Tottenham face West Brom at White Hart Lane tomorrow and here we bring you both manager’s pre-match press conferences.
Spurs have only Emmanuel Adebayor, Jermain Defoe and youngster Harry Kane at their disposal in the forward department, and had been expected to reinforce before the transfer window closes. ‘Leandro is a fantastic player that I know of. He’s someone I went to see in Brazil,’ said Villas-Boas, before adding that Spurs ‘are not looking for a striker now’.
He did however, confirm his interest in Shakhtar Donetsk attacker Willian, who has been linked with a £20million move to White Hart Lane.
‘Willian is a player that I was interested in last year, he’s an extremely talented player. I wouldn’t want to go very deep [into it] because I feel it would be disrespectful to Shakhtar and it’s a club I have good relations with. When I was at Chelsea I had interest in the player.’
Despite rumours of an exit, England striker Defoe will stay at the club, Villas-Boas added.
‘I spoke to his agent two days ago and conversations have been extremely productive. The player is a player I have extreme confidence in… I hope he will be a Tottenham player in the future.’
The Portuguese also confirmed that Michael Dawson had been given permission to talk to QPR about a transfer across London. ‘We will listen to offers but if the scenario at the end of transfer window ends up with Michael staying it would be an extreme privilege for us,’ he added. He said Dawson was in contention for Saturday’s clash with West Brom, as things stand, and he could be needed as Younes Kaboul is struggling with a knee injury.
Clarke
Villas-Boas
Teams Last Time out:
ALBION (v Liverpool – home W 3-0): Foster; Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Yacob, Mulumbu; Morrison (Brunt 81); Odemwingie, Long (Lukaku 68), Gera (Fortune 69). Subs not used: Myhill (gk), El Ghanassy, Jara Reyes, Dawson.
SPURS (v Newcastle – away L 2-1): Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Sigurdsson (van der Vaart 68), Livermore, Bale, Sandro (Kane 86), Defoe. Subs not used: Cudicini (gk), Vertonghen, Naughton, Jenas, Townsend.
