Tottenham maintain interest in Huntelaar

Huntelaar had been linked with a move to Tottenham (GETTY IMAGES)

Tottenham Hotspur are still interested in signing Real Madrid striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar despite having secured the services of Peter Crouch, manager Harry Redknapp said today.

Redknapp, who signed England forward Crouch on Monday, said he needed plenty of competition among his forwards if he was to achieve his goal of winning a place in Europe next season.

German club VfB Stuttgart last week failed in a bid to sign Dutch international Huntelaar from Real, who are looking to trim their squad after a spending spree that brought Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo to the Spanish side.

"If you look at his goalscoring it's absolutely incredible," Redknapp told reporters ahead of Friday's Asia Trophy final against Hull City.

"If he's available, he's a player that interests me ... If Darren Bent does go then maybe we'll be interested in Huntelaar again."

Bent, the club's leading goalscorer last season, is in talks with Sunderland over a move to the Stadium of Light but there was no news on how the deal was progressing, Redknapp said.

"You can't have too many good players," he added.

"The teams with the best squads are the most successful teams ... you need competition for places."