Is there anything in the Abdennour stories?

Well you have all heard the links to Monaco centre half Aymen Abdennour no doubt but regular readers know me, I don't take these things at face value I dig deeper and see if they actually match our transfer policy or current situation.

Does this story have legs?

First do we need any more central defenders? Answer yes. Vlad Chiriches is surplus to requirements, we only kept him in January to provide cover for Kyle Walker otherwise he would have been sold. He gas been, in my well stated view, a disaster from day one. Far too many faults to rectify.

Jan Vertonghem. He may not even be here if we don't have European football. He didn't sign a new contract last summer after being promised the captaincy and then had it taken away from him. Next season Spurs will of course be needing a new captain so that is a carroty to keep him.

Younes Kaboul, the current club captain although almost certainly instructed not to talk to the media, has been frozen out at Spurs after allegedly going to Mauricio Pochettino to give him the views of the majority of the players that his tactics don't work, when in fact it was the views of himself, Adebayor, Capoue and Lennon I believe. That of course was November after the Stoke City loss, since when those players have hardly been seen.

Federico Fazio has had an eventful first season. Sent off, performed well, made mistakes, left out and then beaten in the air every time by Benteke and now looks shaky. With a season under his belt he should improve next season as will Eric Dier, who has even surprised me and I have been singing his praises for 2 years. he has been one of the highlights of the season, still plenty to learn but he is only young.

With the club likely to lose Kaboul and Chiriches there is room for a recruit. Clubs have traditionally had four central defenders rather than the five we have had recently. Should we have for or five will depend upon European football I guess and therefore the number of games we have to play.

So on to Abdennour. He ticks the age box being 25 and his salary in 2012 was £687,449 (960,000 EUR) which will have gone up of course but is low and helps our wage bill. That equates to £13, 220 a week (18,461 EUR).

What does his agent have to say, as that is where the transfer story has originated from this time around.

"He has only just extended his contract with Monaco. Everything is going well for him. I think he has proved today that he is one of the best in his position in Europe. 

"He is only 25 and a lot of clubs re interested in him. Arsenal do not miss any of his matches. They were there again [Monaco vs Juventus]. They know him very well. Other big clubs like Tottenham are also interested. Some big Spanish and Italian clubs are very interested. 

"PSG are very interested in him. They really have an eye on Aymen. But we are not yet at the negotiation stage. PSG have only just been eliminated from the Champions League. The club has other things to deal with. But for his progression, the only club capable of signing him in France is PSG. 

"We do not have any offers yet. Now it is not yet time to make offers. Now is time for approaches. But things will go very quickly as soon as the season is over."

That all smacks of an agent talking up his player. Monaco have had to cut back on their wages and their stadium is tiny, holding 20,000 so players who go there frequently look for an exit. It may well be the case that he has recently signed a new contract to ensure Monaco get a fee in return for a wage increase or agrement that they won't stand in his way.

Certainly his agent is trying to conjure up PSG interest. Watching a player however does not equate to wanting a player. You watch a player to assess over time and take no notice of agents saying thier client is the best in Europe.

The policy at Tottenham is to buy young and we have a ceiling on expenditure for a new player at around £15 million. Transfermarkt have the Tunisian international listed as £8.8 million (12.29 EUR) an with his contract running out in 2019.

We like all clubs like to seek out players with a year left on their contract, as they can be bought for less than their true worth, or players available on a free. These players require a signing on fee but it's still cheaper than paying a club for them.

For me while he ticks the box at 25, we are only looking to buy players under 27, we are far more likely to sign 22 and 23 year-olds. A contract until 2019 simply does not sound like pour kind of buy, I suspect he is a player we will only seriously consider if our other targets like 22-year-old Kevin Wimmer do not sign.

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