Spurs stand firm over £1m Asmir Begovic fee from Portsmouth

Asmir Begovic opted to join Stoke instead of Tottenham
11 April 2012

Tottenham will chase the £1million they believe

Spurs today clarified their position after Pompey's accounts revealed the payment due to Spurs for Begovic, even though the goalkeeper did not join the club.

Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou appeared to suggest yesterday the debt-ridden club would contest Spurs' claim, saying: "I don't know whether we will be paying that."

But Spurs insist they are entitled to the sum because they originally agreed to fund a joint deal for both Begovic and Younes Kaboul, for which Spurs say they paid Portsmouth immediately to aid the Fratton Park side's critical financial position.

When Begovic did not join Spurs, choosing instead to move to Stoke for £3.25m, Spurs sought to regain a part of the fee they had already committed to paying.

In Portsmouth's administrator's report, the £1m is listed as a "sell-on fee" but the White Hart Lane club deny this and Standard Sport understands the Premier League are unlikely to investigate the deal.

"Spurs can confirm it has invoiced Portsmouth for £1m in respect of the failure of the joint transfer of Younes Kaboul and Asmir Begovic to Spurs and in accordance with the agreement of 30 January 2010 between both clubs," read a statement released by the club today.

"The statement contained within the administrator's report released yesterday that it relates to a sell-on fee for Begovic, is inaccurate, as is the statement that the player was registered with Tottenham.

"Our original agreement with Portsmouth was for the purchase of two players for a combined, agreed price. The transfer of Younes Kaboul was completed and Portsmouth pressed for an immediate payment to alleviate their cashflow situation.

"We were assured that the transfer of Begovic would be completed before the end of the transfer window.

"In order to assist Portsmouth with their financial difficulties we paid them an agreed sum of money, while at the same time concluding an agreement that, should Begovic be sold or loaned to any club other than ourselves, we would be repaid £1m. Portsmouth were keen to agree to this."

Spurs' chief priority, meanwhile, is preparing for their match against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday, where they will seek a third consecutive victory over a top-three side following wins over Arsenal and Chelsea.

Results elsewhere could strengthen Spurs' grip on fourth place and defender Sebastien Bassong will urge his friends in the Arsenal team to do Tottenham a favour by beating Manchester City on Saturday.

After beating the Gunners in last week's derby at White Hart Lane, Spurs find themselves in the unlikely position of having to cheer for their north London rivals this weekend.

If Arsenal overcome City, Spurs are guaranteed to end Saturday still in fourth spot. And if Harry Redknapp's fourth-placed side can follow up their victories over Arsenal and Chelsea by defeating United at Old Trafford, they will move five points clear of City with just three matches remaining.

"I have a few friends at Arsenal, like Alex Song and Abou Diaby," said Bassong.

"We beat them last Wednesday, so now I will text them and phone them to encourage them against City. With our game against United and Arsenal playing City, Saturday will be a great day for football. The race for fourth place is really interesting for all the fans."

With Jonathan Woodgate having missed virtually the entire season and Ledley King able to play only sporadically, Bassong has played an important role in his first season at White Hart Lane since joining the club from Newcastle last summer.

Playing alongside Michael Dawson in central defence, Bassong was excellent in repelling Chelsea's forwards as Spurs triumphed 2-1 last Saturday. It is more than 20 years since Spurs last prevailed at Old Trafford but Bassong remains confident they can complete a perfect sequence against the Premier League's top three.

He said: "To be the best, you have to try to take the full points. We knew these games were going to be very hard but we know where we want to go, so if we want to reach the top four, we have to take maximum points.

"Manchester United are in second place in the Premier League and they are fighting for the title. We know we will have to be focused."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in