Barcelona star and Brazilian on Spurs’ summer shopping list.
Tottenham have identified Barcelona’s David Villa and Brazil international Leandro Damiao as potential summer recruits as the club looks bounce back from their final day disappointment, according to Goal.com.
Spurs missed out on a place in the Champions League for the third successive season despite achieving their record Premier League points haul and the squad will now jet off to the Bahamas, the home of billionaire owner Joe Lewis, for a post-season tour.
Chairman Daniel Levy will meet with Lewis and high on the pair’s agenda is the recruitment of new stars to White Hart Lane.
Quadruple player of the year Gareth Bale is on the verge of agreeing a new contract worth £130,000-a-week and Lewis is expected to give the go-ahead for Spurs to significantly increase their wage budget to attract new players.
Top targets like Villa require the London outfit to sanction wages in excess of £110,000-a-week but the Spaniard’s arrival could be offset by the departure of current top-earner Emmanuel Adebayor, for whom the club will listen to offers.
Internacional’s Damiao has long been a target for Levy and Spurs are finally expected to complete a move for the 23-year-old this summer, after narrowly missing out on a January deadline day deal.
Besides Adeabayor, the only first-team regular Spurs will listen to offers for is Benoit Assou-Ekotto, who has one year remaining on his contract and is expected to leave in the summer after a disappointing campaign.
Spurs will resist any significant bids for the likes of Jan Vertonghen, Hugo Lloris, Sandro and Bale, while looking closely at the French, Dutch, German and Belgian markets for young talent.
The club expect Roma’s Franco Baldini, formerly Fabio Capello’s England assistant, to arrive as sporting director – a move that has been approved by head-coach Andre Villas-Boas and which should provide a link between dressing room and boardroom.
A key part of the club’s strategy this summer will also see the promotion of young players from the academy into the first team picture.
Danny Rose, Andros Townsend and Tom Carroll are all likely to be given opportunities by Villas-Boas next term.
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