Tottenham Confirm £15m Six-year Deal for Bentley

Tottenham Hotspur this morning confirmed the signing of David Bentley from Blackburn Rovers in a deal that will cost them an initial £15m, potentially rising to £17m. Spurs announced they had reached agreement for the transfer of the England wide player last night, and confirmed the details of the deal to the stock exchange this morning.

A statement from the club's plc said that Bentley had been secured "for a total consideration of £15m and up to an additional £2m payable upon future performances. The player's contract is for a period of up to six years". Bentley will be introduced by the club later this morning and could make his Spurs debut at the Feyenoord Jubileum Tournament in Rotterdam this weekend.

Rivals Arsenal, Bentley's former club, stand to receive a percentage of the deal - possibly as much as £7m - as part of the terms of his transfer to Ewood Park in 2006 after an initial loan spell.

The Tottenham manager Juande Ramos is also closing on a deal for Zenit St Petersburg's Andrei Arshavin. The Russian playmaker's representative, Dennis Lachter, said a deal should be concluded "in the next five days". According to Lachter, personal terms have been agreed and an agreement could be struck by the weekend if the two clubs can agree a fee. He told Sky Sports News: "I am very optimistic about this deal but it is not easy - as usual with Russian clubs. The next few days will see if he can confirm this move to Spurs. Andrei likes the way Juande Ramos is going to play at Tottenham and this is the main point of our decision - not only the money but the desire of the manager to have the player."