It will be sad to see Kranjcar leave

So, reports today claims Sunderland are close to closing a deal for Kranjcar, be it on loan or a permanent move.

I remember the day the Croatian signed and literally jumping for the joy with the signing. A class apart in a Pompey shirt bringing the creative spark to the South coast club.

A steal at £2.5m and he quickly began showcasing his abilities to the Spurs faithful. Linking up with fellow country men Corluka and Modric and working, once again, under Redknapp must have been a dream come true for the 27-year-old.

Some fans felt his best chance to make his mark in the starting XI was when Modric broke his leg early in the 09/10 season against Birmingham and I feel compelled to agree with them.

25-year-old Modric was really beginning to showcase his ability at the time and when the injury came about, some were worried sick about what would happen in the aftermath.

But Kranjcar stepped in to detrimental effect, often putting points on the board single handedly.

His greatest game in a Spurs shirt, for me, will be the 3-0 win over Man City late in 2009. He ran the show from the wings, scoring twice with his second late in stoppage time being the pick of lot. If you don’t know which goal I’m talking about, I implore you to look it up.

Another goal which really stands out is when the Croatian trio linked up for Modric’s winner over Everton. Again, look it up if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Granted, it wasn’t Kranjcar who executed the finish but it was fantastic to see the three linking up almost in perfect sync.

His two goals this season were also of the highest Kranjcar quality, both of which proved to be the winners against both Bolton and potential new suitors, Sunderland.

However, some fans felt the writing was on the wall when the club bought in Steven Pienaar in January and as much as I’m a fan of the South African international, I much prefer Kranjcar over the pint sized midfielder.

His recent performance against MK Dons would have stood him in good stead as the club looked to find potential suitors for the out of favour Croatian but clearly was not enough to convince Redknapp that he should remain at White Hart Lane.

So, it will be a great shame to see Kranjcar go. He can leave Spurs with his head held high fully in the knowledge that he will always be a favourite with the fans.

Good luck in the future Niko and thank you. You deserve nothing more than a starting role wherever you end up and when you do return to White Hart Lane, I won’t be the only one giving you a round of applause.