Andre Villas-Boas reaffirms interest in Willian as he insists Tottenham haven't finished their summer spending yet

 
19 August 2013

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has conceded he is a fan of Willian - but has not yet made a move to sign the Anzhi Makhachkala striker.

Spurs have spent almost £60million on new signings this summer and Villas-Boas is still looking for new additions to his squad as he looks to secure Champions League qualification.

The Tottenham manager was interested in signing Willian when he was at Shakhtar Donetsk last season and the Portuguese was also linked with the Brazilian when he was in charge of Chelsea.

Anzhi owner Suleiman Kerimov is looking to sell most of the club's highly-paid stars in order to shrink their vast wage budget.

At a press conference to announce Tottenham's support for NHS campaign 'Get to know cancer', Villas-Boas was asked whether he had made a bid for the 25-year-old former Shakhtar player.

He replied: "No, no." When asked whether he admired the player, the Tottenham manager said: "Yes. This is a player who I have spoken about in the past, not very long ago.

"He is a player who I appreciate. He belongs to them and I respect them so I wouldn't like to extend myself too much."

Liverpool are also thought to be keen on Willian's signature.

Tottenham broke their transfer record twice to sign Paulinho and then Roberto Soldado, while Nacer Chadli and Etienne Capoue have also joined in the last few weeks.

Yet it was clear from Sunday's 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, which came courtesy of a Soldado penalty, that the team are far from the finished article.

Spurs are light in defence following the sale of Steven Caulker and Villas-Boas concedes there is a good chance of at least one more player arriving before the transfer window shuts on September 2.

"We haven't finished," the 35-year-old said. "We have a very, very good squad. We have done most of our activity in the market, but we are looking further on that. There is a possibility (of new signings), yes."

Despite the host of new arrivals on show in south-east London yesterday, the one question Spurs fans want clearing up is whether Gareth Bale will be at White Hart Lane next season.

Real Madrid are willing to break the world transfer record to sign the 24-year-old Welshman, but talks appear to have reached an impasse recently.

Bale wants to leave for the Spanish capital, but when asked whether he thought the forward, who has been out with a foot injury, had played his last game for the north London club, Villas-Boas said: "No. Not at the moment.

"He is a player who has had a clearing session (a light training session) today. Hopefully if everything goes well, the player will be involved and I can give you further news about the player in the future."

Bale will not travel with Spurs to Georgia tomorrow ahead of the club's Europa League playoff with Dinamo Tbilisi.

"He is in our Europa League squad, but he is not available (for Thursday's game) because he is injured," Villas-Boas added.

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