• Spurs look to bolster injury-plagued defence
• Aston Villa could use funds to invest in midfielder
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing the Aston Villa defender Curtis Davies in a deal that could mean Jermaine Jenas moving in the opposite direction. Spurs were monitoring Davies before he moved to Villa Park three years ago and the former West Bromwich Albion and Luton Town player is interesting them again after Martin O’Neill indicated he was willing to listen to offers for the 25-year-old.
With three other senior central defenders – Richard Dunne, James Collins and Carlos Cuéllar – the Villa manager is willing to sacrifice Davies, who was a £9m signing from Albion but could leave for little more than half that sum, to raise funds to strengthen his squad. O’Neill has targeted central midfield, which will be severely weakened if he loses James Milner to Manchester City, and up front as the two areas he would most like to improve.
Jenas could therefore be attractive to O’Neill, who has also looked at West Ham United’s Scott Parker. Jenas endured a frustrating season at White Hart Lane, making only nine Premier League starts and dropping behind Tom Huddlestone in the pecking order for club as well as country, although it remains to be seen whether he would be willing to leave Spurs at a time when the club has finally broken into the Premier League’s top four.
Tottenham see Davies as providing cover in defence. Although Redknapp has five centre-halves, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate missed large chunks of last season through injury. In the case of Woodgate there are genuine concerns about whether he will play again. Redknapp admitted this month that the 30-year-old, who has not made an appearance for Spurs since November, was “at a very low point in his life” as he battled to overcome persistent groin injuries.
Davies, whose availability has also been at West Ham, has been in a couple of Fabio Capello’s England squads but he has yet to win a senior cap. He scored in Villa’s 3-1 win at Liverpool last August, but then had a spell on the sidelines following shoulder surgery and was unable to dislodge Dunne or Collins when he returned to fitness.
Aston VillaTottenham HotspurTransfer windowStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk
