Huddlestone Exit Nears as Rose and Townsend are Handed Tottenham Lifeline – Report

Fulham are set to reignite their interest in Tottenham Hotspur's Tom Huddlestone after Sunderland failed to agree a £5m deal for the wantaway midfielder.

Huddlestone indicated towards the end of last season that he may be forced to leave north London in order to secure more regular first team football after falling down the pecking order under Andre Villas-Boas.

The 26 year old started just 11 Premier League games last season and was believed to be close to joining Sunderland. However, the Daily Mail reports that Paulo Di Canio is no longer interested in pursuing the midfielder and Fulham are now prepared to make an offer.

With Tottenham securing the signature of Brazilian midfielder Paulinho for £17m earlier this summer, Huddlestone will have fallen even further out of favour and may well prefer a move to Fulham where he is likely to get more regular game time.

While Huddlestone's future looks set to lie away from White Hart Lane, Danny Rose and Andros Townsend appear to have been given a second chance to impress by Villas-Boas.

Both players impressed during loan spells, with Rose playing 27 games for Sunderland, while Townsend joined a struggling Queens Park Rangers side in January and made an instant impact that ultimately failed in helping the side avoid relegation.

The pair will seemingly be given a chance to impress at Tottenham, with the Evening Standard reporting that Villas-Boas will not send them out on loan again in this campaign as he sees them as important squad players.

With Villas-Boas failing to show any faith in Benoit Assou-Ekotto last season it could be that Rose has a chance of making the left-back role his own, especially with Jan Vertonghen preferred at centre back and Kyle Naughton a more natural right-back.

Townsend may struggle to force his way regularly into the first team but he will provide cover for Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon having demonstrated his ability to shine on either flank.