Reported suitors Tottenham have been offered encouragement in their bid to sign Uruguay striker Diego Forlan from Atletico Madrid to strengthen their squad for a crack at next season’s Champions League and Premier League (Spurs 50/1 – Premier League Outright 2010/2011).
White Hart Lane chief Harry Redknapp has transformed Spurs from relegation candidates to a top-four outfit since he was drafted in to replace Juande Ramos in October 2008.
At the time Ramos had managed to win just two points from the opening eight games of the 2008/09 Premier League season but Redknapp guided the north Londoners to an eighth-placed finish before a four-place improvement last time around.
Spurs will be in the Champions League for the first time next term and although they can boast England World Cup strikers Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe in their ranks, the futures of Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane and Russia star Roman Pavlyuchenko are far from secure.
Keane ended last season on loan at Celtic and is wanted back at Parkhead by new Bhoys chief Neil Lennon while Pavlyuchenko, despite hitting some good form towards the end of the 2009/10 season, looks set to move on in search of first-team football.
So Redknapp will need to do some wheeling and dealing in the transfer market which has led to links with former Manchester United forward Forlan who was part of Atletico’s Europa League-winning squad last season.
However, Los Rojiblancos only finished ninth in La Liga last season so cannot offer Forlan Champions League football and, at the age of 31, the South American predator is unlikely to want to spend any time away from Europe’s top table.
Forlan famously took 27 games to break his goalscoring duck for Manchester United after joining the Red Devils in January 2002, but he insists he has not been put off trying his luck in the Premier League at some point in the future.
The former Villarreal star said: “If there is an offer and it’s good for Atletico and good for me I would be really happy to go back to England. But it will have to be good.
“If a big chance to return to England came up, I would have to look at it. I loved my time in English football – the people, the fans, the football, everything.
“I wasn’t sad the way it ended at United to be honest. I was really happy during my time there and thank the people at United for how they treated me.
“During my period there I learnt a lot of things and had a good relationship with everyone. The reason I left was because I didn’t have the chance to play as regularly as I wanted.”
Forlan and Uruguay kick off their World Cup campaign against France on Friday (Forlan 33/1 – To Score A Hat-Trick).
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