Someone has made it known that Citeh have "opened talks to purchase Kyle Walker". I doubt it was us. I doubt it was Kyle Walker. I'm guessing that it's Citeh. The only reason for releasing that information would be for Citeh to try to drive down the price by getting Kyle to pressure Spurs to release him. I hope thatMr Levy I'm guessing that Citeh briefed the press? I wonder what they did that for? One can only presume that they think that they can drive the price down? Good luck with that, guys! For some reason we've decided not to issue the "Hands Off" warning we have for other players but if we're going to sell, we need Citeh's money more than they do. Let's start with Everton wanting £50m for Barkley, Juve wanting £60m for Sandro and Southampton wanting £70m for Van Dijk. Time to do some milking!
The agents do most of this leaking and also fuel the press speculation. We have a system where the agent earns most money by transferring a player therefore it's in their interest to fuel speculation.
The simplest thing to do is for the club to state that as of <Date> , Citeh have officially approached Spurs with an offer to buy Walker, and that it has been declined. And repeat for every subsequent official approach. Let the hacks then embellish each such exchange with tales of the sum etc as they see fit. Of course we know that the sum for approach N+1 will have to be higher than for approach N. < Levy > And if Walker is still here, I would then leak the highest offer that Citeh officially made the day the transfer window closes.
Reports from Holland say that Joel Veltman has been seen at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport...so expect to see him tweeting holiday snaps over the weekend.
From Sky transfer centre Kieran Trippier has signed a new five-year contract extension with Tottenham, according to Sky sources. I'll wait for the Poch arm around the shoulder pic.
$ity have `opened talks` for the potential signing of Kyle Walker, Sky sources reported the same a few weeks ago did they not. These Walker to $ity rumours keep cropping up, I suspect they don`t want to meet our asking price (if indeed we are willing to sell) and are hoping Walker tries to force a move through for a lower price. I will be surprised if we agree to sell him to a rival at any price, why would we weaken ourselves whilst strengthening City at the same time. Unless of course Poch wants rid of him, in which case we will have to trust his judgement.
The best "transfer" business we can do is not sell our current players. The value of a settled team cannot be underestimated. The assumption by the all-knowing pundits is not only that the usual suspects will spend hundreds of millions on transfers but that those players will immediately settle in and be successful - without any evidence whatsoever that that is the case. Even moreso if they are trying to integrate several players at the same time. In fact it kind of makes the premium spent on players already in the PL make more sense, because at least you have a better idea of what you are getting.
The evidence of that last season was over-whelming. A fair few of Man Utd's big signings last season never really looked settled (not helped really by Moronhio's complete fear of his players passing the half way line) and some of those are now rumoured to be surplus to requirements (Martial). Manchester City spent a small fortune on centre backs and their defence was creaking all over the place. This summer is seeing another complete overhaul and some of those signings are, again, rumoured to be off-loaded. So another season of bedding in players, creating relationships and trying to predict what that clown behind you is going to do next; missing the ball completely to punch you in the head or shank it to the on-rushing opposing attackers. While a star signing would give us all a lift, the best signing is maintaining the unit we already have. A little bit of fine-tuning, not a refurb job.
As for Walks, if he goes, he goes. Don't want him gone but if he genuinely prefers a move to City than staying with us then get rid. It's not an ambitious move, it's a financial one. Use that money to fund a stronger move for someone like Seri/ Lemar/ getting Barkley over the line (latter isn't everyone's cup of tea but he is a talent and could do well under Poch).
Looking forward to lamela coming back if indeed he ever does will be like a new signing without the risk .we already know what we are gonna get from him his workrate is second to none and on his day a match winner. Hurry up back coco.
Holiday pics over the weekend? Doubt it! He'll probably still be walking through the airport to his gate. That place is never ending.
There is a chance he'll never be the same player again after so long on the touchlines. And to continue in an optimistic vein, all of Alli, Eriksen and Son massively upped their games last season. As good as Lamela was in 2015/16, the team has very much moved on and he will have to up his game again to even get a sniff of action.
I thought Citeh had been 'briefing the press on this for the past 4 weeks!!! I must have been confusing that with some other 'Walker to Citeh' story!!!
please log in to view this image ...although it does need to be noted that the SpursITK tweet from yesterday is pinned to the top of our news feed. Just remember to act surprised when it's revealed to be shorthand for "Spurs in the kit" with accompanying photos of our squad in the Nike kit.
I've been practising my 'surprised' face. It's the same as the face I had on when we signed Sissoko, just without the bleach in my eyes.
The club have announced that Scott Parker has joined the Academy as Under-18 Coach and Club Ambassador. The announcement contains the following from John McDermott...... "Scott's role will be to manage the Under 18 players and to instil the standards required to be an elite international and Premier League player. I know how passionately Scott feels about the personal qualities that Mauricio needs from players to be a success in our first team and I know he will develop these qualities in our players on and off the pitch." I recall seeing an interview with Scott saying how impressed he was at Mauricio Pochettino, his footballing principles, coaching and belief in young English footballers. Despite being offered a role at Fulham, he's committed to us and I think that it should be a very good fit. I wonder if he can do anything about the beards and dodgy Barnet's preferred by some? Even if he can't, I think this is an excellent appointment and I wish Scott all the best in his coaching career.
Great news! Was a top player and a brilliant role model - totally in line with club and MP philosophy and a haircut that would bring a tear to Spurcats eye!!
Scott Parker made a difference when he was a Spurs player let's hope he can pass that ability on to the younger ones.
Looks like the SpursITK tweet has been deleted. Something tells me that a position will be opening up in our social media department shortly...