PSV Lose Another Star — Gomes Off To Tottenham

Should Gomes’ work permit go through, it will almost certainly signal the end of Paul Robinson’s time at White Hart Lane. Robinson was dropped from the Spurs side last season by boss Juande Ramos. Robinson had a season to forget last year as not only did he lose his place in the Spurs first XI but he was also being dropped from the England squad by new manager Fabio Capello.

Robinson is said to be moving to Aston Villa, if only for the fact that he will come at a more reasonable price than Liverpool’s Scott Carson, who spent last season on loan at Villa Park. Villa manager Martin O’Neill is said to be keen to have the goalkeeping situation cleared up as soon as possible, largely because the Villans embark on their Intertoto Cup campaign in a couple weeks’ time. You can find coverage of the Intertoto Cup here on the Champions League Talk website.

Spurs fans will remember Gomes as the man who saved a Jermain Jenas penalty in the shootout that PSV won 6-5 to eliminate Tottenham from the last 16 of the UEFA Cup competition. PSV are rumoured to be eyeing Manchester City and Sweden international goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson as a replacement.

One player that is not going to be replaced is Jefferson Farfan, who earlier this month completed a transfer to Bundesliga club Schalke for a reported fee of 10 million Euros. PSV confirmed they would not sign a new striker, instead opting to rely on existing squad players like Danny Koevermans, Danko Lazovic and new signings Reimond Manco (signed from Peruvian club Alianza Lima) and Nordin Amrabat (signed from VVV Venlo). Amrabat (pictured above in an appearance with the Dutch U21 squad) should be able to crack the first team at some point, as he is only 21 but impressively scored 10 times in 33 appearances last season for the relegated VVV Venlo.