Imo the title race next season will be between Citeh and Liverpool. I still expect Citeh to win it though.
Joao Moutinho, our once number one target under AVB, is set to join Wolves for £5m. Wolves are basically just gonna be the Portugal national team before long.
If that does happen, will be interesting to see how close to 75m the transfer fee is (yet another aspect of how one club views another) .
A bit of chatter today about Kovacic wanting out of Madrid. Thought I would be a bit more objective about him, and compare his stats : https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/mateo-kovacic/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/51471 with another Madrid cast-off : https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/rafael-van-der-vaart/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/4192 His stats the season before Madrid took him, and his seasons at Madrid, do not favourably compare with VDV (even allowing for age) . So unless Kovacic is Modric mk II (a MF driver with reams of "passes before the assist" stats that won't show up at the usual suspects) , then I just don't see it. If anything it looks more like a Madrid "land grab" that failed to paid off.
Kovacic plays more like Dembele, from what I've seen of him. Picks the ball up in front of the defence and carries it forward, committing opposition players before laying it off to someone more attacking.
Yeah Kovacic plays as a number 8 while Rafa was an out and out number 10. Kovacic ironically is/ was seen as Modric's heir to club and country.
They likely had comparisons when they started off at Dinamo but ultimately those two are both number 10s. Kovacic is the only one that actually plays in Modric's position.
So he would be intended as a Dembele replacement. Does he hold onto the ball as well as our Moussa ?? Age is ok, but as with all things Madrid it will come down to the remaining dominoes falling post CR7 + whatever wages they currently pay the guy.
Coric is a No10 while Halilovic either plays on the right wing or as a No10, Kovacic is a central midfielder. In a way you have to feel sorry for Kovacic because, even though Croatia play with a three-man midfield, he doesn't play because Modric and Rakitic are two of the best players in world football in their respective positions which means Brozovic or Badelj are picked to anchor their system and he gets left on the bench even though he'd be a guaranteed starter for something like 95% of teams in world football.
He’s ideal for Spurs. If we only get in one player I hope it’s a central midfielder. Obviously I hope it’s 2-3 but that position 100% has to be strengthened.
Roma have agreed a deal to sign Brazilian winger Malcom from Bordeaux for a reported £32m fee. So that's another one we will no longer be linked with in this window. But at £32m, we could have got him if we were ever interested
Malcom was never coming the moment we signed Lucas over him. Don’t know why the media still ran with the story that we wanted him. As KH said. CM needs to be priority - regardless of whether Dembele stays or not - get that sorted and anything else is a bonus. So long as Toby and Rose stay as otherwise they’d need replacing, an ideal window for me would be for Kovacic, Grealish and then maybe Zaha/ Martial to come in (though I’m happy with AM options, especially with a fully fit Lamela and more settled Lucas).
A couple of 'ITK's' on Spurs Community are saying that talks have started between Mauricio Pochettino and Toby Alderweireld with a view to him staying. The main problem is not actually money any more but something that Toby did, that is supposedly much worse than Danny Rose's article in The Sun. Nobody will say what whilst he's still with us but one has said he will 'spill the beans' if he leaves. Let's hope that it can be resolved and he signs on for the rest of his career. Increasingly, I don't se us selling to United or them to us. We need to go 'all in' for Zaha, despite my continuing concerns. If Toby and Danny Rose stay, Serge Aurier is actually fit and focussed and the real 'Big Vic' reappears, we're in really good shape and DH's 3 would give us an excellent and balanced squad.
Pretty sure him bitching to the Standard a couple of weeks ago about being dropped has something to do with it
