Gold is one of Honduras's principal exports, and, in Wilson Palacios, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp believes he has a 24-carat example of that precious commodity.

Palacios is poised to make his home debut for Spurs in Sunday's derby at White Hart Lane against Arsenal, the club he could have joined after arriving in England for a trial with the Gunners in the summer of 2007.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger passed on signing the player, but was impressed enough to recommend him to Wigan boss Steve Bruce, who took Palacios first to Birmingham and then Wigan, where his assured midfield performances this season persuaded Redknapp to pay £14million for him last month.

But the joy that Palacios (right) and his family have had at watching his rise through the ranks of the English game over the last 16 months has been tempered by the knowledge that his younger brother, Edwin, is being held by kidnappers.

The youngest of five boys, Edwin, who is now 16, was seized from the family home in the northern Honduran port city of La Cieba in the early hours of the morning on 30 October, 2007, by five armed men. Despite the Palacios family meeting the ransom demand of £125,000 two weeks later, Edwin has still not been freed and his mother, Orfilia, is concerned that news of Wilson's move to Spurs will have strengthened the kidnappers' resolve not to release Edwin.

She said: "For goodness sake, the kidnappers must understand that it was Wigan who received the £14m, not Wilson. Wilson simply receives a salary from his club."

Palacios added: "The situation we are going through is very difficult, but the only way to get through it is to concentrate on football. We hope that, with the help of God, it will come to a positive conclusion.

"I speak to my mum every day about it. I'm not even sure my brother knows I have joined Tottenham. Do I wish he could know how my career was going? Of course. The kidnapping problem is something that is negative about our country."

With his family more than 5,000 miles away and in such turmoil, it seems incredible that Palacios has been able to thrive in England. Yet his response to such adversity proves he has the strength of character to cope when things go wrong on the pitch.

National team boss Jose de la Paz Herrera gave Palacios, who now has 58 caps, his debut for Honduras in 2003, and reckons Spurs have got themselves a player whose talents combine those of David Beckham, Ronaldinho, and the only England footballer to have a shuffle named after himself - the late, great Sir Stanley Matthews.

Herrera told Standard Sport: "When I first noticed him, he was a right-winger who could cross the ball like David Beckham. But it was a waste to play him on the wing, so I moved him into the middle.

"He can dribble like Stanley Matthews, but his best attributes are his physical fitness and his willingness. He never gets tired. His ambition was always to be one of the best in the world, to play like Ronaldinho. He has many of the same characteristics - he can cross with both feet, he can dribble and shoot."

That is high praise indeed, and Wenger must have seen some of those facets in Palacios's game to prompt him to tip of Bruce about him.

The Arsenal boss doesn't make many errors of judgement, but Palacios will spend Sunday afternoon trying to prove that failing to sign him was the Frenchman's biggest mistake.