Spurs try to steal Rams starlet

They say, once bitten twice shy. Well the Rams were bitten when Tom Huddlestone joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2005 for £600,000 and the club dug their heels in on the proposed transfer of 18-year-old Giles Barnes to the north London club, on the final day of the transfer window.

The Rams were disappointed that Spurs valuation fell very short of the their figure, meaning the transfer of Barnes fell through. Barnes was widely expected to move to White Hart Lane before the transfer window closed in the middle of last week and it`s been reported the Rams left the player out of a game against Burnley because they thought he was on his way to north London.

However there was a stalemate over the transfer fee and in the end Spurs were beaten for time. Spurs offered around £1million for Barnes which is less than half of what Derby wanted for the talented youngster. This is despite Rams managing Director Mike Horton saying that no bids were tabled for Barnes

Rams boss Billy Davies had ordered the midfield to forget about a transfer to Tottenham and knuckle down and help the Rams to the Premiership.
Barnes incurred the wrath of Davies after losing his form in the midst of speculation linking him with a possible £3million move during the January transfer window.

Davies said: 'At last we can stop reading about Giles Barnes going to Spurs and him thinking he is out the door.
'If something was going to happen he would have heard it from Derby County Football Club and not found out about it on the back pages.
'He has to recognise he is not a guaranteed starter at Derby County and he has a lot more work to do yet to improve his game.
'I am glad the speculation is now at an end because it affected his performances.'


Spurs are now set to move for Barnes at the end of the season but Billy Davies may refuse to sell, especially if they go on and win promotion to the Premiership. Spurs may think the Rams are a small club, but we have good support, a good manager and a good squad and if it means we stand our ground against the big clubs, well so be it. We have the destiny in our own hands and if Barnes wants to be part of that, which I`m sure he does being a Derby lad, it will show how far the Rams have come, on and off the field.

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