69 goals, 48 assists, 174 games

Having passed over one Ukranian winger because of his wage demands Tottenham are once again being linked with another Ukranian winger.



As you are no doubt all aware, this time it is 25-year-old (26 in October) Andriy Yarmolenko, a player we have been linked with before during this window. Tottenham have a list of names for each position, we want to sign Timo Werner for instance ahead of Saido Berahino. It's the same in every position so Yarmelenko has been sounded out previously and his agents have known there is Tottenham interest.

They have also known therefore that something may happen, it may not. They and the player could then decide what to do, wait for an offer that may come, accept another offer or stay where they are. He has a contract until 2016 so can't be sold at his full market value, in a year he will be a free agent. Dynamo Kiev can try for a large fee but no club will entertain a large offer and certainly Tottenham won't be swayed by what other clubs may value him at, that may be the way the media think but not a major organisation.

Tottenham will have our top price and a price we hope to get him at, bidding will start below that, while the selling club leak true or false stories to the media suggesting the player is worth much more, such things are for fans more than anything else, they have little or no effect on businessmen skilled in negotiations.

Buying players from Ukraine or Russia or from Russian owners never seems to be an easy task and Dynamo Kiev president Igor Surkis seems to have his own ideas on where Yarmelenko should finish up, as reported by Sport-Express UA.

"Ultimately, the amount of compensation is not important, but the fact that the level of the club to which he goes is on a par with Yarmolenko. A level that is undoubtedly higher than Stoke."

Dynamo Kiev seem to be making plans to compensate for his loss, 21-year-old attacking midfielder Derlis González, a Paraguayan international currently with Swiss side Basel. González has expressed his desire to join Dynamo Kiev so all parties are keen to see the deal happen. The transfer fee suggested for him is between 10-15 million Euros (£7.05-10.57m), the upper figure which has been guessed at as being an unofficial bid Spurs are supposed to have made.

Personally I doubt we have bid 10.57 million at all, probably more like £7.05 million (US$11.01m - AUS$15.07m - €10m) with room for negotiation to a maximum of £10.57 million (US$16.52m - AUS$22.60m - €15m), any more for a player with only a year left would be overspending, not a Tottenham trait. You don't enter negotiations with an upper figure but a lower figure, what any else may have bid is irrelevant if neither the club want to sell to that party or the player doesn't want to go there.

His statistics look good 69 goals and 48 assists in 174 Premier Liga games, 14 goals and 14 assists in 26 league games last season, 96 goals and 65 assists in 264 games for Dynamo Kiev and 19 goals in 40 Ukranian caps compared to Yevhen Konoplyanks's 10 goals in 45 games.

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