Tottenham are poised to put the loss of Robbie Keane to Liverpool behind them by completing the £15 million purchase of David Bentley from Blackburn.



Blackburn chairman John Williams confirmed that talks had taken place with Spurs over the transfer of the England midfielder, and the former Arsenal player is expected in north London this morning for a medical after the two clubs agreed to an initial fee of £15 million for the 23-year-old. Blackburn could ultimately receive in excess of £18 million for Bentley subject to performance-related clauses.

Although Blackburn paid only £3 million to sign Bentley from Arsenal in January 2006, the terms of that deal are understood to include a sell-on clause guaranteeing his former club a fee as high as 40 per cent of any profit. That would leave Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger standing to receive a welcome £4.8 million windfall from Tottenham's sizeable outlay.

Having banked in excess of £30 million from the sales of Keane, Paul Robinson, Pascal Chimbonda and Teemu Tainio, Tottenham manager Juande Ramos is hoping to sign Bentley in an effort to rebuild his squad following the earlier arrivals of Croatian midfielder Luka Modric, Barcelona forward Giovani dos Santos and goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.

Bentley's exit from Blackburn is likely to be the last of the high-profile departures from Ewood Park this summer, however. Mark Hughes' decision to leave his post as manager to take the reins at Manchester City was followed by goalkeeper Brad Friedel's recent move to Aston Villa, but manager Paul Ince has made it clear he expects to retain the services of striker Roque Santa Cruz, who continues to interest Spurs, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Goalkeeper Robinson, who arrived at Blackburn in a £3.5 million move from Spurs last week, believes that Bentley's imminent departure could ultimately help Ince's team-building plans. "David's a very good player and he's been a big player for Blackburn, but it may work well for us here,'' Robinson said. ''The manager may need to restructure and, if he can get rid of one player for a certain amount and re-invest that money, it's up to him. I'd never try and put anyone off going to Spurs. It's a fantastic club with a great support."

That view is shared by two of Tottenham's big summer signings, Modric and Giovani. "This team has great ambition,'' said Modric yesterday. ''Regardless of Robbie Keane leaving and even if Berbatov leaves, this club really has got a great future.''

Following Keane's exit, Giovani has the chance to fill his role behind the main striker. "It would be absurd to try to compare me to Robbie Keane and what he's achieved at Spurs,'' he said. ''To replace him would be difficult but I've got my own style. I'm very ambitious.''


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