Spurs hijack Hammers Gudjohnsen move

Tottenham appear to have hijacked West Ham’s bid to sign Eidur Gudjohnsen on loan from Monaco.

The former Chelsea and Barcelona forward underwent a medical at West Ham earlier this week but Redknapp revealed Thursday that Spurs had matched their offer and said the player had opted for a move to White Hart Lane.

“We’ve been talking about him for nearly two weeks and when we heard West Ham were interested we made our move,” Redknapp told The Sun, for whom he writes a column.

“We are not paying a penny more than West Ham were offering him. Two identical deals were on the table. In the end it was a straight choice for Eidur.”

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan appeared to have accepted defeat in the race to sign the 31-year-old Icelander.

“We thought we had a deal and the player had even had a medical,” Sullivan said. “We then heard that Tottenham were trying to speak to the player. I can’t say I am happy about it but I believe in Karma and what goes around, comes around.”

West Ham are desperate to increase their striking options as they fight for survival in the Premier league. Sullivan is hoping to conclude a deal to bring Benni McCarthy from Blackburn and have also expressed interest in Manchester City’s Benjani Mwaruwaru.

Zimbabwe forward Mwaruwaru is also attracting interest from Blackburn as a possible replacement for McCarthy.