Prodigal Peter returns

Last updated : 26 July 2009 By Gareth Davies

Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch looks set to return to White Hart Lane after the south coast side accepted a bid from Tottenham for the England international.

 Redknapp has made little secret of his desire to bring the towering forward to the club but had said a deal was financially difficult given Crouch's wage demands and the fee Portsmouth were asking for.

 A deal, however, seems to have been struck between the two clubs for Crouch – who started his career at Spurs – to return to North London for £10m.

The move raises serious questions about the future of Roman Pavlyuchenko. The Russian forward played no part in the draw with Barcelona on Friday and looks to have fallen out of favour with Redknapp. Both players are a tall and strong, and it's unlikely Redknapp will want to accommodate five forwards in an already crowded squad.

Crouch had looked set to join Sunderland but, much like Kyle Naughton's move to Everton last week, Redknapp has managed to persuade the player his future lies at White Hart Lane.

The England international – who has played for three different clubs under Harry – is expected to sign on Monday or Tuesay and should travel with the clib to Beijing for the Asia Cup.

 His arrival is also likely to hasten the departure of Darren Bent, who should join Sunderland. The only stumbling block to that deal is Daniel Levy's determination to recoup the majority of the £16.5 million we paid Charlton.

Crouch will bring a dimension to the side we have lacked since Berbatov left for Manchester United, namely the ability to hold up the ball and bring others into play.

I'll save the “he's good on the ground for a tall guy” crap usually spouted by ITV or Sky Sports. To put it simply, he's a good player (far better than people give him credit for) and, having not seen a great deal from Pavlyuchenko to make me think otherwise, I wouldn't be too disappointed if it did turn out that Crouch is his replacement.However, much like Naughton and Walker, it's harder to argue that his signature takes us a step closer to the top four.

For a start - when oh when will we sign a left-winger?!