Gareth Bale was unveiled as a Real Madrid player today while his former club Tottenham tried to conclude their transfer business for the summer.
Bale passed a medical in the Spanish capital earlier today and meanwhile, Spurs head coach Andre Villas-Boas was keen to add a forward and a left-back before tonight’s 11pm deadline.
Hulk and Fabio Coentrao were his preferred targets but there are obstacles that could prevent both deals from happening.
Hulk, 27, would be open to joining Tottenham and he is strongly admired by Villas-Boas, who worked with the Brazilian at FC Porto. But Standard Sport understands that Hulk’s current club, Zenit St Petersburg, would demand a £10million loan fee to allow Hulk to move to White Hart Lane until the end of the campaign.
Zenit spent nearly £50m on bringing Hulk to Russia 12 months ago and would want to recoup as much as possible if they were to consider a permanent sale.
Earlier today, Hulk was thought to be on his way to Brazil to link up with the national squad for their friendly against Australia on Saturday.
Coentrao has been Villas-Boas’ first choice for the left-back spot throughout the summer but Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said yesterday that the 25-year-old Portugal international would stay.
A season-long loan deal remains a possibility although an agreement would have to be reached on Coentrao’s wages, believed to be in excess of £100,000 a week.
Before today, Spurs were the highest spenders in the Premier League this summer and chairman Daniel Levy was keen to sell some of the players who have fallen out of favour with Villas-Boas.
Former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp was keen to take Benoit Assou-Ekotto to Queens Park Rangers on loan along with midfielder Tom Carroll, who is highly rated at Spurs, but the club believe he would benefit from playing regular first-team football.
Should Villas-Boas sign another forward, Spurs would seek to sell either Jermain Defoe or Emmanuel Adebayor.
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Adebayor is surplus to requirements and has generated interest from Turkey, Germany and the United Arab Emirates as well as in England, but his high wages may dissuade suitors. Defoe would be more amenable to a transfer in a World Cup year if he believed his opportunities would be limited at Spurs.
Spurs have also enquired about Blackpool winger Tom Ince but the player, also a target for Newcastle, may opt to run down his contract and leave for free next summer.
