LONDON – Tottenham signed striker Louis Saha from Premier League rival Everton and reached a deal to offload Roman Pavlyuchenko to Lokomotiv Moscow in the final hours of the transfer window on Tuesday.
Manager Harry Redknapp signed Saha despite the 33-year-old Frenchman scoring just twice in 20 appearances for Everton this season and struggling with injuries in recent years.
“He’s got good movement, can score goals but probably needs a change,” Redknapp said. “He’s out of contract at the end of the year so David Moyes has let him go. I can remember speaking to Rio Ferdinand and he said he was the best forward he’d played against.”
Pavlyuchenko had appeared on the verge of leaving Spurs for over a year. And on Tuesday, an 8-million pound ($13 million) deal to head back to his native Russia was finally clinched after scoring 42 goals in 113 appearances since joining from Spartak Moscow in 2008.
“We have reached agreement for the transfer of Roman Pavlyuchenko to Lokomotiv Moscow,” Tottenham said.
Defender Sebastien Bassong was sent to Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan until the end of the season and midfielder Steven Pienaar rejoined Everton for the same period.
Tottenham, which is third in the Premier League, beat Wigan 3-1 as the deals were being done.
