Defoe free to leave Spurs as Villas-Boas targets Adebayor and Dzagoev
Andre Villas-Boas is prepared to let Jermaine Defoe leave Tottenham Hotspur as he plots moves for Emmanuel Adebayor and Alan Dzagoev a Footy Bunker source tells us.
England international Defoe is the only senior striker currently at White Hart Lane but Villas-Boas is prepared to sacrifice him with newly promoted Reading waiting in the wings.
The 29-year-old struck 17 goals last term despite struggling to nail down a place in Harry Redknapp’s starting XI and is reportedly open to joining the Royals as he enters the peak years of his career.
Villas-Boas has been told by chairman Daniel Levy that he needs to balance the books and removing Defoe from the wage bill would allow him to complete a deal for Manchester City forward Adebayor.
The 28-year-old spent last season on loan in North London scoring 17 Premier League goals and generally impressed in the lone striker role.
Spurs wanted to make the move permanent before hiring Villas-Boas to replace Redknapp with the Portuguese tactician seeing Adebayor as the perfect target man for his 4-3-3 system.
An agreement is said to have been reached between the two clubs, with a £5 million fee mooted, and the deal could be completed over the weekend subject to personal terms being finalised.
Villas-Boas will then turn his attentions CSKA Moscow star Dzagoev who is also being chased by Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid following his impressive displays at Euro 2012.
The 22-year-old star struck three times in the group stages for Russia before their surprise elimination and is keen to test himself in one of Europe’s top leagues despite the warning of his father.
“I don’t know if he will stay at CSKA,’ said his father, Tariel. “There are offers – from Spurs and other foreign clubs.
