King calls for transfer window to close earlier
FORMER Tottenham captain Ledley King has urged world governing body FIFA to amend the length of the summer transfer window to ensure deals are completed before the Premier League season begins.
Spurs forward Gareth Bale has been the subject of a prolonged pursuit by Real Madrid, who made a world record offer of £86m for the Welshman last month.
Bale has privately told Spurs he does not wish to play for the club again, though conceivably he could still be part of manager Andre Villas-Boas’s squad when their season begins against Crystal Palace in 10 days time and King is against such a scenario.
“Once you get to the season you ideally want to know the team you are going to be working with,” he said. “Ideally it would be better if things could be sorted out before the first ball was kicked.”
Meanwhile, Barcelona have made an offer, thought to be £35m, for Chelsea defender David Luiz.
Luiz was left out of the Blues squad that played Real Madrid in last night’s International Champions Cup final in Miami.
Chelsea have allowed midfielder Cristian Cuevas to join Vitesse Arnhem on a one-year loan.
While west London neighbours Fulham have completed the signing of midfielder Adel Taarabt on a season-long loan from QPR, who themselves have added former West Ham midfielder Gary O’Neil to their squad.