Hallelujah Halilovic
Spurs News 24/7I'm still here. I've been on cruise control since the end of the season with a blog or two per week, not really seeking to comment on every piece of non-entity repeated news story that you'll have read and seen a thousand times already. There is very little to discuss and to be honest, after another exhausting season, it's been good to switch off. I will look to change gear soon, but will stop short quitting blogging and participating in the Dakar Rally.
With the transfer window now open I'm guessing (hoping, praying) that we'll begin to see Andre Villas-Boas squad fix up and look sharp for the season ahead. And with that, we have some fresh new news.
News broke yesterday concerning Dinamo Zagreb's teenage 'sensations' (let's hype them up some more because we're unlikely to see them play for a while) with Croatian media 'breaking' the story that a deal had been agreed for the pair - 20 million Euros the alleged cost which is probably a tad exaggerated (Dinamo with history for little white lies). Halilovic is a genuine talent, highly rated and sought after, an attacking midfielder and at 17 has already represented his country. Jedvaj, not so experienced and a centre-back. It's a sort of a Andy Reid and Michael Dawson double player package where you hope both players impress rather than just the one. Might have to wait a while to find out.
Latest on this deal, via Twitter and Alexsandar Holiga (an independent football writer based out in Zagreb), includes some info from Dinamo's director of football Zoran Mamic. Bullet points for your pleasure:
Negotiations are still in progress - the deal has not been completed
Apparently the club president announced the deal prematurely (with the suggestion it's 99% done)
Dinamo 'hope and believe the deal will happen soon'
Little boy, big talent.
Interestingly, Mamic answered a question (all of this is from a press conference that Holiga was watching and translating) concerning whether anyone could possibly beat Spurs to both players - Mamic responded 'yes, that's possible' then cited that Arsenal are one of the contenders.
I'm not sure (I might have missed this) if the transfer of both players will be immediate or they remain at Dinamo for another season. But with both at 17, this is Spurs future-proofing. One of the best ways to compete with the uber-rich clubs is to steal in and capture players before they truly make their mark and become impossible to sign thanks to the high end transfer markets inflated price tags. It's a risk, considering their age, but this is to bolster our youth set-up and save us X millions in the future when seeking out the same type of player aged 23. See it as a positive and keep the faith.
I'm not even bothering with the Paulinho and Villa stories mainly because they've both settled into the comfort of contradictory quotes and context that never seems to fit the previous statement made.
These two kids signing would be outstanding work but simply a nice to have moment, with first team targets the more prominent of potential deals required. Still, it is only day one of the window.
More later x
