If we don't sign Brozovic the real shame would be we wouldn't see the Levy Out mob tie themselves in knots yet again, as they're now moaning about potentially selling World Cup semi finalist Moussa Dembele - but if we signed World Cup finalist Marcelo Brozovic their arguments would implode in a puff of "Oh do shut up..."
The falling through has seemingly coincided with the Toby rumours intensifying, wouldn't surprise me if Mina was just a smokescreen/ ploy by Utd to try and force our hand with Toby, doesn't seem to have worked as Utd are supposedly set to pay £60m (papers were guessing our asking price was between £50m-£75m).
Having a nice new stadium is all well and good but the most important part is investment in the team. We haven’t made one single signing and literally have days to go. I don’t agree that the squad is more than capable, we haven’t won trophies with this squad and all our rivals possibly bar Chelsea will be better teams than last season.
Little did i think that when Pochettino demanded bravery from Levy he meant "sign nobody and let some first-teamers leave". However, when you think about, this is one meaning of bravery (bordering on stupidity).
Exactly. Time to be brave means selling Toby to a rival. If he goes to Man Utd and we don’t get Martial then it’s beyond a joke.
If another team is not prepared to sell one of their players (who wants to leave) to us then I wouldn't do any business with them, full stop.
I like Martial but he's not really someone we need. I'll be delighted if he joins because he's a promising player but equally wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if he stayed at Utd. Regardless of that, realistically we have to sell Toby now if we want good money to then reinvest in the squad and put towards stadium repayments. He doesn't want to be here, it's been apparent for ages now and as he only has one proper year left, we'd be foolish not to cash in, I appreciate it's annoying that he goes to a Prem side but ultimately if they're going to pay over the odds for him then so be it. What we'll 100% need to do is replace him when he goes, if we sell Toby and don't replace him then I'll be absolutely livid because that would massively weaken us going into the season with just CCV and Foyth as back ups. CM still remains my priority, has done since the start of January when it was apparent Dembele was no longer of much use and it won't change until we bring in some reinforcements in the position. We generally score plenty of goals and remain solid at the back but we've lost our edge in the centre of the park, we don't control it as much as we used too and it needs serious addressing for me. Bringing in someone like Kovacic/ Brozovic and also someone like Grealish would be great business for the club. Then any other signings would be bonuses for me, if Martial ends up being one of them, great, if not, no biggy.
Martial would be ideal as like Son he can play multiple positions. Selling Toby this late makes no sense because like you say we would then need another CB. I rather see Martial than Zaha or Grealish. Ideally keep Toby, sign Martial and at least one CM. But we’ve had all summer and haven’t done anything at all.
But he likely wouldn't be a regular starter, so why would he leave Utd's role of a squad player to join us in the same situation? Selling Toby makes sense providing we replace him. He doesn't want to be here, has just a year left on his deal and has supposedly done something to piss off Poch. Poch made it clear when he was appointed manager that anyone who doesn't want to be at Spurs - or ****s about in their time here - will be shown the door, that's why over the years Kaboul, Capoue, Adebayor, Townsend, Bentaleb and Walker have all gone, they either messed about or they signalled their intent to go. Martial and Grealish are two completely different players who play in different positions. We actually need a CM like Grealish (and also another), we don't technically need Martial - it'd be a good signing if he joins as he strengthens the squad but there's more immediate concerns than that.
You sound a bit miffed King. Winning trophies is icing on the cake it's not the cake. The cake is a squad that for the last 3 seasons has competed right at the top of the PL. Winning trophies is not the measure of a team that comes from their performance week after week. You make a number of assumptions. !st. Making signings does not necessarily improve the team, it is a gamble that may or may not be for the better. The seven players bought with Bale money is a good example. 2nd. You don't know if our rivals will be better or not as most of them have been behind us in the league for the last 3 seasons. They are under pressure to try and improve and keep up with City and Spurs. United are under pressure because of the nature of their manager. 3rd. A new stadium is not an investment in the team? The increased capacity will enable Spurs to try and catch up with our rivals. You seem to forget that in monetary terms we should be 6th we have been exceeding our level for the last 3 seasons and more. 4th the transfer window has not closed yet so your observations are premature in any case. I don't understand this kind of criticism it smacks of the 'I want it and I want it now' society that younger generations seem to expect. My usual reply to that is to welcome them to the real world.
Time will very soon tell on you. Specifically Toby being sold to Man Utd in the last week of the transfer window, who the incoming replacement is.
I really do hope I'm right, I'll be more pissed than anyone on here if he we end up selling key players and not adequately replacing them - while also not addressing the CM concerns - because that'd just be suicide for the club. I'm putting a lot of faith in Levy/ Poch to deliver something special over the next few days... My avatar depends on it!
100% spot on. about all 3 points. Selling Toby off now at his maximum value and his "peak" (+ he currently isn't first 11) is the right business sense ONLY if you get a proper squad back up (CCV and Foyth aren't these imo). Likewise your position in need is Centre Mid as Dembele cant play all the time and is getting older and wanyama and winks are crocked and sissoko is sissoko
as an outsider i can understand Kings frustration. Let me address the points: 1. Making signings is generally the accepted way of improving the team. Apart from Harry, everyone else in your main squad have been signed. This is especially true for players (cheaper) with potential - See tripps, eriksen, davies who have improved to no end compared to when they were first signed. If not for the first 11, so they can bed in and improve and learn poches way. Signing them next season means another year of missed tutorship under Poch. As for the Bale money and the 7 players, you actually have ended up with a solid if not spectacular starter in lamela (divides the fan base on his contribution but he damn works hard) and you have an absolute gem in eriksen, so actually it's been not as poor as people think (although the year after his sale was horrendous). 2. They may or may not be better, but that endeavour is there and generally speaking, teams who don't make a single signing to address their weaknesses don't do as well. It's true of both the weak and top clubs. 3. agree, investment in the stadium is good. 4. correct, speaking soon but probably more out of frustration although historically levy operates during the latter parts of the transfer window. I don't necessarily agree with the i want it and i want it now society. It is certainly more prevalent and i don't like seeing fans openly criticise a club. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with King as for the fans who want some signings this year, i think it's more an acknowledgement that this is one of the best teams spurs have had, it's a dominant team in the PL which has been a rare occurrence and it's been built over 4 years. Levy hasn't really spent big and backed poch in a window and most fans are not sure when this opportunity may come again where you have a realistic chance for pushing for a title and would like levy to have a bit of a go for it. Just look at liverpool, their club has spent the net transfer of **** all since klopps taken over but they feel this is a special opportunity for them after 3 years and are backing the manager.
That has primarily come at the expense of selling a world-class player (Suarez) , and a very good one (Coutinho) . Only because they have the Mouser core support has the consequent absences from the CL not hit the club bottom line.
