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The numbers behind Tottenham's transfer plans - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

After the disappointment of missing out on the Champions League once more, Tottenham have a busy summer in the transfer window ahead. Andre Villas-Boas has the core of a side that can challenge consistently for the top four, and more, but needs a quality addition or two to bolster his contingent.

Around a year ago, Spurs signed veteran America goalkeeper Brad Friedel and from that point onwards, Heurelho Gomes' career went into freefall. Instantly, Brad was installed as number one keeper in the Premier League side while Carlo Cudicini took over duties in the Europa League.

It seemed that Gomes might leave in January but when a deal failed to materialise, the Brazilian looked certain to be departing White Hart Lane this summer.

When Hoffenheim signed Heurelho Gomes on loan at the end of the January transfer window, fans of the Brazilian might have expected yet another long spell on the subs bench. The Germans were going through a poor season in the Bundesliga but had an established goalie in full international Tim Wiese.

At the time of writing, there's no official word from the club but it seems likely that our third choice goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes is set to join Bundesliga side Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the season.

The player's agent claims that a deal has already been struck for the 31 year old who will help Hoffenheim in their struggle to stay in Germany's elite league.

With Carlo Cudicini already signed, sealed and almost delivered to the USA, Spurs may be set to lose another goalkeeper in this window. Reports are emerging linking Heurelho Gomes with a move out of the club and some big name sides are thought to be monitoring the situation.

About a year ago, Gomes was supposedly a target for Queens Park Rangers but with Rob Green and Julio Cesar battling for the keeper's slot, some new names have emerged and they include Serie A giants AC Milan.

After spending an Autumn choosing between Brad Friedel and Hugo Lloris, Spurs seem to have settled on a definitive number one with Hugo taking the gloves in the Premier League, and Brad taking over in Europe.

That leaves two more forgotten men at the club but could January finally see the departures of Carlo Cudicini and Heurelho Gomes?

Yesterday we looked at the possibility of new arrivals at White Hart Lane and the general consensus was that we were due for a quiet day. Later in the evening, reports suggested that Vedran Corluka was a target for Bayer Leverkusen and they seem to be gaining momentum this morning.

At the start of the month, Harry said that the Croatian would definitely not be leaving but after omitting him from the cup games where much of the fringe side appear, it may well be that Charlie is on his way.

Earlier in the week manager Harry Redknapp indicated that Heurelho Gomes could be allowed to leave the club in January after confirming the decision to make Brad Friedel Tottenham's number one for this season.

Several likely destinations are already being suggested and it seems that the erratic Brazilian could be about to head home to link up with Corinthians.

As far as definite departures from White Hart Lane are concerned, it seems as though the Jamie O'Hara deal to Wolves will be finally sanctioned in the next few days as he is set to join Jonathan Woodgate through the exit door.

Elsewhere though, it seems that there may be no further changes in goal, with Heurelho Gomes scheduled to stay and fight it out with Brad Friedel for the number one jersey.

With the arrival of Hugo Lloris at White Hart Lane, there will be even less opportunity for Carlo Cudicini and Heurelho Gomes to pull on the gloves in anger for Spurs this season. Both players were given limited opportunities in the Carling Cup and Europa League matches last campaign but it would surely make sense for AVB to give Hugo the nod in these games if he decides to rest Brad Friedel.

With Julio Cesar part of Mark Hughes' real life game of football manager, it seems that Tottenham's goalkeeping options are now down to just one target. If the papers are to be believed, Lyon's Hugo Lloris has been priority number one throughout the summer but with time running out, can Spurs afford to lose out on the signing?

Prior to AVB's official arrival, part of the deadwood clearing procedure had already begun with the departures of Croatians Vedran Corluka and Niko Kranjcar. Since then however, transfer activity through the out door has come to a halt, so how much more pruning is there to be done?

Needless to say, when a new manager arrives there is a chance of a clean slate for everyone involved and David Bentley has come out to claim that he has been offered one.

Throughout last summer, we ran a series of articles which we called ‘The Deadwood Files'. As the title might suggest, we considered some of the fringe players at the time – Bentley, Bassong, Jenas etc – and argued as to whether or not they had a future at Tottenham.

We were going to run that again this year but it seemed a little pointless because most of those names are still here – for now at least.

The Daily Express this morning leads with the headline that Jermaine Jenas can leave White Hart Lane this summer but it goes on to name a host of players that the newspaper believes are surplus to requirements.

JJ was loaned out to Aston Villa at the beginning of 2011-12 but after optimism over a possible permanent deal to the Midlands club, injury wrecked the player's move and he returned to the Lane shortly afterwards.

As the end of the season approaches there is plenty of deadwood to take care of at White Hart Lane and the first to leave the club could be reserve keeper Heurelho Gomes.

The Brazilian endured a spectacular fall from his number one slot last year and is currently third choice at Spurs behind Brad Friedel and Carlo Cudicini and with no sign of first team action on the horizon, the player is keen on a move back to PSV.

As soon as the QPR takeover was announced in the summer, a host of Spurs players were linked with a move to West London. Ultimately, none of these transfers materialised but it's inevitable to see further stories emerge as the January transfer window approaches.

Spurs fans will be no stranger to Roman Pavlyuchenko's agent Oleg Artemov who has been very vocal about his client's next move in recent weeks.

19 de las 111 fotos deportivas que el sitio Totally Cool Pix considera las mejores del año2011 (que no contempla ni diciembre ni otra cosa que se salga de USA y Europa).
Heurelho Gomes (arquero del Tottenham Hotspur) intenta evitar tiro Frank Lampard (Chelsea) en Stamford Bridge, Londres, 30 de abril 2011.

While Roman Pavlyuchenko sealed the win for Spurs last night, the frustrating enigma that is Heurelho Gomes showed the best side to his game with some reaction saves that kept his side ahead.

The Brazilian may have been a surprise choice in goal and after saying for much of the season that he can leave in January, Harry Redknapp hinted after the match that Gomes may still have a future at Spurs.

A couple of swap deals could be on the cards this January with both Roman Pavlyuchenko and Heurelho Gomes being used as potential bait to bring new faces to the Lane.

While Pav has only featured as a fringe player this season, Gomes has been reduced to third choice goalkeeper after some high profile errors towards the end of last season.

There was never much doubt that Harry Redknapp was going to keep faith with Brad Friedel for Saturday's fixture with Wolves but once his name was inked in on the team sheet, we seemed to get final confirmation that Heurelho Gomes' days at the Lane could be numbered.

Today, Redknapp has confirmed that while Gomes isn't necessarily number 3 at Spurs behind Friedel and Cudicini, the player is now looking at the possibility of a transfer out of the club in January.

There have been several changes of personnel at Spurs since our last Premiership game and the club website has confirmed that Emmanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker will both make their debuts against Wolves tomorrow.

"Scott is ready to play and Emmanuel is short of games, but he's a naturally fit guy and again, ready to play," said manager Harry Redknapp.

When Brad Friedel arrived at White Hart Lane this summer we knew that he wasn't just being brought in as cover for Heurelho Gomes but after taking the number one jersey at the start of the season, just where does this leave our Brazilian, error-prone keeper?

Despite publicly backing Gomes after high profile mistakes against Real Madrid and Chelsea last season, you could sense the frustration in Harry Redknapp and after picking up an injury towards the end of the campaign, it was left to Carlo Cudicini to turn in some solid performances that helped the club to fifth place.

Playing arm in arm was never going to be anything other than annoying for all concerned If every Thursday night in the Europa League proves to be as entertaining and one-sided as that, then TBFWHL won't be complaining one jot.

For all the pre-match talk of Spurs being rusty after their delayed start to the season and Tynecastle creating an intimidatory atmosphere to knock a patched up Spurs off their stride, Harry Redknapp's men put their north-of-the-border opponents to the sword with a swashbuckling 5-0 win that effectively killed the tie off as a contest, much in the same fashion as Tottenham's last European game was over by the end of the first leg.

While Spurs fans wait to see which new faces, if any, will take their place in the line up for our first Premier League game of the season, the Evening Standard claims today that one critical selection has already been decided.

When Brad Friedel joined the club at the start of the summer, it was felt that he would provide genuine competition for the number one jersey.

Heurelho Gomes' future at Spurs was brought into sharp focus at the end of last season with a number of high profile errors including blunders against Real Madrid and Chelsea highlighting the liability that the Brazilian can be at times.

After Brad Friedel arrived at Spurs last month, it seemed that Gomes may be on his way back to PSV Einhoven despite still attracting public support from Harry Redknapp who said that he now had three great keepers at the club.

By Gareth McKnight, writing from Australia

The 2011 Copa America in Argentina kicks off in early July, with the hosts the favourites amongst most bookmakers. Despite this, eight time tournament winners and current holders Brazil, as always, have a star studded squad capable of beating anyone on their day.

"Get away from me Jermaine, you're still a bit of a nothing player", Kaboul probably said. Way back in August at the start of the season, TBFWHL drew up a little wishlist for the impending year. Now that everything is done and dusted, it's the perfect time to take a look at that list and see whether or not any of those desires were granted.

By Chris Wright

Tottenham have just agreed a deal with the National Goalkeeping Museum that will allow them to display an ancient American relic betwixt the sticks at White Hart Lane next season or something like that.

Friedel's contract at Villa is due to expire on the last day of June, and Spurs have confirmed that they have muscled in ahead of Liverpool and West Brom and shook hands with the 40-year-old stopper over a two-year deal.

Liverpool look likely to miss out on the signing of former keeper Brad Friedel as he is set to join Tottenham instead.
Reds boss Kenny Daglish had been hoping to persuade the 40-year-old to move back to Anfield, as he looks for a back up for Pepe Reina at the club.
He appeared to be winning the chase for the American's signature with an offer of a two-year deal, something that Villa nor other interested parties were willing to do.

The prospect of a trip to Slavia Prague next season hit Huddlestone like a slap in the faceWhat shall we say about that season then? Rarely in Tottenham's recent history has opinion been so polarised at the climax of a campaign. There are those who plant their flags in the failure camp, claiming that dropping down to 5th and losing so many points in draws is unacceptable and that the current regime is stalling.

Sidelined for almost the whole season in favour of Heurhelo Gomes, the 37 year-old veteran keeper has arguably gone beyond the call of duty when asked to stand in for Heurhelo Gomes for two brief periods during the season when the No. 1 was hit firstly with a match ban and then more recently was ruled out with a back injury.

With about two months left in the transfer market, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp will need to show some life in making additional changes to the squad. So far there has not been much movement in the acquiring of new players. The lone player to arrive at White Hart Lane is Brad Friedel, the veteran goal keeper from Aston Villa on a free transfer.

Is anyone starting to get frustrated at the way Spurs conduct their transfer activity?

With our backs to the wall, when players have had their heads turned, you have to admire how Daniel Levy has drained millions from other chairman for the likes of Berbatov, Carrick and Keane.

Unfortunately the flip side of this approach has meant that Spurs are stuck with a large group of players that are beyond the age where they can improve, and their wages and valuations are so high we can't get rid of them.

The last few years have seen a string of problems between the posts at White Hart Lane and can probably be traced back to the point when Paul Robinson fell out of form and favour under Juande Ramos. From there, Robinson was replaced by Heurelho Gomes who has many fans at the club despite a constant stream of costly errors between the sticks.

It looks increasingly likely that Tottenham's reserve keeper Heurelho Gomes has played his last game for the club as the club announced that he has undergone surgery after a scan showed a medial tear.

According to the official website,

‘Following consultation with a specialist, it is expected that the Brazil goalkeeper will return to training in four weeks.