Newspaper Rumour

The Mail on Sunday reports that Chelsea and Barcelona are preparing to do battle for the signature of Spurs captain, Ledley King, in the summer with the starting price quoted as £25 million.

King has been the lynchpin of Spurs defence since the departure of Sol Campbell and he has matured into an excellent player and but for injury would surely have won more caps for England. He has developed an excellent understanding with Michael Dawson who is growing in stature with every game and both could feature in England's international match against Holland on Wednesday evening.
Spurs would not want to lose such an important player, especially to another Premiership team as happened with Michael Carrick and his transfer to Manchester United last summer. Such rumours increase the pressure on Martin Jol to ensure that the team finishes in a high enough League position to guarantee European football next year and preferrably Champions League games so as to encourage his star players to remain at White Hart Lane.

Other news suggests that Portsmouth are still interested in signing Jermain Defoe who has struggled to establish himself in the Spurs team and is having to rotate with Robbie Keane, although Keane seems to b eJol's preference for the 'big' games, having played against both Brugge and Chelsea last week. Defoe started aginst Port Vale in the Carling Cup and also against MK Dons, scoring three goals in the two games. It is thought that Keane wil return for today's Premiership game at Reading, a game that Spurs must win to maintain their progress up the League table towards a European place.