“You know better than me how it is. It’s so difficult. People talk about if Tottenham are in the Champions League they are more attractive, but then it’s about if you pay them. For top players, if some clubs are paying double salary, how are you going to convince them? I cannot cheat you, that is the reality.”
Back in May, when prompted, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino discussed the difficult yet unique transfer situation at the club. After watching his side’s 6-1 drubbing of Leicester and 7-1 thrashing of Hull in the last week of the season, the question must have been asked: how can you improve this team? The answer is that barring the use of an extraordinarily large sum of money, the first team will be very hard to improve. The strength in depth, however, is a different question.
The Tottenham Transfer Market Situation
Perhaps one of the most obvious weaknesses in the squad this season was their lack of options off the bench. If Spurs were drawing 0-0 in the 75th minute, as they were at Bournemouth and Sunderland this season, there were simply not many options to make significant changes. Pochettino’s reliance on the potency of his first 11 became all too apparent in the Champions League.
Thus, his and Levy’s goal this summer should instead be to find a player who may not be able to replace the likes of Harry Kane or Christian Eriksen in the first team, but instead to be able to step in for them come an injury or a dip in form.
Reasonably so, there seems to be a feeling of frustration or annoyance at the lack of transfer activity but nevertheless, Spurs fans can be thankful that the need for a summer signing is at least less drastic than at many of their Premier League rivals.
What’s more, the club are certainly seeking to do business in the transfer market this summer. Sky Sports claim that Spurs are in negotiations for 19-year-old Argentinian Juan Foyth and could potentially strike a deal for the centre-back with Estudiantes worth approximately £8 million. The youngster would be seen as extra cover for the likes of Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier.
Perhaps on a larger scale, The Independent finds that Spurs continue to chase wantaway Everton midfielder, Ross Barkley. Everton seem very keen to strike a deal worth approximately £50 million, but Levy and co. would want to meet at a lower valuation and still obtain the services of the Englishman.
Finally, the Evening Standard claims that Tottenham are chasing Porto right-back Ricardo Pereira as a like-for-like replacement for Kyle Walker. He is supposedly valued around £22 million. On the right-back front, Spurs announced that Kieran Trippier has signed a new five-year contract until 2022.
Despite Tottenham’s lack of signings so far, there is certainly no crisis at the club, and transfers will follow in due course.
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