Spurs 'on verge of great future'
Croatia midfielder Luka Modric said his new club Tottenham Hotspur could look froward to a "great future" despite the departure of Robbie Keane and the possible exit of Dimitar Berbatov.
"This club really has a great future. We have a lot of positive things here. We have great ambitions regardless of Robbie Keane leaving," Modric told reporters at the Spurs training ground.
"Even if Berbatov leaves, I'm sure we will find another great player to take his place," he added referring to the Bulgaria striker who is wanted by Manchester United.
Keane and Berbatov each scored 23 goals last season in all competitions and helped Spurs win the League Cup.
Modric, 22, signed for Tottenham for 16.5 million pounds ($32.82 million) from Dynamo Zagreb before this year's European Championship finals and much is expected of the jewel of Croatia's international side.
Spurs have been active in the transfer market this summer with Ireland captain Keane leaving to join Liverpool for 19.0 million pounds on Monday, a few days after the departure of former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson to Blackburn Rovers.
NEW ARRIVALS
The arrivals also include Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes from PSV Eindhoven and highly rated 19-year-old Mexican teenager Giovanni dos Santos from Barcelona and both believe Spurs can mount a realistic challenge for honours this season.
Gomes told reporters: "You cannot look back in football, and I prefer to think about the players who are here, rather than the ones who have gone. My ambition this season is to win."
When asked what he would like to win, he replied: "Everything. The championship".
Giovanni, who moved from Mexico to Barcelona when he was 13, said he had no regrets about leaving the Nou Camp.
"I was not forced out, but it was very difficult for me to play regularly there and Tottenham is the best option for me."
He said Barcelona's France striker Thierry Henry, the scourge of Tottenham in his Arsenal days, also advised him to move to the blue half of north London.
"I took his advice and he said it would be a great move for me. It's a great club and is going places.
"I am also delighted to be playing for a coach like Juande Ramos. He won a trophy in his first season here, and we must aim at winning another one next season too."
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Jurgen Balzan
Aug 1st 2008, 12:19
@ Chris Fenech It seems you have your biased opinion based on fiction...."Spurs are ranked top in the country for effective cost management, calculated by the key performance indicator wages to turnover ratio, and they generated £27 million from television rights in 2006/07 - fifth highest in the Premier League. They come third in the league in terms of surplus cash when wages have been deducted from their revenue, and also third on the predicted five year operating profit table with £70.2 million, as well as having the fourth highest stadium utilisation with 98.4 per cent of White Hart Lane’s 35,699 capacity being filled on average. Finally, they had £49 million in net assets as of the end of the 2006/07 season." (from 1000goals.com )
As for Spurs' footballing history well I rekon it is not too bad...being the first team to win the double in the 20th C, the first British team to win a European competition and a club who has been represented by the likes of Greaves,Chivers,Blanchflower,Mackay,Peters,Mullery,Ardiles,Villa, Hoddle,Waddle,Gazza,Lineker,Ginola,Sheringham,Klinsmann,Campbell,King,Berbatov etc As anything in life it could have been better and I am sure it will get better.
Jurgen Balzan
Aug 1st 2008, 12:05
@ kelly....Aaron Lennon - bought for £1m , Tom Huddlestone - bought for £2.5m...i wouldn't call that bad business as i wouldn't call the transfers of Carrick and Keane to name but two, bad deals. Obviously Spurs had their own share of bad deals as other teams also had eg Veron, Reyes, Shevchenko, Mutu, Marlet, Crespo, Morientes etc
Chris Fenech
Aug 1st 2008, 11:25
Spurs have been on the verge of a great future since they were formed ..... 100+ years down the line the only great thing they've ever had was a wage bill :-)))
How about signing some decent defenders and midfielders rather then spend another season drawing 4-4 or losing 5-3 ??
liam kelly
Jul 31st 2008, 10:36
This is the team whos amount of false dawns is only exceeded by the ridiculous and over-inflated prices paid for dead-wood players.
I notice theres no mention of Alan Hutton; a player who you could count how many good games he had for Rangers on one hand, who was torn apart by several Scottish teams front lines, yet Spurs somehow value him enough to pay nearly 10 Million pounds!
How about Aron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone, Pascal Chimbonda, Reto Ziegler, Helder Postiga to name but a few!