Tottenham in for Ilicic?

Love him or hate him (and unless you're Davih, it's probably the latter), Josip Ilicic has played an intermittently important role for Fiorentina over the past two years, scoring some excellent goals, ticking off the supporters, and usually being played out of position.

Now, it seems that Tottenham Hotspur has decided the Slovenian is just what they need (but you say he's just a friend, you say he's just a friend), and have offered 8 million euros - and possibly Romanian center back Vlad Chiriches - to take him away from all this.

Reports are also pouring in from the ever-reliable English papers, and, given that Ilicic simply doesn't fit anywhere in a 4-3-3, Sousa will probably be quite happy to move on from a player who always seemed to be a luxury buy from a flailing Palermo two years ago. While capable of occasional magic, Ilicic struggled to nail down a starting place, usually seeing the pitch as a substitute or filling in for one of Fiorentina's very durable strikers.

Rumored to have already turned down a move to Bologna on the grounds of wanting to play with a top-level team, Spurs look a much better fit for him, although it's hard to imagine him winning a starting spot ahead of the raft of current Tottenham attackers; Cristian Eriksen, Nacer Chadli, Mousa Dembele, Aaron Lennon, Erik Lamela, and Andros Townsend are all on the roster in his position. However, if Mauricio Pochettino wants to deal with that selection headache, he's more than welcome to it.

That proposed 8 million pound fee would nearly cover the 9 million Fiorentina paid Palermo for Ilicic two seasons ago. It would also pry away someone who occasionally does this:

We'll keep a close eye on this story, as this deal heating up could mean that we are in for a proper exodus this summer.