Carroll, Gallas, Lamela, King, Spurs XI v Dinamo Tiblisi

Tottenham Hotspur's bright young prospect Tom Carroll is rumoured to be in talks with Crystal Palace over a loan move.

I have to admit I have been expecting this to happen earlier. Carroll going on loan to a Premier League club and getting a seasons football under his belt returning a more complete player ready for next year make perfect sense, or it did to me at the start of the window.

It makes even more sense with the players we have and are signing.

Also At Palace Ian Holloway has met with William Gallas about playing for them. He said he was a very pleasant man but they were miles away from completing a deal. They have had a chat and he'll wait and see if anything comes of it.

Erik Lamela has shown Gareth Bale how to leave a club with dignity. He even trained with Roma!

“Perhaps I wasn’t able to express all I could’ve and wanted to do here [Roma]," Lamela told ANSA.

"It’s also true that there was something missing for the whole team.

“I hope this season will go better. I saw the lads are hungry to do well and are very concentrated. I wish the club, the coach and my team-mates to go as far as possible.

“I am proud to have played for Roma and hope one day to return.

“As for myself, now I hope to do well with Tottenham in London. I am ready. I want to thank and salute the fans who always behaved well with me. I embrace them all. They will always be in my heart.”

Ledley King has been speaking on Spurs response to losing Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.

"It's a difficult situation for everyone involved.

"They've dealt with it well. The club always tries to deal with these things as professionally as possible. If you do lose players you have to replace them as best you can and the club have been brilliant at that.

"In the past they've always brought in new players and that's what the club will continue to do if they want to compete.

"They have been brilliant in the market though. I've seen Paulinho in his first few games and he's been brilliant. Soldado is a goalscorer and he knows how to find the back of the net.

"He was so calm with the penalty [against Swansea] and that was great to see. Etienne Capoue also looks brilliant. I didn't know too much about him but I've been very impressed with him.

"The future for Tottenham looks very good."

I had to chuckle when I heard Harry Redknapp had tried to contact him to come and play for QPR. Ledley said he didn't get hold of him but he wouldn't have played if he did.

Finally the Spurs XI for tonight is: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Naughton, Holtby, Sandro, Carroll, Sigurdsson, Townsend, Defoe

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Eriksen, Sigurdsson, BAE, Rose, Chiriches, Lamela, Bale, Adebayor

It's been quite a transfer window with a transformation of the squad. We have not just changed players, we have bought upgrades, young upgrades with years ahead of them, years we hope of success.

So what is the latest news.

Well Spurs opening bid for 21 year-old Danish international Christian Eriksen of £6.9 million (€8.03m) was rejected according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf but Daniel Levy has agreed a fee of £10.29 million (€12m) with his Ajax counterpart. The fee will be paid in three parts £3.43 million (€4m) now, next summer and the final installment in the summer of 2015. In addition there is a clause to pay an extra £428, 668 (€500,000) if Spurs reach the Champions League.

Marc Overmars the Director of Football at Ajax confirmed that Daniel Levy had travelled to Holland to arrange the deal himself. The attacking midfielder now has permission to talk to us and finalising a deal with him is not expected to prove a problem.

That does rather give us a glut in midfield which will mean a departure or departures. We know there are bids in for Lennon and Townsend but it is Gylfi Sigurdsson who is probably the first one to go with interest in him from Premier League clubs and from Germany.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto now looks like he might be staying having apparently failed two medicals. Our staff have been saying he is not fit for some time even though he has said he is. I guess two failed medicals say our medical staff were right all along. AVB backs our medical staff and doesn't play players if they are not fit so his attitude may have to change if he is to command a regular spot.

That is good news for Danny Rose who may well have the chance now to cement his place in the side but he'll have to improve his defensive work if he wants to stay there. Mind you this window is such that you wouldn't rule anything out so Benny could still go somewhere on loan perhaps.

Vlad Chiriches has arrived for his medical today and to sign a contract so we could hear the official announcement of him and Erik Lamela who as you must all know by now has signed. Those of you thinking he still has to pass a medical think again, he has already passed it.

I did enjoy News at Ten last night with them suggesting that we are delaying the Gareth Bale move so Arsenal can't sign Real Madrid players! No doubt we will release him in the next couple of days. AVB is not happy with Bale and has quite frankly been let down by him going on strike since mid July.

Spurs have actually pulled another masterstroke right at the end of the saga by telling Bale to turn up for training knowing full well he has refused to train since before the Hong Kong trip. The result is Bale had to make a decision. Does he train and risk injury or does he refuse and show the world there has been no injury, just a strike. He chose the latter.

AVB has asked Spurs to fine the player for 'undermining his authority' so publicly and it is believed the Bale camp would treat such a fine with contempt and refuse to pay it. Could that actually drag the saga out a little longer with Spurs refusing to release him until he did. I doubt we are going to go that far but the chances of Bale playing against Athletico Madrid on Sunday are diminishing.

Spurs have come out of this smelling of roses, the world now knows Bale has been forcing a move, refusing to train and refusing to play. We have had to play a game, a game in the press, but we come out of it, not despondent like we would have been if this happened at the beginning of the window but excited by a new squad and with a feeling the club in the end had no choice.

We have new heroes to cheer now.

What else is happening, oh yes, Emmanuel Adebayor who knows he is not in AVB's plans, who has plenty of offers from home and abroad but who wants a golden handshake. We all know Ade is only interested in doing as little as possible to pick up as much money as possible so forcing us to pay him off is second nature to him.

Not coming back from the African Cup of Nations was the last straw as far as Villas-Boas was concerned. To play for Spurs you have to have the right attitude and he doesn't. We may get stuck with him but my fingers are tightly crossed that we get shot of the guy this window.

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Daniel Levy - you're hired

Gianluca Di Marzio, who is a reporter for Sky Sports in Italy, claims that during the Spurs/Roma Erik Lamela discussions the idea was mooted of swapping left-backs Federico Balzaretti and Benoît Assou-Ekotto.

With Benny surplus to requirements now at White Hart Lane Balzaretti would be a cheaper replacement, his salary was £24,760 a week in 2012. Di Marzio explains that the idea is only at discussion stage and that swap deals are notoriously difficult, but the will is there to explore the situation. Balzaretti is 31 but would provide some experience in a position where Rose and Fryers are wearing their L plates.

Roma and Spurs seem to be forming something of a good working relationship with former Roma employee Franco Baldini as the natural middle man.

Before he signed for Southampton Pablo Osvaldo was offered to Spurs but we declined his services. The clubs seem to get along well and to form a working relationship with a club in Italy would certainly be beneficial in the long run.

The success of Spurs in the transfer market this summer can be placed firmly at Daniel Levy's feet. He had a strategy, he brought in Baldini and Franco has carried it out with aplomb.

You hear plenty of plaudits for Baldini and quite rightly, with his people skills and extensive contacts, he is regarded as one of the best in the game in his role. He was sourced, courted and signed by Levy after over a year of trying.

Hong Kong told us Bale was leaving but the masterstroke of blocking other clubs transfers by not releasing Bale until we have done ours and filling our squad with signings to make us forget all about Bale has worked a charm. The question now is how long we will make them all wait, he certainly isn't being bullied by Madrid who are painted as wanting everything now.

For all you Levy haters out there, and you must be dwindling, it's time you let bygones be bygones and finally admit he actually knows what he is doing!

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