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Fulham target
Tom Huddlestone |
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Fulham will renew their interest in Gareth Bale and Tom Huddlestone at the end of the season in the hope of exploiting the uncertainty surrounding the futures of several fringe players at White Hart Lane. Neither player has started a match for Tottenham Hotspur since they were knocked out of the Uefa Cup by Shakhtar Donetsk six weeks ago.
Middlesbrough tried to sign Bale as part of a deal that would have taken Stewart Downing to the North London club in January, but Tottenham refused. However, the promising Wales international has been searching for confidence this season, hampered by not having a specific position.
The 19-year-old favours playing left back, but because of his defensive deficiencies he is probably more suited to wing back. While Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, might consider selling him, the club’s hierarchy would probably be against it.
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Fulham target
Gareth Bale |
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Huddlestone started the first ten matches of Redknapp’s reign but has fallen out of favour with the return from injury of Jermaine Jenas and the signing in January of Wilson Palacios, a more combative midfield player. Redknapp has raised the possibility of using Huddlestone among three central defenders in future, but the player recently expressed his frustration at losing his place as a regular starter in the side. Huddlestone, who attracted interest from Everton in January, will have a better idea about his future against West Ham United tomorrow, with Palacios suspended.
“I understand his frustration,” Redknapp said. “Tom has fantastic playing ability like Glenn Hoddle and the ability to be a top player,” he said. “He can spray the ball all over the park. He is like a quarterback, he can deliver a pass on a sixpence from 40 yards.
“But he needs to take the game by the scruff of the neck more, to boss a game. He has to keep getting the ball and sometimes he does not demand the ball enough. I have told him that. If they don’t give it to him, he has to let them know. But he is a quiet boy and it is hard to change that.”