"Andre Villas-Boas will be cautiously optimistic that his side are prepared for life without him."
Reports suggest that Ledley King will call time on his playing career and instead assume a behind-the-scenes position at Tottenham...
Speculation is growing that Ledley King will announce his retirement from professional football at the age of 31 over the last 24 hours after years spent struggling to fight the effects of a seemingly incurable knee injury.
The Tottenham captain, who is likely to be given a new role either as a coach or ambassador, hasn't managed more than 24 league starts in a campaign since 2006, with the problem proving increasingly restricting.
Remarkably, neither the pain endured nor the sporadic nature of his participation affected the quality of his performances, at least until a dip over the past few months as the years of battling appeared to finally take their toll.
It is a testament to his ability that, despite it being widely accepted that his fitness issues rendered him incapable of playing more than once a week, Fabio Capello opted to include him in his England squad for the last World Cup.
The career-long Spurs stalwart represented his nation 21 times, his first cap being awarded by Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2002. His admirers feel that, were it not for his knee, he would have rivalled the 77 and 81 appearances accumulated by former Senrab team-mate John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.
His standing as a Tottenham icon is assured having been the one constant at the club in a 14-year period that featured plenty of upheaval and difficult moments, but also a season of Champions League football and a Carling Cup triumph.
The fact that King was always an automatic starter when available, regardless of how long he had been out, says everything about his reliability, though new boss Andre Villas-Boas will be cautiously optimistic that his side are prepared for life without him.
French defender Younes Kaboul enjoyed his best campaign at White Hart Lane last term, Michael Dawson - while also susceptible to injury - rarely disappoints, Jan Vertonghen has arrived, William Gallas remains (for now) and Steven Caulker showed considerable promise on loan at Swansea.
The Lilywhites are 2.881/1 to finish in the top four in 2012/13, and 34.033/1 to win the title.
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