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Ramos splashes the cash in £20m spree
Simon Johnson, Evening Standard28 Jan 2008
Tottenham are set to take their transfer spending this month to more than £20million after Alan Hutton arrived in London last night to secure his switch to White Hart Lane from Rangers.
Spurs put the finishing touches on defender Jonathan Woodgate's £7.5m move from Middlesbrough yesterday, while Hertha Berlin left-back Gilberto has arrived ready to complete his £2m move from Germany.
Head coach Juande Ramos, who completed a £3m deal for Cardiff right-back Chris Gunther earlier this month, has vowed to improve the defence.
Hutton - who will cost £8m - had been unwilling to leave Ibrox for family reasons, but the right-back was finally persuaded, as Standard Sport first revealed last week, after Rangers agreed to pay-off his contract and give him £1m as part of the deal.
It means that Tottenham - who were knocked out of the FA Cup in a 3-1 defeat at Manchester United yesterday - have spent around £67m on players in the last eight months. It is an impressive statement of intent from Ramos, who has already got the club to the Carling Cup Final despite his perception that there are still many weaknesses in the squad he inherited from Martin Jol.
The arrival of Woodgate is also a major coup having beaten off former club Newcastle for his signature. Middlesbrough only agreed to sell the 28-year-old for £500,000 less than Kevin Keegan offered after Tottenham decided to pay a higher fee up front.
Middlesbrough had been insisting over the weekend that Spurs match Newcastle's bid of £8m, but they eventually agreed to take £6m straight away with the possibility of earning another £1.5m due to various add-ons. The switch also confirms Tottenham's interest in Stewart Downing is over as Middlesbrough sanctioned only one sale this month.
The winger is known to be unhappy that he has been left high and dry by Spurs after they tried hard to sign him over the past 12 months.
Brazilian defender Gilberto should improve the left back area where the club has sorely missed Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Gareth Bale in particular, who are both out for the season with knee and foot injuries respectively.
Meanwhile, Jermaine Jenas today warned his team-mates they must forget about next month's Carling Cup Final at Wembley - and focus on getting the club further up the Premier League.
They now face tough league games at Everton on Wednesday and at home to Manchester United on Saturday - and Jenas feels the team have to be more focussed.
He said: "As professionals we have to put the Carling Cup Final to the back of our mind. We have got there, but there is some time before the final and we should only think about it when the game comes around."
