Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp believes he now has the right blend of strikers after completing the signing of Peter Crouch, while confirming that Darren Bent is in talks over a move to Sunderland. Crouch, who has cost Spurs £9 million (Dh54.6m), joins Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko at White Hart Lane while Bent is set to end his disappointing spell in north London. Not only does the move reunite Crouch with former Portsmouth manager Redknapp but will see him once again link up with Defoe after the duo previously combined successfully at Fratton Park. And Redknapp, who is in China with Tottenham for the Barclays Asia Trophy which gets under way tomorrow, is delighted with the options he now has available in attack.
"Crouch has joined the club. He has had a medical and everything was fine," said Redknapp. "We now have four strikers as it looks like Darren Bent could move. I believe he is close to doing a deal with Sunderland. "He gives us a bit of a different option. We now have four top strikers which is what you need at every club and so I am delighted to have Crouchy. "He is different to almost anyone else in the league in terms of his size and the way he plays the game, so I am pleased to have him. "With him, Robbie (Keane) Jermain Defoe and Pavlyuchenko we have a good strike force."
With Redknapp now seemingly happy with his options up front he may now switch his attention to a defence which has been ravaged by injuries so far in preseason. Injury-plagued Jonathan Woodgate is suffering from a groin problem while Michael Dawson damaged his Achilles and will miss the start of the season. That leaves Redknapp's options limited with skipper Ledley King yet to kick a ball this summer while Pascal Chimbonda and Dorian Dervite featured in central defence in the 2-0 defeat to Celtic at the Wembley Cup at the weekend. "The defence has not improved," he said.
"We obviously have the injuries. Jonathan Woodgate has gone to America to see about his injury while Michael Dawson had an injection in his Achilles tendon. "Hopefully he will be fit in about four weeks but it means he will miss the start of the season and therefore we are very much relying on Ledley." * PA Sport
