London: Tottenham are willing to sell Aaron Lennon for £15 million this summer following a breakdown in his relationship with Harry Redknapp, Goal.com can reveal.
The Spurs manager is fed up with below-par performances from the England winger and is ready to listen to offers for him.
Lennon has scored just three goals in 42 matches this season and, although he has chipped in with eight assists in all competitions, only three of those have come in the Premier League.
His relationship with Redknapp has steadily deteriorated over the last two seasons following a string of disagreements, culminating in a barely concealed falling-out following Tottenham’s 4-0 Champions League defeat at Real Madrid last month.
The Spurs boss has become increasingly frustrated by what he believes is Lennon’s failure to respond to orders.
“Harry feels Lennon is not learning, not improving and not listening to instructions,” a Tottenham source told Goal.com. “He has been really disappointed by Lennon’s performances since the first half of last season and does not believe he is as willing to run at the full-back as he should be.”
Glaring holes first started to appear in Redknapp’s relationship with the 25-year-old in a 1-0 home defeat against Stoke City in October 2009.
The Spurs manager would not allow Lennon to come off when the player insisted he had an ankle problem but he ended up subbing himself with 10 minutes to go in any case even though Redknapp had already used all three substitutes. “Harry was furious and they had a massive row afterwards,” the source added.
The pair clashed again in the Christmas 2009 fixture against West Ham. Lennon was struggling with a groin injury but was made to play on until the 89th minute and ended up being out for four months and nearly missing the World Cup.
The latest flare-up came at the Bernabeu, where Lennon withdrew from the team five minutes before kick-off after failing to shake off an illness that the club later confirmed had been affecting him for more than two days before the game.
Redknapp denied being disappointed with Lennon but made some thinly veiled comments and the player used his Twitter account the following day to declare that he “will not be made a scapegoat saying they only knew just b4 KO”.
Lennon has clung on to his regular starting place but insiders insist that is due more to an absence of competition on the right flank.
“They have a really bad relationship and Harry wants to cash in,” said the source. “Spurs have not yet started touting him around but if they get a good offer, they will probably sell him.”
Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli is a big admirer of Lennon from their time together at Spurs and could be willing to test the water with an offer for the former Leeds man, who joined Spurs for £1m as an 18-year-old.
Among the replacements Spurs are lining up include Sevilla midfielder Diego Perotti, as revealed by Goal.com on Wednesday, and Brazilian Hulk, who has been in outstanding form for Porto this season.
Hulk, who is valued at £20-25m, plays on the right of Porto’s front three and has weighed in with 33 goals in 49 matches, including 22 in 25 in the league.
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