Tottenham Want Gyan As Part Of Sunderland’s Deal For Crouch

Asamoah Gyan has been a top striker for Sunderland

English side Tottenham will demand Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan as part of any deal when Sunderland bid for Peter Crouch, who is their No1 attacking target this summer.

Steve Bruce, the Sunderland manager, has money to spend after the £20m sale of the midfielder Jordan Henderson to Liverpool and he urgently needs reinforcements up front, where Gyan is his only fit, established striker.

Bruce, who has Fraizer Campbell as a long-term cruciate knee ligament casualty, wants to sign three new strikers.

He would not want to lose Gyan, whom he signed from Rennes for £13m last summer, but the Ghanaian would relish the prospect of a move to Tottenham, as he prefers the idea of playing in London.

Gyan is disappointed that his Ghanaian team-mates, Sulley Muntari and John Mensah, have left Sunderland to return to their parent clubs, Internazionale and Lyon respectively, following the end of their loan spells.

Bruce was unhappy that Crouch chose Tottenham over Sunderland in the summer of 2009 when he left Portsmouth – Sunderland had offered £12m to Tottenham’s £9m – but he is over the snub and he is ready to try again for the England international.

Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, considers Crouch as the striker that he would most like to keep from his existing quartet.

He is ready to sell Robbie Keane, who has fallen out of favour, while he would also listen to offers for Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe.

Pavlyuchenko’s £70,000-a-week wage has proved a stumbling block to moving him on in the past.