Sky Sports are reporting that Tottenham will not make a move for Porto forward Jackson Martinez as Andre Villas-Boas speaks of the continued speculation surrounding him. With obvious links between AVB and his former club rumours have been rife regarding the two, but the Portuguese manager has rejected the claims he will make a £25m bid for the Colombian, saying: “We don’t want Jackson Martinez.”
The 26-year-old bagged 26 goals in 20 games for his club last season which naturally sparks interest but fans of the White Hart Lane outfit can now rule it out, as well as a move for Brazil international Bernard, who had also been heavily linked. The Atletico Mineiro midfielder has had an impressive season with the Brazilians but AVB has dampened rumours. He said: “Bernard’s a player that we monitor like many others, but I think Tottenham will do nothing regarding them.”
In other news, Manchester United’s attempts to lure Thiago Alcantara to Old Trafford may have been strengthened after club legend Ryan Giggs told of his admiration of the Spaniard. Giggs told Marca: “I’ve seen him in several games. He’s a good player. But there’s always a lot of speculation with United and good players. We’ll see if it happens in the end, but he’s a big talent.”
The Barcelona man is said to be on the verge of a move away from Camp Nou after some of the big boys in European football look to expose the £15m release clause in his contract.
Read the rest of the Welshman’s words at Goal.com.
Back to the capital and the Metro are reporting that West Ham are looking to flog four first team players to recoup the £16m they spent on Andy Carroll this month. The unlucky quad are Ricardo Vaz Te, Matt Taylor, Modibo Maiga and Alou Diarra, but as the old saying goes – One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.