Magath Holtby
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Holtby set for another loan spell, with QPR, Eagles and Foxes in hunt

| 25.07.2014
SPORTSBOOK ODDS

Tottenham (10/3 top four chances) attacking midfielder Lewis Holtby is reportedly on the radar of newly-promoted Premier League clubs Leicester City and QPR, as well as Crystal Palace, as they hope to bring him in on loan.

The Foxes, Hoops and Eagles are 13/5, 2/1 and 9/4 respectively to get relegated at the end of the season.

The Germany international, who has three caps for the country of his mother, has also been linked with a permanent move to Aston Villa (5/2 to go down). Centre back Ron Vlaar would move in the opposite direction.

All the speculation suggests that the 23-year-old doesn’t fit in new Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino’s plans, but would he suit relegation-threatened teams next term?

His manager last season Felix Magath – at Fulham where he spent the second half of the campaign playing 13 times times and scoring once – certainly doesn’t think the player he also coached at Schalke has the right mentality.

“Lewis is a very skilful and a nice player but he is not a fighter – I think it was not the right move for him,” the former Bayern Munich boss and three-time German Football Manager of the Year said.

“I think he has put too much pressure on himself. Against Hull it was not him who was playing and against Stoke it was even worse.”

It is a shame, though, that Holtby is not being linked with the club that his English father supports, Everton, as perhaps he would be more suited to a higher-profile side with not as much pressure to break into the top four, or avoid relegation.

The is no denying the former Schalke player has talent, as was proven by his call-up to senior national side at such a young age in 2010, but are these cubs wise to be tracking him?

Holtby is said to want to leave White Hart Lane, as London has not worked out for him so far.

Leicester would be an exiting option, though, if Nigel Pearson can motivate him as they have already snapped up Matthew Upson and Marc Albrighton for free, and signed Leonardo Ulloa for £8m. A lot of their players, as well as the manager, have also just signed new deals so, if it’s first team football Holtby wants, the King Power Stadium would be ideal.

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Author

Sam Barnard

Sam has been writing for Coral since January 2014, and is the assistant editor of the news site. As well as the main betting sports, football, tennis and cricket, he covers the likes of golf, F1 and darts too, the latter of which has become a particular favourite. Sam enjoys playing as much as writing about sports, but niggling injuries have limited his participation in recent years, so is happy to mainly watch the pros such as Manchester United, Yorkshire CCC, Raymond van Barneveld and even Gibraltar national football team instead.