Tottenham target Roberto Soldado hints at Premier League move

Spanish international Roberto Soldado has intimated that he may wish to join Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane.

Villas-Boas is an admirer of the prolific 28-year-old hitman, and is reportedly lining up a move to bring Soldado to Tottenham for next season.

The Portuguese manager is hoping that chairman Daniel Levy will invest in the Spurs squad early this summer and not wait until the last minute to conclude the North London club’s business.

And with that in mind Villas-Boas is keen to see Levy make a £20million offer to Valencia, who regularly require star names to be sold to keep on a solid economic footing.

Soldado is refusing to rule out a move to Tottenham, by claiming he would be interested in playing his next season in England or Germany.

“I’m very happy at Valencia but will not close the door to anything,” said Soldado.

“I know that some of my Spain team-mates have left La Liga and done very well.

“The Premier League and the Bundesliga are very attractive for any player and we would all like to enjoy something there.”

The former Real Madrid frontman may be talking about the likes of David Silva and Juan Mata as inspiration for wanting to move abroad, who both left Valencia for transfers to England.

Silva won the Premier League title with Manchester City in the 2011/12 campaign as well as the FA Cup a year earlier, while Juan Mata has secured Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup accolades during his time at Chelsea.

Soldado may be just the man to help Tottenham break into the top-four and compete for silverware, having fired 30 goals for club and country this season.

Los Che’s number nine is currently away with the Spain squad in Brazil for the Confederations Cup – where he will hope to add to his nine international caps.

But Tottenham are paving the way for his arrival and other new signings this summer by telling a number of existing players that they are surplus to requirements.

While William Gallas, David Bentley and John Bostock have all been released, strikers Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor lead the high-profile names up for sale.

Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Andros Townsend, Beniot Assou-Ekotto, Heurelho Gomes and Brad Friedel will also be allowed to leave, as Spurs chase new faces.

Also on Tottenham’s striker shortlist is Brazilian forward Leandro Damiao and Barcelona’s David Villa.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.