With the start of any new year comes fervent transfer speculation in the British media.
And 2011 is no different.
Just days after it emerged that David Beckham - one of the most glamorous and high-profile sports personalities of all-time - had asked his club, MLS's LA Galaxy, for a move back to the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has indicated that his chairman has begun negotiations to bring the Londoner back home for three months.
Beckham hopes that this move would put him back onto the radar of national boss Fabio Capello and prolong both his international and domestic career.
Redknapp is confident that ''DB7''can inspire a promising but underachieving crop of Spurs youngster to break into the first-team reckoning and that his infectious personality and famous professionalism can act as a catalyst for a title push. He outlined his qualities to the BBC yesterday thus: ''I like him...I think he's a great lad and a fantastic role model...and he'd be a big influence on the younger players''.
Although the transfer is still in progress and nothing is finalised, Tottenham are thought to be confident that the prospect of a return to London to a team in the last 16 of the Champions League and fourth in the league will be a deciding factor in convincing Beckham that White Hart Lane is his best bet during the American offseason.
Another arrival which Redknapp is keen to accelerate is that of Steven Pienaar, Everton's South African Player of the Year in 2009-10.
Pienaar, with only six months remaining on his contract, will be available for £3 million ($4.5 million) and the Spurs management are thought to be enthusiastic about the creative and tactical qualities he could bring to their side.
Before these transfers are concluded, it is important that the club reduce their wage bill and boost cashflow by selling several fringe players who cost a lot but contribute little: David Bentley, Giovani Dos Santos, Niko Kranjcar and Robbie Keane.
Alan Pardew's Newcastle United have lined up moves for the first and last but Spurs will be very clear that they will only consider permanent moves - especially as the pair had a combined transfer value of £25 million ($40 million) less than three years ago. Despite this, the club may face losing up to 50% of the money originally spent on the duo.
In a bizarre twist, Pardew has claimed today in a post-match interview with the BBC that he will approach his club's board of directors asking about the possibility of pinching David Beckham from underneath the noses of Spurs, saying: ''David Beckham is a player who could wear a Newcastle shirt...it'd be a complicated deal [but] I'll ask the question''.
A conclusion to both deals is expected by the end of next week, in time for both players to make potentially crucial debuts against leaders Manchester United at in front of their new supporters.
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