Tottenham: Recapping Spurs' January Transfer Window Deadline Day Madness

Harry Redknapp has earned a reputation as the ultimate wheeler and dealer over the years, and today he showed us just why he has earned such a reputation.

While most managers were involved in trying to secure one solid deal for their club, Redknapp was involved in at least ten, if not more. 

Here, we'll recap Spurs' success (or lack thereof) on January deadline day 2012.

Loic Remy Not Signed Despite "Enormous Proposal"

We all knew that this transfer was unlikely to happen after Loic Remy himself stated that he wished to remain with Marseille, despite being aware of Tottenham's interest.

That didn't stop Daniel Levy and Redknapp from bidding an impressive £18 million for Remy's services, which Marseille's chairman Vincent Labrune admitted was very hard to turn down:

"I do not think any other president in France would have refused the enormous proposal the London club made."

In the end though, he did turn down the amount, and Spurs were unfortunately forced to look elsewhere for a striker.

Vedran Corluka Signs for Bayer Leverkusen on Loan from Tottenham

This was another transfer that most Tottenham fans probably saw coming.

Vedran Corluka, despite being a Croatian international and decent defender, had been almost completely frozen out of the team by Harry Redknapp, and was having Jake Livermore, a central midfielder, preferred over him as Kyle Walker's backup.

Corluka joins Bayer Leverkusen on loan with the option to make the loan permanent at the end of the season.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Corluka then, as Daniel Levy is notorious for refusing to give up on players without recouping a decent size of their original transfer fees (Corluka's was £8.5 million).

In any case, the loss of Corluka is disappointing, as Kyle Walker no long has a natural backup, and Corluka's versatility in being able to play as a center-back is also lost to the team.

Milos Krasic Not Signed, Disagreement over Loan vs. Permanent Switch

Milos Krasic was one of the many last-minute transfer targets of Harry Redknapp.

Aware of QPR's interest in Steven Pienaar, Redknapp attempted to take Milos Krasic on loan to Tottenham, but was rebuffed by the player who was only interested in a permanent move.

And so Krasic stays at Juventus, and Pienaar did not move to QPR (but was later sent on loan to Everton, presumably as a far for allowing Louis Saha to transfer to Tottenham on a free transfer).

Louis Saha Signs Permanently with Tottenham

Louis Saha was the second "buy-and-sell" target for Redknapp on Tuesday.

Aware of Lokomotiv Moscow's interest in signing Roman Pavlyuchenko, Harry Redknapp lined up Louis Saha as the Russian's replacement for the remainder of the season after failing to sign Loic Remy earlier in the day.

When it was confirmed that the two clubs had agreed a fee for Pavlyuchenko, Redknapp okayed the transfer of Louis Saha, and the 33-year-old Frenchman was signed permanently.

Although I reacted with outrage when I first heard of this rumor, I'm a bit more okay with it now. As far as I'm aware, Louis Saha cost the club nothing to sign, and he'll almost surely only be at the club for the remaining six months on his contract.

That should make Jermain Defoe a happier man, knowing he's the club's undisputed second-choice striker behind Emmanuel Adebayor. It allows the club to save up money to either sign Adebayor permanently in the summer or bring in another big-name striker with the money saved up from this January.

And Saha isn't all too bad of a player either. He's been in poor form for some time now, but if he can recapture his form from just a year or so ago, he'll be a more than capable backup striker for Tottenham.

Not bad Levy and Redknapp, not bad.

Ryan Nelsen Signed, Sebastien Bassong Leaves

Harry Redknapp's final "buy-and-sell" of the day took place with Ryan Nelsen and Sebastien Bassong.

Sebastien Bassong has made his desire to leave Tottenham clear for over a year now, and so when Wolves made a late bid to take the player on loan, Harry Redknapp decided he'd let the player go and secure the best temporary replacement he could.

That replacement wound up being Ryan Nelsen.

Sebastien Bassong's transfer to Wolves on loan has already been made official, while Ryan Nelsen's transfer has been widely reported but still lacks official confirmation due to it being so late in the game. Expect that one to come in soon enough though.

Again, this looks like Harry Redknapp and Dan Levy intelligently planning for the future to me. Ryan Nelsen would arrive, "on a free until the end of the season," according to Redknapp.

That would free up space in Spurs' squad for next year and allow Steven Caulker, currently on loan at Swansea City, to join the squad as the team's fourth-choice center-back (behind Younes Kaboul, Ledley King and Michael Dawson). 

Gallas would still be with the squad, but one assumes he'll assume a more "veteran leadership" role at the age of 35.

So like Saha, this one's not a bad transfer if you put in the right context. Like William Gallas and Ledley King, Ryan Nelsen is injury-prone, but when he plays he's got excellent leadership abilities and a good defensive record.

Other Stories Throughout the Day

There were rumors of Hugo Rodallega lining up against Tottenham on Tuesday then signing for them shortly afterwards, but nothing came of that. Good thing too, because an off-form striker with a long-term contract is not what Tottenham should be looking for right now.

Joining Tottenham's many youth players out on loan, Adam Smith has been sent on loan to Leeds United until the end of the season. Not much else to report there; hopefully he'll do well and either become a capable backup option or transfer to Leeds for a decent fee.

Finally, as I'm wrapping up this article, it has been confirmed that Steven Pienaar will be returning to Everton on loan.

Tottenham loses a bit of depth with Steven Pienaar, but it's good news for Niko Kranjcar, who should find his services called on much more often now that he is the only quality backup for the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Luka Modric (at least until Tom Huddlestone returns).

Overall Recap and Opinion

To be honest, I've always consider Redknapp a bit of an unintelligent Englishman who is fortunate to have a managerial style that works. But based on his work today, there may be more to him than that after all.

In one day, Harry Redknapp has cleared out the significant majority of Tottenham's unhappy and unfavored players, and has set his team up to allow for the influx of returning Tottenham youngsters in 2012-13.

Guys like Steven Caulker, Andros Townsend and even Kyle Naughton now have easily recognizable places in Tottenham 2012-13 squad, and Tottenham fans no longer have to worry or hear about the the complaints of guys like Roman Pavlyuchenko, Sebastien Bassong and others who just weren't getting playing time.

Of course, the downside to all of Redknapp's work today is that Spurs do not look any stronger after deadline day than they looked going into deadline day.

Thankfully, all of the club's big guns were retained, but there was no marquee signing for Spurs fans to get excited about. No Leandro Damiao, no Ganso, no Chris Samba and no Junior Hoilett. 

For fans who were excited to see Spurs jump back into the title race after Manchester City's 1-0 loss to Everton, that news will no doubt be disappointing. Heck, even if I admire Redknapp's impressive wheeling and dealing on deadline day, I too am a bit disappointed.

Here's hoping that Tottenham fans' patience is rewarded with a good summer, and good showing from the acquired veterans, Ryan Nelsen and Louis Saha.

My verdict on Tottenham's deadline day performance? B+. It could've been much worse, but one promising signing would've made it much better too.

What do you think of Tottenham's deals on deadline day? Is Redknapp a genius or an idiot? Does Tottenham have a chance at the title without a big January signing, or will we have to wait till next season to be genuine title contenders?

Leave your feedback below, and thanks for reading.