Tottenham Hotspur, this evening, are believed to have agreed a deal with Sunderland for full back Rafael. The 23 year old, who has been at the Stadium of Light since February last year, having joined from Manchester United, has played 54 times for the North East side. The reasons behind his departure are unknown, but it is believed that Tottenham manager Ben Newman is a long term admirer of the Brazilian.
Sunderland manager Raz, who is well known for his movements in the transfer market, apparently won't be left with a gap at RB though, as it is believed that the Spaniard, Martin Montoya, will be heading the opposite direction, and will be making the long journey North to join his side as soon as tomorrow. The 22 year old, who is a former product of the world renowned youth setup at Barcelona, has been out of favour at White Hart Lane ever since his arrival in 2011; being used as Alvaro Arbeloa's backup for the most part. But surely that sentiment must be growing through Rafael's head. Why has Montoya been so out of favour at WHL? What will make Ben Newman change his strategy, and go from using the more experienced option to, arguably, the better option? Where does Arbeloa even stand in all of this? Will he be seeing the door anytime soon if Rafael is the favoured RB, or could he be used in rotation with the Brazilian? Or maybe even with Jordi Alba at LB? These are all questions that, I'm sure, Tottenham fans will be asking. Only time will tell I guess.
Whilst these questions may be on the mind of everyone connected to Spurs, they certainly won't be on the mind of the outgoing Montoya, who won't be traveling to Sunderland alone. Having been spotted driving out of Tottenham's training ground early this morning, amidst rumours that he was set to leave the club, Hiroshi Kiyotake also looks to be leaving.Following the scenes of him seen this morning, he took to his Twitter account to tweet the following;
"I apologise if my behaviour this morning offended any Tottenham fans. I have come to a stage in my career where I feel I should be playing..."
"...first team football"
Before adding;
"It is time for a new journey. I'd like to say thank you to everyone associated with Tottenham, you are great and have made me feel..."
"...comfortable a long way from home. I will never forget the experience #THFC"
Kiyotake then tweeted a picture of The Stadium of Light, with the tagline "My new home. Proud to be a part of #SAFC!"
So, it looks as if Tottenham and Sunderland have come to an agreement that will see Rafael switch places with the (now former) Spurs duo of Montoya and Kiyotake. An agreement that I'm sure both managers will be happy with, and certainly one that media sources across the world will be writing about for the near future. From one side of the country to the other, these three players will be joining their new clubs in hope of finding success.
Whilst Rafael is likely to be out of his new sides next game at home to Blackburn, Sunderland's home tie against Everton could see Montoya and/or Kiyotake make their Sunderland debuts, which I'm sure will have Black Cats fans everywhere excited.
Despite this being the first "well publicised" deal that Tottenham have been involved in for quite some time, they did actually complete the signing of another player earlier this week, when eighteen year old Josh Brownhill joined the North London side for a fee of £1.4M from fellow Londoners, Leyton Orient. The former Manchester United academy player is thought to be a long way off a spot in the first team, but Spurs boss Ben Newman is hopeful for the young players future and says that he's a star in the making.
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