The White Hart Lane outfit have beaten off interest from Arsenal to bring the 22-year-old to north London, with the centre-back signing a five-year deal
Tottenham have completed the signing of Austrian defender Kevin Wimmer from Bundesliga side Koln.
The 22-year-old has finally rubber-stamped the deal after undergoing a medical and penning personal terms with the north Londoners.
He has agreed a five-year deal with the north London outfit, having made 32 appearances in Bundesliga during the 2014-15 campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side had to contend with interest from Arsenal to sign the centre-back, with the fee likely to be in the region of €5.5 million.
SIGNED: We are delighted to announce that we have completed the signing of @kevin28wimmer from 1. FC Köln. #COYS pic.twitter.com/6eqaXlXM2j
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 29, 2015
“Tottenham is a great opportunity for me,” Wimmer told Koln’s official website.
“It is not easy for me yet to leave Koln. I had a wonderful time in Cologne and want to thank the coaching staff, my team-mates and the whole club for the trust and support heartily.
“Koln and its fantastic fans will always be special to me.”
The Wales international has been linked with a €70 million move to Camp Nou, but brushed off such speculation ahead of this weekend’s clash with Aston Villa at Wembley
Aaron Ramsey insists that he pays little attention to rumours linking him with a €70 million move to Barcelona as another FA Cup final with Arsenal looms.
The Catalan giants reportedly sent scouts to watch Ramsey numerous times during the season, while Wales manager Chris Coleman believes the 24-year-old has the required quality to be a success at Camp Nou.
Ramsey, though, has brushed off such speculation and says that he is solely focused on beating Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday as Arsenal look to retain the trophy won 12 months ago.
“That’s just something that’s been written in the papers. I’m focused on Arsenal and on winning the FA Cup. That sort of news doesn’t affect me or enter my mind,” he told reporters at Arsenal’s training headquarters.
When asked if the move appealed to him, he added: “Not at this time. I’m focusing on the FA Cup, that’s what appeals to me at this time.”
Ramsey believes last year’s triumph at Wembley over Hull City has signalled a change in attitude at Arsenal, with the Gunners brushing off their previous naivety to gain a winning mentality.
“I think in the past we’ve been a bit too naïve, maybe tried to play the way we like to play a bit too much, and we leave ourselves a bit too open in the game,” he said.
“Against that quality, if you do lose the ball high up the pitch they’ll punish you and we were guilty of that for a couple of years.
“But I think this year we’ve been a lot more solid as a team, we haven’t given them so much space to play and we’ve been quite compact, and we’ve managed to take our chances at the other end.
“I think that’s a massive step forward from last year. The only thing I think we need to do is get that consistency throughout the season to really challenge for the Premier League.”
Ramsey, though, remains wary of Christian Benteke, with the Villa striker having scored 16 goals in all competitions for the club in 2014-15 as they avoided relegation from the Premier League.
“He’s been in great form of late,” Ramsey said of the Belgian. “It’s been a difficult season for Aston Villa, but they did manage to stay up in the end.
“They showed some good form towards the backend of the season, he was in amongst all the goals. He’s going to be a big threat for them on the day.”
The striker is in demand this summer after a return to form in the second half of the season, but his manager insists he is good enough to earn a move to Europe’s elite
Tim Sherwood has told Christian Benteke to ignore interest from Liverpool in favour of staying at Aston Villa and earning a move to a bigger club.
Goal
exclusively revealed in April that Villa will demand €42 million for their in-form striker, with Sherwood keen to deter bids for the Belgian, who has nine goals in his last eight games, with a hefty price tag.
Sherwood accepts that a buyout clause in Benteke’s contract means the striker’s future is potentially out of the club’s hands but feels an extra year at Villa Park, leading up to Euro 2016, would serve him better.
“There’s a buyout clause in his contract so it will be impossible for us to stop him if he wants to go,” Sherwood told reporters. “Someone’s got to meet that buyout clause and if they don’t it won’t be considered because we don’t want to lose him.
“We’re building up to a European Championship, which is a huge stage for Christian, and a tournament where you feel that Belgium will be one of the favourites to win it. By playing for Aston Villa it hasn’t hindered him being the first choice for Belgium up to now.
“If he were to stay here and score at the ratio that he has since I took over, and ends up with 20 or 30 goals next season and then has a good Euros, he is probably playing for Real Madrid [in 2016]. Christian could go to the best club in the world if he scores 30 goals next season. He could be that good.”
When pressed on why a prized asset has such a clause, Sherwood added: “Everyone has it,” he said. “Most players would have one when they sign new contracts.” He then joked: “Am I surprised? No – £100m.”
The Italy international has been linked with Torino and Napoli but the on-loan Atletico Madrid winger says he will remain at San Siro
AC Milan attacker Alessio Cerci has dismissed speculation he will be sold at the end of the season.
The Italy international swapped Torino for Atletico Madrid last year but endured a difficult first half of the 2014-15 campaign at the Vicente Calderon and joined the Rossoneri on an 18-month loan deal during the winter break.
Cerci has struggled for both form and fitness at Milan, though, managing just one goal in 16 Serie A appearances, and has recently been linked with a return to Torino, as well as a move to Napoli.
“I’m reading transfer market articles, listening to talk that isn’t true,” Cerci wrote on his Twitter profile.
“As so often happens, they’re talking too much about me without knowing the reality.
“I have a contract with Milan until June 30, 2016 and Milan is my priority.”