Kjaer leaves Tottenham with a transfer dilemma
Harry Redknapp has revealed that he is the latest manager interested in the talents of young Danish centre back Simon Kjaer. The 20-year old’s performances for Palermo has brought wide spread interest for the likes of Liverpool, Man United in England, whilst Real Madrid and AC Milan have also shown a liking. It appears that Redknapp is looking to Kjaer to add some strength to the defence, given the fitness woes of Ledley King and the uncertainty around Jonathan Woodgate’s and the length of time he will be out due his problem groin injury. But who is this Simon Kjaer and is he really what Tottenham need?
Kjaer started out with FC Midtjylland in 2007 but did not stay in Denmark for a prolonged period of time after his impressive debut season. He was named the Danish under-19 talent of the year and was the subject of interest from Liverpool whilst Real Madrid made a bid for the player at this time but was unsuccessful in their attempts to take the player to Spain. Looking to secure regular first team action Kjaer moved to Palermo in 2008 and has established himself as a key part of the Italian side’s defence despite his relatively young age.
Kjaer is a tremendous athlete, tall and strong. The Dane is well built, puts himself about in the tackle and one of his great attributes is he is commanding in the air where not much gets past him. Kjaer has a huge amount of maturity in one so young and possesses good positional sense that enables him to read the game well and while his distribution needs improving, it isn’t any worse than Sébastien Bassong’s at present. The only stumbling block maybe the €12m that Palermo are asking, but the decision for Harry Redknapp is how desperate Tottenham are in need of a centre half at present.
It is a dilemma of sorts for Tottenham and the question is do the North Londoners really need him? Dawson has been an absolute colossus in defence, assisted by the ever improving Bassong and while Woodgate’s chances of a return to first team action seems a little way off, King and Corluka are available, whilst Huddlestone has proven time after time that he can step in when need be. Kjaer is certainly worth the €12m that has been quoted and his potential is enormous, but given Harry has a limited budget at his disposal, isn’t there other areas of the squad that need improving first? Surely a new centre midfielder is a greater priority?
Written By Dean Bryson
We seriously need him!! Dawson is decent yes,but he’s just too bloody nice!! we need more bollocks,Dawson,Bassong,King,Corluka,yep theyre all good defenders,but is good good enough?go get this guy,flog Jenas,pull out all stops for muntari to slot in nicely next to Palacios,crouch back on bench,Pav and defoe up top,bye bye keane,theres a few more pennies!Lets toughen up and finish games off,we shouldnt fear anybody,not hope to beat the likes of Leeds in replay!
Of course we need him, we have no cover for Dawson and Bassong. We have to be realistic and admit King’s career is over. He plays one in five games on average meaning he gets £300K per game! Madness what other club would waste money like that. The club has no idea when Woodgate is back. Then to play players out of position is just asking for trouble. If Hud played there (And I think he is far to slow to do so) who would partner Palacios in the centre of midfield? We have all seen JJ is not up to it for years now and offers hardly anything to the team. We need a defender, I hope this guy is the answer. If he costs to much we could do a lot worse then going to a strong team like Stoke and putting a bid in for one of there central defenders. Really hope we get one if we are to push on.
Humdinga
couldnt agree more! espically with your views on our stricker sitch
Yup. I agree too. That’s a real humdinga.
Please stop waiting for King to make a comeback – its not going to happen, the situation is (and has for at least 2-3 seasons) ho;ding back the whole team/club.
Replace him now and send him packing in May… Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy and all he has done, but we need to replace him and fast if we are ever going to move forward.
We need to improve our defense. Get him, and sell whoever.
King deserves his testomonial and also a new contract, he is world class, even if he can only manage 2 or 3 matches in a month.
Harry is really an idiot and a born loser. He has personal grudges against certain players, especially those who were not signed by him. It is just mad that Crouch gets to play but not Pav. Harry thinks that he is the greatest manager and gives no answers to us the fans. HE must at least show us the fans and the players some respect. What has happened to Dos Santos?? Why isn’t Harry playing him now that Lennon is injured? What about Bentley? Our strikeforce should be Defoe, Bent and Pav. And we will strike fear into any team. We lost Bent (due to sandra being a better goal scorer). Now Bent is amongst the top strikers in the league. Soon, we will loss Pav. Then in future, HArry will leave (after earning so much of money as manager), and leave us with a much weaker squad. Why? All because of his attitude and personal grudges. HE thinks he is the best manager and only HE the great Haryy can find the correct players. All other managers before him are useless. And he goes on and signs the whole of portsmouth because he was the one who bought those players.
iv said on many an occasion we need to sure up are defence! totally agree we need to give dos santos a game or 2! gifted player and i would also like to see what pav could do with a game or 2!
I think the club has to move forward and forget about King. He has been a fantastic servant for the club but of late he offers nothing save disruption. take the Liverpool game for example- he only completed 80 minutes looked slugglish and siturbed a centre back pairing that had kept 5 clean sheets. If i’m honest I dont know enough about this Danish Kid but we certainly need another centre back. Corluka is not good enough at centre back. Dawson and Bassong yes but they need competition!
Firstly, on King, that is the humdinger. When able to play 90 minutes he’s still one of the best CB’s in the world. Realistically, one game every 10 days I reckon. Problem is he and Woodgate are Plan A and Plan A isn’t playing. Woodgate may come back, but King will only get worse over time. Dawson and Bassong are Plan B and have acquitted themselves very well. Dawson, for my money will always be Plan B whereas Bassong has that certain something that makes me believe he can step in for King as Plan A. This means we still need to get another Plan A (Kjaer seems like a good idea – strong, young, good in the Air) For the balance of this season we need another quality CB. Kjaer would fit the bill and with Dawson and Bassong playing he would have time to blood inand we could potentially have Bassong and Kjaer as the new Plan A with support from Woodgate, Dawson and King when able. King should be on a pay as you play deal although I do wonder how his not training affects the team. Harry complains that Pav, Bentley, Gio don’t train to his liking, but King doesn’t train at all. I know how that works in other environments, so I’ve got to assume that, in principle, the world of footy is no different than the real world. COYS – this is a need, get it done.
Dawson is good with the player in front of him, if he is turned then that is where there are problems. Also doesn’t help if the midfield is anemic, so no more Modric and Jenas in the middle. Watched Kjaer this past weekend, he looked good but that is it.
Anyone else have anything else to say about him?
We need a centre-half and a defensive/holding midfielder. These are essentials that need to be addressed ASAP.
King is unlikely to have his contract renewed. I think we’ll need another body in there come summer.