Sunderland target Roman Pavlyuchenko

Sunderland target Tottenham star Roman Pavlyuchenko as Spurs get £4m windfall from Darren Bent's move to Aston Villa
Spurs could step up Suarez bid as a result of north-east twist

By Greg Stobart


Sunderland have made Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko their top target to replace Darren Bent - and could hand Spurs a £4 million windfall from the sale of their star man.

Bent is in line to complete a sensational move to Villa Park in a deal that could be worth a total of £24m after he submitted a written transfer request following Sunday's 1-1 draw with Newcastle in the Tyne-Wear derby.

But Spurs are set for a cash boost from the deal worth around £4m under the terms of his transfer to Sunderland from White Hart Lane in July 2009 – and will finally recoup the full £16.5m they paid Charlton for his services two years earlier.

The 26-year-old cost the Black Cats an initial £10m, rising to £16.5m with additional performance-related payments which will all be due to Spurs if he leaves Sunderland for more than that sum.

And the Londoners could be set to benefit even more from Bent's proposed move as Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has made Spurs ace Pavlyuchenko one of his main targets as he prepares for the departure of his top goalscorer.

Bruce is believed to be ready to offer £12m for the 29-year-old Russian and is also considering a bid to turn Danny Welbeck's loan move from Manchester United into a permanent deal. Spurs have had no official approach from Sunderland but are aware of genuine interest from the north-east.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is prepared to sell Pavlyuchenko as he is desperate to improve his misfiring strikeforce, with Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane also likely to leave the club this month.

Pavlyuchenko's departure would allow Tottenham to make a serious move for Ajax forward Luis Suarez after talks between the two clubs hit a stalemate last week. Redknapp remains hesitant about whether the Uruguayan can reproduce his stunning form in Holland in the Premier League, but he understands he could quickly be forced in to action because of serious interest from Liverpool.

Redknapp is keen to improve his squad as Spurs target a top-four finish for a second consecutive season but still has doubts about whether Suarez will suit his side's style of play.

Meanwhile, Spurs agreed a £2.5m fee with Everton on Monday for South African midfielder Steven Pienaar and expect to complete a four-year deal in the coming days despite a rival bid from Chelsea.

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we better not sell our leading striker. the guy who was a big part in gettin us top 4. its always when crouch gets benched that we go on a winning run

we won 3 and 1 draw then pav dropped and we lose and draw

Pavs going nowhere Lought, my hope is that the Hammers up their bid for keane as he wants to stay in London and Sunderland can have Crouch, we then get Suarez and stick with 3 main strikers as VDV more or less players as a second striker anyway. You dont need a big lump up front as we saw how easily Ferdinand and Vidic coped with crouch and how Everton did the same in both games against us. We are far more effective when we get the ball on the deck.

yep i agree with all of that