Pavlyuchenko to 'insist' on Spurs exit - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

Pavlyuchenko to 'insist' on Spurs exit

Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is planning showdown talks with manager Harry Redknapp after the international break during which he will "insist" on being allowed to leave the club in January.

The Russian has been largely frozen out at White Hart Lane this season and fears his lack of first-team action could cost him the chance of playing at next year's World Cup finals, with Russia coach Guus Hiddink this week warning Pavlyuchenko could miss out altogether if he is not playing regularly.

"I want to leave the club," said Pavlyuchenko, whose four Barclays Premier League outings this season have all come from the bench.

"It is impossible to remain there under the circumstances I find myself in. I have been sitting on the subs' bench for half a year and as a result lost a place in the starting 11 of the national team.

"And now hopefully we will get to the World Cup - who will rely on a forward who does not play?

"I want to play and not just warm the bench."

Spurs splashed out £14million to sign Pavlyuchenko on a five-year deal from Spartak Moscow in August 2008 and the striker fears the board's likely desire to recoup the bulk of that outlay could scupper his chances of a move away from north London.

"Immediately after the games with Slovenia, my agent and I are flying to London for purposeful negotiations and I want to take part in them personally," Pavlyuchenko added in an interview with Russia's Sport Express newspaper.

"I will ask the management to quote a reasonable price for me.

"Our manager Harry Redknapp does not talk to me on the matter. At the start of the season our manager said that four forwards is exactly the optimal number, but now he states that three is enough. And I am the fourth one so it is obvious that I should part with the club."

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