Tottenham Hotspur Chairman Daniel Levy is clearly not bothered about winning friends and influencing people. After lambasting Manchester United for ‘unsettling’ Dimitar Berbatov last season, the man in charge at White Hart Lane has taken a ‘if you can’t beat ‘em - join ‘em’ slant as he continues his attempts to prise Jermain Defoe from Portsmouth and Stewart Downing from Middlesbrough.

 

The valuations placed on both players by their respective clubs bear differing resemblance to the offers made by the North London outfit and have received mixed responses. Portsmouth value Defoe at around £2-3M above what Spurs are offering whilst the Teesside club, not taking into account the strong language coming from the Riverside in respect of the non-availability of any of their squad for transfer, have derided the bid received for their England winger as not even close to their valuation. Spurs have improved on a £6M offer but Boro’s circa £15M valuation seems immaterial given their rejection of the players own transfer request.

Spur’s apparent complicity in the initiation of these deals via the press cannot have gone unnoticed at Gloucester Place.