Pavlyuchenko demands exit from Spurs
TOTTENHAM striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is plotting his route out of White Hart Lane after telling boss Harry Redknapp he wants to leave the club in January.
The Russian is yet to start a Premier League game for Spurs this season and now fears for his place in Russia’s World Cup squad if he doesn’t play first-team football.
Pavlyuchenko, 27, scored 15 goals in his first season in England since his £14m transfer from Spartak Moscow last August, but is now regarded as fourth-choice striker at Spurs behind Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch.
Indeed, he has scored just one goal in six appearances in all competitions this season, and has also lost his place in the starting XI for his country.
Hiddink’s side are preparing to take on Slovenia in a two-legged World Cup play-off clash starting Saturday, and Pavlyuchenko is determined to sort out his club future in order to secure his place in South Africa should Russia qualify.
“I want to leave the club,” the hitman told a Russian newspaper. “It is impossible to remain there under the circumstances I find myself in. I have been sitting on the subs’ bench for half a year and as a result lost a place in the starting 11 of the national team.
“And now hopefully we will get to the World Cup – who will rely on a forward who does not play? I want to play and not just warm the bench.
“Immediately after the games with Slovenia, my agent and I are flying to London for purposeful negotiations and I want to take part in them personally. I will ask the management to quote a reasonable price for me.
“The only thing that can stand in the way is unmanageable price. But I will insist on leaving.”