. Redknapp said,

“We might be taking another Croatian, goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa, we have every chance. We might be getting him and that’s good … Player wise it’s difficult really, we’re still looking for one or two. We’ll have to see who comes up.”

June 14th, 2010 According to the Daily Mail, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is once again interested in Spartak Moscow goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa and is prepared to make a bid. Last August a deal between the two parties looked to be in place until Pletikosa suffered a knee injury.

UPDATE: According to ESPN Soccernet, Nice have not yet received an offer from Liverpool for Remy and the clubs plan on holding talks with Remy on Monday. Nice president Gilbert Stellardo told L’Equipe,

“For the moment we’re stuck with the status quo, but if (Liverpool make an offer) things will be done swiftly … The amount (offered by West Ham) suits me but not the payment method. West Ham want to buy Loic because they think he could rapidly be worth €10 million more if he plays in England. They don’t want to pay us the full sum all at once.”

July 18th, 2010: According to Goal.com UK, Liverpool are set  to sign striker Loic Remy for £12.5million. Remy, who has been offered a five-year deal, is expected to fly to England for a medical.

July 16th, 2010: According to Peter O’Rourke at Sky Sports News, Liverpool and Tottenham are also interested in striker Loic Remy. Remy’s agent Frederic Guerra said,

“Yes, Liverpool are interested in Loic and Loic is interested in Liverpool … There has also been interest from West Ham and Tottenham and it is now up to Nice … Loic has always said he is keen to play in England and Liverpool are a massive club.

“I believe if Loic comes to England he will be a massive success … He is like Thierry Henry, but I believe if he comes to England he could be even better than Henry … He is a sensational player, he is very strong, very quick and two-footed. He is the complete player and Liverpool would love him.”

July 14th, 2010 According to Ken Dyer at the London Evening Times, West Ham United owners David Gold and David Sullivan as well as vice-chairman Karren Brady traveled to South France in the hope of signing Loic Remy for around £12million.

July 12th, 2010: According to the Telegraph, Loic Remy would like to complete the switch to England sooner rather than later. Remy told L’Equipe,

”I would like it to be sorted quickly … I’ve always loved the English league. I’ve always dreamed of playing in England … When a club like West Ham is on the cards, it’s always interesting.

”But nothing has been done, the clubs need to find an agreement and Nice are asking for a lot of money.”

July 11th, 2010:: According to the Daily Mail, West Ham United have tabled a new bid for striker Loic Remy worth around £11.5million. However it is reported that the club wants to pay £3.5million up front and the rest over four years. Nice unfortunately want £7.5million now and the rest paid within the year.

July 5th, 2010: According to the Daily Mail, Bordeaux are prepared to make a bid for Loic Remy but it will not be as high as West Ham United’s. Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triad has doubts saying,

“They (Nice) refused €13.5m (£11.1m) from West Ham. I don’t see how we could make a proposal that pleases them.”

July 2nd, 2010 According to Peter O’Rourke at Sky Sports News, West Ham United have made a new bid worth £11.1million for Nice striker Loic Remy.

June 28th, 2010 According to the Daily Mail, West Ham United made a bid of £10million for Nice striker Loic Remy that was rejected.

Remy was strongly linked with Arsenal earlier in the summer transfer window.

UPDATE: According to the Express and Star, Tottenham striker Robbie Keane has been allowed to begin talks with Aston Villa. It is also reported that Fulham are interested in the 30-year-old.

July 2nd, 2010 According to Mathew Kendrick at the Birmingham Mail, Tottenham striker Robbie Keane would not mind making a move to Aston Villa if a deal is worked out. However a deal will probably not happen unless Tottenham lowers their asking price below £10million.

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