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| Villarreal trash Tottenham 4 - 1 |
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Tottenham's pursuit of Scott Parker increased in urgency when midfielder Jermaine Jenas hobbled out of a pre-season friendly against Villarreal after just 17 minutes.
Jenas looked dejected, shaking his head and rubbing his groin, as this follows a series of injuries to the player last season.
Harry Redknapp has a strong squad but Brazilian Sandro, signed for £6.5million from Internacional, is not expected until September, and Jamie O'Hara has back problems.
Wilson Palacios is yet to return to action after the World Cup, and young Danny Rose went into central midfield to partner Tom Huddlestone, who took the captain's armband after half time.
With the Champions League play-off in mid-August, Redknapp needs to bolster some areas of his squad soon.
West Ham rejected Tottenham's £7m bid for Parker on Wednesday, calling it an attempt to unsettle the player.
Spurs insist they have done no wrong - and no different to the Hammers, with their open interest in O'Hara - and are expected to make an improved offer, knowing Parker is tempted.
They have more than a month until the transfer window closes but the injury to Jenas may speed up their second bid.
Tottenham went behind against Villarreal to two first-half goals from Giuseppe Rossi, but Giovani dos Santos pulled one back after the break. Rossi then made it a hat-trick and Marco Ruben tapped in another.
Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Michael Dawson and Peter Crouch all played for the first time since the World Cup. |
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