Transfer thread for 2016-17 season

The best man won

 

You went to Croydon?

 

I really thought Chelsea had made a big mistake in letting Schurrle and De Bruyne go so easily. Liked what little I saw of them in the Prem so would really like it if we got Schurrle in. Though it does impede on our master plan to build a team of Dembeles.

 

Schurrle's a class player but would he get in our XI? I think the current front four of Lamela, Eriksen, Alli and Kane is pretty much undroppable at the moment. If the price was right I'd happily have him here don't get me wrong as he's pure quality and it strengthens an already strong squad but it would also likely spell the end of an attacking player or two, I don't think we could maintain a happy bunch in Eriksen, Lamela, Alli, Chadli, N'Jie, Son, Pritchard and Schurrle, even with CL football it'll be tough finding minutes for all, besides you rarely rotate in CL like you do in the EL. He left Chelsea for first team football, so unless Poch does see him somewhere in the XI, I'd be surprised if he wanted to come.

Another one linked is Fener's Mehmet Topal, a tough tackling DM who'd provide cover and competition for Dier and Dembele. In my opinion a similar option to Lassana Diarra in that it'd be a no brainer of a move. Free transfer, 30 years old, experience of European football... Yes please! That signing (or Diarra) would also spell the end of at least one CM, Carroll is likely to go anyway as his contract is up but I can't see the club being able to keep Dier, Dembele, Mason, Nabs and Topal all happy if all are fit.

 

Two of the past three seasons, Spurs have had a full complement of UEFA/League Cup games.
That is 10 additional games on top of the PL schedule, before even 16 PL games are played.

Given that you have to play strong sides for the CL games, I would think Pochettino would like to
be able to rotate lineups during those weeks as much as he can.

 

I lived in the lovely Crystal Palace for 2 decades having married a South Londoner, I'm North London born and bred. I now live in a neighbouring borough and have daughters I'd allow to go to Afghanistan before Croydon.

 

Yeah I'm sure there will be games for a number to get good minutes in but it's the Prem and (all being well) the Champions League in which all are desperate to feature in and so injuries aside, I can't see the first XI being tinkered with much in those games.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footb...tons-tottenham-transfer-target-victor-7798194

Aside from the fact I just don't want the walking red card machine at our club (though I will admit, I did like the idea in the summer of him joining, that was before Dier went and became a class DM), is this bit true:

"The Kenya international handed in a transfer request last August in a bid to force a move after Spurs offered £18million plus Erik Lamela for his services."

Thank God they rejected it if true, Lamela + £18m for him would've been the steal of the century for Southampton.

 

Pochettino certainly has the FB rotation sorted.

I would like to see a Vert-Wimmer combo tried and tested, so that we can see whether Toby is
(not) the constant in the defensive brilliance (being able to rotate CB pairings between those three
on a per game basis would be great) .

In attack/CM, IMHO we need better options for rotation.
Perhaps Son will return next season close to what we anticipated, Pritchard to do a Dele Alli
season etc. Another decent striker is a must as Spurs have been riding their luck on a
Kane injury.

 

Problem with Vertonghen and Wimmer is that both are left footed and I believe Poch doesn't like that combination.

 

Yeah the full backs are pretty easy to rotate as they're arguably the toughest roles to play in our side, I'd say they've got to be the fittest players in our squad so I think they all understand that at times they will be rotated when a cluster of games approach.

Jan and Big Kev would be interesting to see, both are left footed which may prove tough although there's plenty of sides who have to play with two right-footed CB's so I don't see it being a major issue. I think they'd do well together but there's no doubting that Toby's brilliance has brought the best out of them, in fact it's brought the best out of all the defence.

I think our attacking midfield options are really good, Chadli is a class player in my opinion whereas N'Jie showed glimpses of what he can do, while if Son can play like he did before his injury then we're laughing as that's some unreal talent to rotate between, not forgetting Pritchard too.

In terms of CM we've been linked with Diarra and Topal to help provide cover for Dier and Dembele. Mason and Bentaleb are solid options to choose from too but lack the defensive aspects which Dier has, so I think one of Diarra or Topal will be very welcome, even if it may spell the end for one of Mason/ Nabs (would say Nabs).

A striker is without a doubt a must though as we need someone to remove the pressure off Kane. Son, Chadli and Schurrle if he were to join can all play up top but none of them have a real striker's instinct and nack like Kane has.

 

Mate. What the hell have you been smoking?

Out with Chadli, in with Shurrle, if there's truth to it. Absolute no brainier.

 

Really? You'd find that as easy a decision to make?

Schurrle's hardly set the world alight at Wolfsburg and he never got regular game time at Chelsea. There's no doubting he's a quality player mate but I wouldn't put him on such a pedestal to suggest he's miles better than Chadli, probably has a yard of pace over him but aside from that what much more does he have? Maybe I've not seen enough of Schurrle to realise what you see but from what I have seen of him I wouldn't be quick to ditch a proven player for us for someone that hasn't had the best couple of years.

 

I have barely seen Chadli offer anything in the time he's been with us, other than a few goals and assists here and there, always at the correct time which helps him escape criticism. But there's more to it than that. Over 90 mins, theres bugger all graft from him IMO, and I don't think he's much of an impact sub either.

Schurrle may not have set the world alight, but he's got a classy creative spark about him and just has a bit more in his locker than Chadli has ever shown. - perhaps someone who can help Eriksen with the unlocking of defences. - 20 goals in 50 games for Germany isn't too shabby.

I just don't see Chadli as a proven player for us, as you say. Therefore the decision is an easy one, as Shurrle looked far better at Chelsea than Chadli has ever looked for us IMO.

 

"I have barely seen Chadli offer anything in the time he's been with us, other than a few goals and assists here and there, always at the correct time"


Is this not quite useful ?

 

By that I meant that he does something just before people are starting to get on his back for not contributing enough, so he escapes criticism.
i want someone who's gonna contribute more over a 90 min game of football.

 

Yeah. Got to agree. Schurrle is class. I can't understand why he's been so overlooked. Maybe attitude problems?...

 

Can hardly do that if he starts on the bench though !

How many league games has he started this season ? 5 ?

 

Surely the goals and assists are absolutely vital though? Like you sort of touched on, he always seems to rise just when we need someone too and that's something that can be very hard to buy. I'd disagree about the impact sub though, he changed the game against Swansea in our favour and then killed off Palace at Selhurst, he hasn't really been getting sufficient time in recent weeks to be fairly judged upon either, getting 5-10 minutes here and there is pretty much impossible for anyone to make a genuine impact. I also thought he was immense last season too, Spurs were the only club I believe to have three players in the Premier League score 10 or more goals, think we were only one of a few sides in the top European leagues overall too and Chadli was part of that, along with Kane and Eriksen.

Is there actual evidence of this creative spark though mate? I've just checked his stats on transfermarkt (not that it paints a full picture) and in 2,228 minutes of football this season he's managed 9 goals and 7 assists, Chadli's played nearly 600 minutes less and has 7 goals to 5 assists.

International records are deceiving and in my opinion something that a player should never really be judged upon, look at Crouchy's record for England, it was phenomenal, yet he never replicated that goals to game ratio at club level. Great accomplishment on Schurrle's part though to get that sort of goal count.

If Schurrle joins then happy days because I do think he's a great player and it'll only benefit the squad but I personally wouldn't want him coming in if it meant ending Chadli's stay, maybe part of that is through loyalty to a current Spurs player who I personally think has represented good business for the club since signing but I really don't think there's much difference in quality between the pair to be wanting to disregard our current player for the new one.

 

Ask yourself why he's always on the bench. - maybe poch thinks he doesn't do enough.

As I've said, for me, he's neither effective enough as a "starter" featuring throughout most of the game, nor is he an impact player.

Therefore, someone like Schurrle would be an improvement.