This site did report that we had lodged a £8m bid for Stuart Downing on Sunday but it has since conspired that our interest has yet to be firmed up with a concrete offer. Both The Guardian and The Sun have today ran stories claiming that we will offer under fire goalkeeper Paul Robinson as part of any deal that sees the England winger come to White Hart Lane. If this is the case then negotiations for a replacement for Robinson must already be under way, with Ajax's Martin Stekelenberg and West Ham's Robert Green the most likely targets.
As for Daniel Jarque and Fred, the progress, if any, of negotiations remains clouded. It was reported that Jarque flew into London over the weekend to discuss terms but as of yet the only update has been that Espanyol have denied that any contact has been made between the two clubs. Yesterday it seemed as though Brazilian Fred was on his way to White Hart Lane, only for the player to reject personal terms with the club. Newspaper reports today say that the deal is not dead in the water and the player seems confident a deal can be struck. If Fred does join, his signature will certainly spell the end of Jermain Defoe or Darren Bent at the club, or perhaps even both, with The Times reporting that Bent in particular has no future at Tottenham, with the only obstacle to his departure being that the club want recoup most of the massive fee they paid for him only last summer.
Team news ahead of the match against Reading this evening is straight forward, with Jermaine Jenas returning to the side after serving a one match suspension. We certainly missed him against Chelsea on Sunday, a match that served to prove that Kevin Prince Boateng has a long way to go before he can claim to be able to hold down a place in the starting XI. Reading are without defender Michael Duberry, as well as Emerse Fae and Andre Bikey, who are away on international duty. Ramos is likely to continue with Radek Cerny in goal, consigning Robinson to a place on the bench for the third match in a row.