Contract Talks & English Lessons: Polarising Pavlyuchenko Looks Set for N17 Stay

For two years, fans of Tottenham Hotspur have waited patiently for Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko to justify the €16.5 million fee their beloved club paid Spartak Moscow for his services following Euro 2008.

Thus far, his English adventure has been a roller coaster affair and made him a subject of much debate around White Hart Lane.

Inconsistent performances in the Premiership throughout his debut 2008-09 campaign were not well received, but Spurs fans were pleased enough by his nine goals across eight domestic cup games.

To start off 2009-10, Tottenham's No.9 could not carry that cup form over into the league.

Becoming a bit of a forgotten man as he fell behind Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane in the forward pecking order, the pricey Pavlyuchenko began to draw harsh criticism in north London.

And it was not until late February that the Lilywhites' expensive buy began to show his worth in the English Premier League.

Pavlyuchenko had not trotted out with the starting eleven all season headed into a 21 February match away to Wigan Athletic, thanks to lacklustre performances and a handful of translator communicated run-ins with manager Harry Redknapp. After being brought on for a run around in the 72nd minute that day, Roman appeared to have had enough of sitting in the dugout.

The 6'2" striker needed just those 18 minutes to net an impressive brace to secure a 3-0 victory for the surging Spurs.

That would be enough to earn him a start in the FA Cup fixture with Bolton three days later.

Two more goals.

For just about a month not a single centre half in England could hold Pavlyuchenko down as he bulged the net eight times in seven appearances, impressing mightily before taking his goalscoring boots off again in April.

Adding just one assist to his ledger the rest of the term, Pav returned to the bench at the City of Manchester Stadium to watch as Peter Crouch became the darling of north London, cementing Tottenham's UEFA Champions League dream as a reality with the decisive goal in the 1-0 victory over fourth spot contenders Manchester City.

With Crouch a hero, Defoe tied for sixth in the Prem in scoring and Pavlyuchenko still having trouble adjusting to life in England, the big Russian was widely speculated to be on his way out of the club this past summer.

Although heavily linked with both France's Olympique de Marseille and Portugal's Sporting Lisbon, Pav was kept for another go ahead of Tottenham's first Champions League participation in club history.

Since being shown faith by manager Harry Redknapp and chairman Daniel Levy, Roman has found the score sheet with a bit more consistency in 2010-11, hitting pay dirt eight times in 22 total run outs—including a beautiful volley away to Blackburn and impressively stowing away Tottenham's only salvo on the turn in their recent 1-1 draw with Chelsea.

Now, as the January transfer window approaches, much talk has arisen that Spurs are in need of fresh blood up front if they are to succeed on both domestic and European fronts.

Consensus seems to be that Defoe is the only must-keep striker, Robbie Keane is on his way out, and someone of at least a bit of international renown ought be brought in.

From there, White Hart Lane faithful are split—some say Crouch should join Keane in making way for another front man, some have seen their patience with the up and down Pavlyuchenko run out, while others call for both to be handed walking papers.

While the fans cannot make up their mind, Tottenham appear to have made up theirs.

In an interview with Sovetskiy Sport, Artemov confirmed his client was in contract extension talks with Spurs and suggested "Redknapp wouldn't sell Pavlyuchenko now," all the while proposing in the same sit down, "Keane will most likely be sold, and maybe Crouch."

Combine the earlier Artemov quotations with today's report from the Daily Mail, claiming his client had been instructed to find himself an English instructor last week, and it ever increasingly looks as though Super Pav will be sticking it in N17 through January.

This certainly does not provide a definitive answer as to whether or not the €16.5 million man will live up to his price tag, but it does appear that he will be getting the chance to ride his current upswing in form and perhaps finally prove himself worthy in the eyes of all Spurs supporters with a little consistency.