Richmond Spurs: "Transfer Wrap-Up"

Courtesy of the Official Site-

TRANSFER ROUND-UP
The curtain has come down on another busy summer transfer
window with six arrivals all determined to make their mark at the Lane.
It is
an indication of the stability of the squad that wholesale changes were not
required this time around and players were pinpointed and landed early on in the
summer to allow for a settled set of players before the season started. Deals
were struck shortly after the transfer window opened to capture hot
prospect Gareth Bale from Southampton and England international striker Darren
Bent from Charlton. Highly-rated French Under-21 international captain Younes
Kaboul arrived from Auxerre in July and was soon joined by German Under-21
international midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, the former German Young Player of
the Year signing from Hertha Berlin. All four of these signings were snapped up
despite interest from a number of other clubs in the Premier League and across
Europe, while we also continued our policy of strengthening at all levels with
the arrivals of Spanish youth international left-back Yuri Berchiche from
Athletic Bilbao and England Under-17 left-sided midfielder Danny Rose from
Leeds United, both players aged 17. Prodigious young French forward Adel
Taarabt, also just 18, made his loan deal from RC Lens permanent. Martin Jol
believes the additions to the squad will bode the Club well not just in the
immediate future but also in the long-term. “The signings we have made offer us
a big improvement in terms of the quality of our squad, but they also have great
potential and we believe their best years are firmly ahead of them. “Darren Bent
has scored goals wherever he has been and he is still only 23. All our forwards
offer something different and Darren has a great ability to exploit the space
behind defenders with his pace and this will prove a real asset for us
particularly on our travels. “We have also added a naturally left-footed player
to our ranks in Gareth Bale who can play at left-back but also showed his
ability on the left side of midfield at Old Trafford last Sunday. He has
exceptional physical attributes for an 18-year-old and has already shown us his
quality from set-pieces. “Younes Kaboul has demonstrated this season the
importance of having quality in all positions after we lost Michael Dawson and
Ledley King before the season had even started. He possesses great pace and
strength, while also being a big personality around the squad. “Kevin-Prince
Boateng is an exciting prospect and is considered one of the best upcoming
talents in Germany. He is strong and attack-minded and is versatile across the
midfield. "It is good to see how quickly they all have settled and their
additions have only added to the great spirit we already have amongst the
players here." Damien Comolli believes we will, in the future, have a further
group of established internationals in our ranks following our summer transfer
window activity. Gareth and Darren are already capped and in the early stages of
their full international careers with Wales and England respectively, while
Younes is captain of the France Under-21 side having previously been a member of
the Under-19 team that won the European Championships, staged in Northern
Ireland in 2005. Kevin, winner of the prestigious Fritz Walter Gold Medal Award
after being voted Best Young Player in Germany in July, 2006, has represented
his country at Under-21 level. Our younger arrivals Yuri and Danny, both
17, are youth internationals for Spain and England and are regarded as the
biggest talents in their positions for their age-group. Adel Taarabt, 18, is
capped by France at Under-16, U-17 and U-18 level. "All of the players are
internationals for their age-group or at full senior level," said the Sporting
Director. "They are big talents and we are confident they will fulfil their
potential at this club and go on to have successful international careers. "This
would be good for them, but also good for us as international football can only
broaden their experience, which can only be of benefit to our squad. "Our club
is an environment where young players can realise these ambitions as
demonstrated by young players like Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon breaking into
the England set-up over the last couple of seasons," added Damien, who went on
to explain the importance of completing our transfer business early this summer.
"It is an extremely competitive marketplace for quality players and we acted
quickly to land our targets. "We always set out to emerge from a transfer window
in a stronger position than when we entered it and I fully believe this is the
case once again." Danny Murphy was the most recent of the departures from the
Club this summer when he secured a permanent move to Fulham in the final hour on
deadline day, while Mido was sold earlier in the month to Middlesbrough. Emil
Hallfredsson, Reto Ziegler, Mark Yeates, Charlie Lee and Robert Burch also left
us and we wish them all the best in the future. Meanwhile, Lee Barnard has
joined Crewe Alexandra on loan until January, Charlie Daniels has hooked up with
Leyton Orient for the season and Jamie O’Hara went to Millwall for a month’s
loan in August.