Tottenham Hotspur have dismissed rumours in a Sunday newspaper that contract talks between the club and Stephen Carr have broken down.

The claims are that Carr has turned down the latest offer from the club which will have Manchester United interested.

Why? Carr has four years left on his contract and his talks with the club are in a bid to make him a Tottenham player for the foreseeable future. United are not going to get overexcited about a player that is not free for four years, even if he is having problems in agreeing terms to an extension.

It looks like the usual scaremongering by the English papers who have nothing better to write.

Carr is one of the most popular players at White Hart Lane and it is unlikely that he would swap that, at this stage of his career, for a place on the Manchester United bench while duff players like the Neville brothers (who should have stuck to the singing) and Silvestre start ahead of him.

Tottenham's director of football, David Pleat said: "This story is inaccurate. In fact, Stephen's agent, Robert Segal, has telephoned me to apologise and to claim that he doesn't know the source of the story and that there is no substance to it.

"We are talking to Stephen's agent about a new contract and at this moment nothing has been refused or agreed. We have only just started discussions as Stephen has several seasons to run on his existing contract."