If it wasn't for the riots, we'd be one game into our season, and still no marquee striker signing.
Adebayor, Rossi, Llorente, Leandro Damiao, Negredo, Drogba, Gyan, Zamora (!), Ruiz, Falcao, Hulk have all been linked, with varying degrees of seriousness and so far, not a bean. Pav, Crouch, Defoe and even Robbie Keane remain.
So what are we expecting? Personally, I have faith and feel that Levy will pull someone out of the bag. More than likely we will see someone arrive on deadline day, much to Jim White's squeaking delight on Sky Sports News. I will be in Barcelona on deadline day and will no doubt rack up a terrifying phone bill checking for updates every half an hour. I will also hold out a hope of spying Daniel Levy sneaking out of the Nou Camp, maybe with David Villa under his arm.
I think Keane will go, possibly to the MLS and his boyhood club, the LA Galaxy. Crouch could possibly be off to Stoke along with Sgt Wilson, where he will spend the season standing next to the goalkeeper as Rory Delap throws footballs at him. Pav will stay and infuriate and delight us in almost equal measure for another year at least. Out of all of our striking options the man I'd least like to see go is Defoe. I'm in the camp that believes last season was an anomaly for Defoe, where getting injured early on, playing catch up and having a dip in confidence all contributed to a poor season. I was pleased with Harry's comments recently that he expects a big season from Defoe. I think with an early season goal or two, Defoe could hit 15 to 20 goals this year, like we know he can.
There has been a lot of talk this pre-season about two of our youngsters, Harry Kane and Soulyemane Coulibaly and how they could be the answer. 8 goals from Kane this pre-season and positive reviews from a loan spell at Orient last year is very encouraging. It's more likely to see Kane off on loan again this season, preferably to a Championship team, which would be better for his development than the odd Europa League substitute appearance. Despite the famous 9 goals in 4 games at the u17 World Cup this summer and 2 in 2 in a Spurs shirt, we should remember that Coulibaly is 2 years behind Kane in his career, being only 16 years old. I wouldn't expect to see him in the first team picture anytime soon. Ideally Coulibaly will get his head down and score better than a goal a game in the academy team, which is historically what top class strikers have done. Either way, he's very exciting and one to watch.
So who's it going to be? A few sites have announced that a loan deal for Adebayor is virtually done. Personally I would be very happy with this. He certainly knows where the goal is, particularly at White Hart Lane. I don't see why his mercenary tendencies should be an issue; as we've learnt from Modric this summer, there's no loyalty left in football so why should we care if someone unashamedly wanted to play for someone else before signing for you? If he's working hard and scoring goals for Spurs that's all that matters. Plus he hates Arsenal which is always a Brucie bonus.
Knowing Spurs, the reporter camped outside Spurs Lodge on deadline day will announce someone completely different stepping out of a large car at half 11. Or Jonathan Walters being shown round the canteen. Either way, did you really expect all business to be done weeks in advance and full focus on the season ahead?
It's Spurs. Here we go again.
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