AVB: Paulinho can become as good as Lampard
With three new big name signings through the door, Andre Villas-Boas is looking to bring some fresh spirit into Tottenham Hotspur this season.
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas believes English football is in danger of shooting itself in the foot by pricing their homegrown players out of moves to top Premier League clubs.
Spurs have spent around £60 million to recruit overseas talents Roberto Soldado, Paulino, Nacer Chadili and Etienne Capoue this summer, with Villas-Boas insisting English clubs have little option other than to spread their net wide in the search for new players due to the price of local stars.
“There is one problem with English players in the English Premier League and it’s the price,” stated Villas-Boas “This is something that has been happening on another level with Chelsea and Wayne Rooney and Man United and Rooney.
“I think players in England cost you a lot more than what you can get out of Europe particularly in the case of Nacer Chadli and Etienne Capoue so at the moment it is a market we have been looking at with players that we have been following.
“The other two [Soldado and Paulinho] are renowned internationals that we had to pay a very high price for, but I think it is the right price for players of that level.
“Eventually if a good deal at the right price for an English player arises I wouldn’t have any problem with that.”
Meanwhile, Villas-Boas has suggested he turned down approaches from a couple of clubs to leave Tottenham this summer, as he claims his loyalty to the north London club and its chairman Daniel Levy persuaded him to stay on at White Hart Lane.
“I have been very welcomed, I have an excellent group of players and the conditions and structures we have at Tottenham are fantastic,” the Telegraph quotes Villas-Boas, who is reported to have turned down the chance to take over at Paris Saint-Germain in June.
“The arrival of Franco Baldini (as Sporting Director) takes us to another level so these are things I had to measure. I have great respect for the club and for Daniel (Levy) and these are the reasons the couple of clubs that came knocking I told them that I wasn’t interested.
“Being at the same club for a second successive season is a new challenge for me and one I am keen to experience and I believe we have a team now that can take us into the top four, which is the target we were so close to last season.”
Villas-Boas has confirmed that last season’s star turn Gareth Bale will miss the club’s first three games of the new season, as he continues to be heavily linked with a world record move to Real Madrid.
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