Spurs silent on new Mido link

Tottenham were today maintaining a diplomatic silence over speculation that Roma striker Mido was returning to the club on permanent basis.

Mido spent the last 18 months of his career on loan at White Hart Lane but went back to the Italian club when Tottenham decided against signing him in the summer.

The Egyptian striker, 23, has since been linked with a move to Tottenham’s Premiership rivals Blackburn but a switch back to the north London side now looks favourite.

The striker was reportedly in London for a medical on Monday and Tottenham’s refusal to comment on the issue has increased speculation that a deal is close to fruition.

Mido scored 12 goals for Tottenham last season as they just missed out on a place in the Champions League with defeat to West Ham on the final day of the season.

The Egyptian was desperate to secure a permanent deal at the club but Tottenham were reluctant to meet Roma’s valuation of the player.

Tottenham have Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe in attack but still require another striker to complete their first-team complement and the crowd favourite could be on his way back.

Meanwhile, Tottenham’s England midfielder Jermaine Jenas featured in his first outing of the pre-season programme against Borussia Dortmund at the weekend and insists he is close to Premiership fitness levels.

Jenas, a member of the England World Cup squad in Germany, trained throughout much of the summer and has lost little sharpness as a result.

The former Newcastle player missed the closing weeks of last season with a shin problem but believes he is almost at peak fitness.

Jenas declared: “It is coming back, I had a short break and it was nice to get out there with the first team again.

“I haven’t lost much and it is a case of not over-working me, just making sure I am doing enough to get strong for the start of the season.

“I think I am more or less there, I played 60-65 minutes against Dortmund in what was a good-level game so I am happy.

“Preparations are going really well for the team and I think we are as on course as we can be to try to get a good start to the season.”

Another returning World Cup star, England’s goalkeeper Paul Robinson, was brimming with confidence after making his first-team return in Germany.

Robinson made several superb stops to thwart Dortmund’s ambition of winning the friendly which ended 1-1.

He said: “I felt good and didn’t feel like I’d been away – it was nice to get a first game under my belt.

“It has been four or five weeks (since England’s last World Cup match), but hasn’t felt that long as I have been training well and kept myself sharp.

“It was another good result in pre-season against a team who had superb backing – similar to ours at White Hart Lane.”