Redknapp: Ruud’s wages too costly
German club Hamburg have joined the race to sign the 33-year-old Holland international, with West Ham and Stoke also interested in the former Manchester United player.
Moving to the Bundesliga may lead to a lower salary than Van Nistelrooy would demand if he joined a Premier League side, with a potential £100,000 (€114,000) per week a huge stumbling block for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
“We don’t pay that type of wages here,” Redknapp said. “Daniel, the chairman here, runs a good business and wouldn’t be paying that sort of money. It would break our wage structure by an awful long way. He’s been a great player and could still be that for someone.
“It’s a gamble because he has been injured. A fit Ruud van Nistelrooy is world-class but it’s a gamble as to whether he’s fit. If you have him for 18 months and he’s not fit it’s a big problem to have a massive wage on your bill.
“But if he plays and scores he can take the club to another level. I’ve always been a big admirer of him, he’s a fantastic player but that sort of basic wage wouldn’t be a possibility at Tottenham. Not a chance.”
Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch are Redknapp’s first-choice strikers at the moment and Roman Pavlyuchenko will be allowed to leave if the club receive an adequate offer.
“I’ve got four strikers at moment and I don’t want five,” Redknapp said. “I think I’ll end the season with these four, although that could change next week, you never know, but it’s more than likely that’s how we will go.”
Spartak Moscow are interested in signing the Russia striker after selling him to Spurs at the start of last season.
Spartak director of football Dmitri Popov said: “Now everything depends upon Tottenham. If they make just a step in our direction, the problem with Roman’s transfer will be solved. Some other teams want to sign him, too. But as far as I know if Pavlyuchenko returns to Russia, he would prefer to come back to Spartak.”
Winger Aaron Lennon is set to miss this evening’s FA Cup clash against his former club Leeds but Redknapp is ready to unleash another ex-Elland Road winger in Danny Rose.
Lennon, who was relegated with Leeds in 2004 and played for them in the Championship, was desperate to face his old club but his groin injury has not healed in time for the fourth-round tie at White Hart Lane.
The 22-year-old was sold as Leeds plummeted down to League One, along with other homegrown players such as James Milner and Paul Robinson, with England U21 midfielder Rose part of the next generation of youngsters pushing through.
Rose, 19, has been loaned out to Watford and Peterborough since arriving at Spurs in 2007, and after two appearances for the first team this season he is poised for another chance.
“Danny has worked hard, trained well and shown a great attitude,” Redknapp said. “He’ll get a chance and I’m looking forward to seeing him play. He’ll be looking forward to playing his old club.’’
Redknapp is hoping a run in the FA Cup can help the club’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
“It can propel you towards it,” he said. “Winning is a good habit. We want to go to Wembley this year and we want to get into the top four, that is the ambition of the club and my ambition. We have to win against Leeds to do that and we’ll have a great chance if we play as well as we can, especially at home.’’
Leeds manager Simon Grayson wants his club back in the media spotlight for the right reasons and knows more FA Cup heroics from his players today will keep them there.
Grayson said: “There has been a lot of media interest and that’s what we want to do. This is what this club was all about a few years ago, in the Premier League and in Europe and we want to get the club back to the top.
“We know we need to get back into the Championship, that’s the first step, we’re having a good Cup run and we did well against Liverpool (in the Carling Cup) and Man United (in the last round) and it can only help the profile of the club and also the players.”
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