Tottenham holding talks with Adebayor

Tottenham holding talks with Adebayor

Published Aug. 17, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has confirmed the club are in talks with Manchester City over a move for Emmanuel Adebayor.

Adebayor fell out with City boss Roberto Mancini last season and the Italian has made it clear the £25million striker has no future at the club.

Spurs and City have been in negotiations for some time over a possible deal, with Adebayor's reported £170,000 a week wage packet proving to be the only real stumbling block.

Redknapp hopes to seal a move for the striker soon, saying today: "The chairman is talking to Man City about the player but where they (the negotiations) are at, I genuinely don't know."

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Adebayor spent the second half of last season on loan at Real Madrid, where he scored twice against Tottenham in the Champions League quarter-final first leg clash between the two teams at the Bernabeu.

During that match Spurs fans chanted abusive songs at the former Arsenal marksman, but the player himself said this summer the songs would not put him off signing for Redknapp's team.

Redknapp has been in the market for a striker all summer after Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko all failed to score regularly last season.

The deal currently being negotiated with City is thought to be a loan deal, with the possibility of a permanent transfer at the end of the season.

Redknapp has been linked with a number of other strikers this summer, including Twente hitman Bryan Ruiz.

Redknapp was in Holland to watch the Costa Rica international score in Twente's 2-2 draw with Benfica last night, but admits a deal for the forward is unlikely as he is more concerned about adding to his midfield, which has been hit by injuries to key players.

"I went and watched the game and watched him play,'' said Redknapp, who was speaking ahead of Thursday's Europa League play-off first leg against Hearts at Tynecastle.

"He is a good player but we are more desperate in other areas.

"I don't think anything is going to happen. He's a good player that I have watched before. I just like going to watch football matches so I thought I'd just go and see the game.''

Redknapp is facing an injury crisis ahead of the clash in Edinburgh with six of his midfielders unavailable.

One of those players is groin injury victim Luka Modric - the man who has been at the centre of a summer-long tug-of-war between Tottenham and Chelsea.

The Blues are reportedly set to return with a new #30million plus offer for the Croatian, but Redknapp insists the club's stance that the 25-year-old will not be sold has not changed.

"I don't know where it's at and Daniel (Levy) has said all along that he is not going to sell Luka so that is probably it as far as I know,'' Redknapp added.

"There is no sign of him going. If he doesn't go it's an area we need to strengthen and we have one or two irons in the fire.

"We are trying (to get players in). We have some names and we are trying to get one or two in. We need to do a little bit of business.''

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