THE 4th STRIKER CONUNDRUM

It's great being a Spurs fan these days isn't it? Not only are we actually having a modicum of success - and achieving it playing decent football - but it also strikes me that this transfer window is about the most subdued I have experienced in some years. Does this mean that the transitional period is over? Have we finished turning corners? I bloody hope so because we started when Glenda was still in charge!

Anyway, our focus this month is unquestionably on strikers. Pav wants out and who can blame him. The boy is a first class international and is quite rightly getting the hump about permanently warming the bench of a non-champions league club. He's better than that.

Personally, I'm gutted. I like him, I thought his partnership with Defoe a while back showed glimpses of genuine promise - quite frankly I can't believe he's not getting in ahead of Keane at the moment and I suspect he is equally incredulous.

It's a perennial conundrum the 4th striker spot. Even bigger clubs than ours suffer from it (think Tevez). The answer appears to be to employ a has-been on his last legs (Owen), or a hungry youngster happy to bide his time (Sturridge). According to reports we are exploring both these avenues in the form of Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Victor Moses.

Ruud was undoubtedly a top, top player™, but this deal makes no sense to me. Can he still cut it in the Premiership? Even if he can, are we really going to get more out of him than just a run in to the end of the season? He'll want some action and I don't see how we can guarantee it. This kind of short-termism has never been Levy's kettle of fish and unless we can pick him up on the cheap and convince him to take £50k a week then it all doesn't add up.

A Moses deal on the other hand has Levy's name written all over it. The boy is 19 and has just received the player of the month award for December. Palace don't want to let him go (a good sign) and other interested parties are quoted as Liverpool, Man City and Barcelona (also a good sign). A price of £4-5 million has been mooted, which seems extraordinarily good value for someone with a reputation like his.

Even if Moses does ok without setting the world on fire his value is likely to virtually double by the end of whatever contract we give him, yet there's also the distinct possibility he will develop into an established Premiership player and maybe even sneak an international cap or two at some point in the next 4 years.

I think it's clear where my preference lies, let's flog Pav for £10-12m, get Moses for a cash-plus-Obika deal and at the same time sweeten the deal by letting them have Dos Santos until the end of the season - everyone's a winner!

However, I suppose the question is, if they play as often as Pav does, does it really even matter who we get???