Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

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The lingering worry with Son is that he doesn't have the skill set that is adaptable to different stages of his career. His game has always been about using his electric pace and close control to get him into shooting positions, at which point his accuracy with either foot is devastating. The risk has always been that there will come a time when he will lose half a yard of pace and a split second of mental sharpness, and his game will inevitably start to unravel. I personally don't think we've hit that time just yet as it is uncommon in the extreme to see such a sharp decline from one season to the next - we're talking about a guy who as recently as May was playing superbly and returned 6 goals in our last 5 games of the season. Fast forward barely 3 months to August and he is suddenly on par with vintage 2022 Vardy? I don't buy that.

Fwiw I don't think that time is far off and at the moment we are wasting what precious few months if not years we have of peak Son with a tactical approach that stifles his game. HBIC's analysis is really helpful imo as it highlights how the projected evolution of our WB system essentially bypasses So entirely. In fact one of the main reasons Kulu is so productive is that whoever he is partnered with on that flank is so ****e they just give him the ball on demand. Perisic isn't like that at all, possessing a fiendish cross and the ability to beat his man with ease. That plus our negative tactics have left Son in something of a tactical no man's land and unlike Kane, it is clear that he doesn't have the raw talent or reading of the game to adapt year on year.

It serves to highlight what a remarkable player Kane actually is - very few players are able to adapt their entire game to new tactical systems.

This doesn't absolve Son of blame btw, I think his confidence is shattered and Conte isn't helping matters at all with his preferred approach.

I certainly hope you're right because I don't want to believe Son's at the beginning of his decline but good players don't have spells of bad form that last half a season (and counting). A bad month, two even but then they're often back to their best or even back to a respectable level. With Son being 31 at the end of the season, his pace definitely going down a notch and his all round game being nothing short of abysmal, at what point is poor form no longer poor form and a sign that a player is on the decline?

Unfortunately sharp declines aren't anything new for us Spurs fans to witness either, hence my worries; Vertonghen aged massively over the 19/20 summer, Alderweireld similarly the year after and Dele has been in a 3-4 year decline where at each passing season he seems to surpass where we believe is rock bottom. Son's history buys him some credit to keep faith but equally we as a team can't afford to be carrying any more players, especially if Emerson/ Doherty and/ or Sessegnon are also in the XI with this current version of Son.
 
The defence needs major surgery, imagine if ENIC miraculously made £130m available and went out and got Porro, Bastoni and Gvardiol.....yeh I know, pure fantasy, but we can dream.

As it stands, Royal, Sanchez and Tanganga need to leave and Dier should not be first choice, he is a utility defender and should be kept as a squad player for his versatility.

New RWB, Doherty, Spence
Romero, New RCB
New CB, Dier
New LCB / Lenglet, Davies
Peresic, Sessegnon, Doherty

Realistically this squad also needs another forward and attack minded midfielder, so it could cost up to £200m (depending on who can be got and at what prices) to build a capable squad. I think we all know that is not happening under the misery of ENIC.
£130m wouldn't sign that trio, though, given Gvardiol's pricetag is around £80m

It does feel like we're playing transfer window chicken with Inter's back three
 
Probably not to be fair and we likely won't either seeing as Conte doesn't know how to rest Kane.

Tbf to Conte, Richarlison has been injured a lot for Spurs (obviously he’s fit for the important Brazil games) so Conte hasn’t really had a chance to rest Kane.
 
The lingering worry with Son is that he doesn't have the skill set that is adaptable to different stages of his career. His game has always been about using his electric pace and close control to get him into shooting positions, at which point his accuracy with either foot is devastating. The risk has always been that there will come a time when he will lose half a yard of pace and a split second of mental sharpness, and his game will inevitably start to unravel. I personally don't think we've hit that time just yet as it is uncommon in the extreme to see such a sharp decline from one season to the next - we're talking about a guy who as recently as May was playing superbly and returned 6 goals in our last 5 games of the season. Fast forward barely 3 months to August and he is suddenly on par with vintage 2022 Vardy? I don't buy that.

Fwiw I don't think that time is far off and at the moment we are wasting what precious few months if not years we have of peak Son with a tactical approach that stifles his game. HBIC's analysis is really helpful imo as it highlights how the projected evolution of our WB system essentially bypasses So entirely. In fact one of the main reasons Kulu is so productive is that whoever he is partnered with on that flank is so ****e they just give him the ball on demand. Perisic isn't like that at all, possessing a fiendish cross and the ability to beat his man with ease. That plus our negative tactics have left Son in something of a tactical no man's land and unlike Kane, it is clear that he doesn't have the raw talent or reading of the game to adapt year on year.

It serves to highlight what a remarkable player Kane actually is - very few players are able to adapt their entire game to new tactical systems.

This doesn't absolve Son of blame btw, I think his confidence is shattered and Conte isn't helping matters at all with his preferred approach.

He’s playing game in game out in his preferred position as he has done for many years…you just said Conte accommodates him by playing Richarlison on the right.

I don’t think Conte is to blame at all…not one little bit. I doubt Conte is stifling Son, he was just as poor in the WC.
 
He’s playing game in game out in his preferred position as he has done for many years…you just said Conte accommodates him by playing Richarlison on the right.

I don’t think Conte is to blame at all…not one little bit. I doubt Conte is stifling Son, he was just as poor in the WC.

I'm saying it isn't at all realistic to lay the blame on any one single factor such as him naturally declining. Even in the examples DH listed above such as Toby and Jan, their decline was relatively slow by comparison (measurable in years as opposed to months) - even Jan's decline was nothing like DH has described, he didn't turn old from one end of summer to the other - his 18/19 season in its entirety was riddled with the niggling recurring injuries that are the hallmarks of an older player who has been chronically overplayed for most of his career, something Poch was as guilty as Conte of doing. IIRC, Jan missed well over 20 games that season injured including half our CL group stage. He put in the occasional evergreen performance such as the masterclass against Dortmund to remind us of what he was like in his pomp, but the decline was far more gradual than what we're seeing from Son and the 19/20 collapse for Jan was predictable from more or less a year beforehand and indeed many of us on here were urging the club to invest in a LCB either than January or that summer, but of course we did neither instead spending £130m on the Three Stooges.

And I'd say the same about Jan/Toby even if their declines were as quick as DH is suggesting - it is impossible to blame one single factor as it over simplifies a complex problem to the point of mockery. Their decline for example was probably as much down to their bullet-proof Wanyama/Dembele shield breaking beyond repair. Suddenly both were more exposed to pressure throughout games and the cracks (and injuries) started to rack up.

So I'd say the same for Son. I cannot accept the argument that the most in-form striker in the entire division in May 2022 was suddenly one of the worst three months later and all because of natural decline of which there was zero evidence previously (i.e. injuries - I think he missed 3 or 4 games all year). There have to be more factors involved and I for one do blame him for the lack of ruthless confidence he's had throughout his career but I will also divide blame to Conte's ludicrously negative tactics, the role Perisic now plays in the side, and Kane being shifted back into a traditional 9 rather than a false 10. These three tactical shifts have massively affected Son's game. Unlike Kane he isn't good enough to adapt as he is and always has essentially been a one trick pony.
 
I'm saying it isn't at all realistic to lay the blame on any one single factor such as him naturally declining. Even in the examples DH listed above such as Toby and Jan, their decline was relatively slow by comparison (measurable in years as opposed to months) - even Jan's decline was nothing like DH has described, he didn't turn old from one end of summer to the other - his 18/19 season in its entirety was riddled with the niggling recurring injuries that are the hallmarks of an older player who has been chronically overplayed for most of his career, something Poch was as guilty as Conte of doing. IIRC, Jan missed well over 20 games that season injured including half our CL group stage. He put in the occasional evergreen performance such as the masterclass against Dortmund to remind us of what he was like in his pomp, but the decline was far more gradual than what we're seeing from Son and the 19/20 collapse for Jan was predictable from more or less a year beforehand and indeed many of us on here were urging the club to invest in a LCB either than January or that summer, but of course we did neither instead spending £130m on the Three Stooges.

And I'd say the same about Jan/Toby even if their declines were as quick as DH is suggesting - it is impossible to blame one single factor as it over simplifies a complex problem to the point of mockery. Their decline for example was probably as much down to their bullet-proof Wanyama/Dembele shield breaking beyond repair. Suddenly both were more exposed to pressure throughout games and the cracks (and injuries) started to rack up.

So I'd say the same for Son. I cannot accept the argument that the most in-form striker in the entire division in May 2022 was suddenly one of the worst three months later and all because of natural decline of which there was zero evidence previously (i.e. injuries - I think he missed 3 or 4 games all year). There have to be more factors involved and I for one do blame him for the lack of ruthless confidence he's had throughout his career but I will also divide blame to Conte's ludicrously negative tactics, the role Perisic now plays in the side, and Kane being shifted back into a traditional 9 rather than a false 10. These three tactical shifts have massively affected Son's game. Unlike Kane he isn't good enough to adapt as he is and always has essentially been a one trick pony.

You got to do the eyeball test during games…I’m sure you do and what do you see?

he’s in attacking positions as he has always been..he’s getting the ball as he has always done. He isn’t doing the things he usually does though upon receiving the ball…wether that be to run or dribble. His shooting is atrocious too. It’s weird but his best performance was off the bench against Lesta…strange that. He was vintage Son for that cameo and then returned to **** again…odd.
 
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You got to do the eyeball test during games…I’m sure you do and what do you see?

he’s in attacking positions as he has always been..he’s getting the ball as he has always done. He isn’t doing the things he usually does though upon receiving the ball…wether that be to run or dribble. His shooting is atrocious too. It’s weird but his best performance was off the bench against Lesta…strange that. He was vintage Son for that cameo and then returned to **** again…odd.

So the logical conclusion is that the best attacker in the league in May 2022 had turned to complete ****e by Aug 2022 due to natural decline? Really?
 
You got to do the eyeball test during games…I’m sure you do and what do you see?

he’s in attacking positions as he has always been..he’s getting the ball as he has always done. He isn’t doing the things he usually does though upon receiving the ball…wether that be to run or dribble. His shooting is atrocious too. It’s weird but his best performance was off the bench against Lesta…strange that. He was vintage Son for that cameo and then returned to **** again…odd.

Should've remained there for a few games too, clearly worked for us and him.
 
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So the logical conclusion is that the best attacker in the league in May 2022 had turned to complete ****e by Aug 2022 due to natural decline? Really?

Hard to believe…I’m not accepting it but I’m just not putting a players **** form down to another manager
 
Hard to believe…I’m not accepting it but I’m just not putting a players **** form down to another manager

Neither am I.

I'm in full agreement his form has been atrocious and his mentality - which has always been an issue throughout his career - is finally punishing him, and hard.

But I cannot look at that in isolation. Football isn't tennis, boxing or darts. It is a team game and ultimately what happens in the dugout or elsewhere on the pitch - anything that happens really - will have a ripple effect everywhere else. Some will visibly benefit from those ripples (e.g. Hojbjerg, Bentancur and Davies). Others will not. And I firmly believe Son is in the latter category as three variables have noticeably changed since last season in addition to his drop in form: the arrival of Perisic, us playing even more defensive stand-offish football, and Kane prodded forward back into a traditional 9. I think all three have taken Son's loss of form and confidence and amplified it massively.
 
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Media Foot claim we're in negotiations with Rennes for Martin Terrier

Surely a non-starter as Rennes are currently in third and also reportedly sending Joe Rodon back to us in January, plus he's tied down until 2026 so they'll hold all the cards in negotiations - but this isn't the first recent rumour which points towards to Paratici looking to sign a pacey forward
 
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Really surprised about Skipp tbh. I'd be absolutely gutted if he were to leave but worryingly we are continually linked with CMs despite already having about a thousand of them.

Sounds like our main con of the summer - the inability to move players on permanently - is catching up with us. Too many went out on loans with non option to buy. We need to shift a few permanently in January as the squad is ultimately already bloated beyond belief, or at least it will be when the various clowns return to pre-season in the summer.
 
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Really surprised about Skipp tbh. I'd be absolutely gutted if he were to leave but worryingly we are continually linked with CMs despite already having about a thousand of them.

Sounds like our main con of the summer - the inability to move players on permanently - is catching up with us. Too many went out on loans with non option to buy. We need to shift a few permanently in January as the squad is ultimately already bloated beyond belief, or at least it will be when the various clowns return to pre-season in the summer.

Past buys have really hamstrung us. Ndombele and Lo Celso, particularly the former because of his wages and at least Gio has proven he can be a good player for Argentina, these two are very difficult to move on.

The club needs to decide what it wants to be. We likely have the financial power now to compete at the top table. There will always be richer clubs but if we get the scouting and coaching right then we can be in amongst it. That can be what Conte does. Spurs need to work out if the Mourinho and Conte appointments were a step change towards buying largely more established players and trying to act like a Bayern, or if we want to keep recruiting good but younger players with sell on value, like a Dortmund. Were those appointments a sign of change or a last gasp effort to wring trophies out of our star players at their peak? Every club buys prospects like Sarr or Gil but we also need to plan better for those players’ progression if we’re not going to appoint a coach who will develop those players at the club. Whether finding a club or two in other leagues who will be happy to have those younger players on loan for a season or two, or appointing a manager who develops young players, like Poch.

Whichever direction we go in, I just want to see decisiveness from Spurs. Commit to a vision and do everything to make it right. We seem continuously stuck between two roads right now and it’s running the risk of not working for anyone.
 
Would say I'm surprised about the Skipp stuff but I'm not.

It's pretty evident Conte has zero interest in developing young players, he's just proving to be another chequebook manager like the rest of the big name managers. Maybe we'll give him the cheques to do so for the next 6 months or possibly longer should he stay but if anyone has any hopes for our young players developing into first teamers it should be put to bed.

There was an article a week or so ago about how he expects the academy to produce him ready-made first team players... it's just more horseshit from him, there are barely any players that go from academy straight into the first team in the Premier League, even elite talents like Foden were bedded-in slowly and not just ready to go from the off. Conte won't even bed-in the likes of Skipp, Sarr, Spence, Gil etc so they're just better off putting in transfer requests and try making it elsewhere, which they probably will.

I really am tired of it all to be honest, if he's not serving up utter dogshit football, he's whining about the squad that he fails to properly utilise or he's playing silly buggers over a new deal (as if he deserves one at present) plus he's unable to develop players.

Either give him £200m in January so he can buy his way to an FA Cup or something or sack him so someone can actually do a proper job of coaching and managing.
 
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Would say I'm surprised about the Skipp stuff but I'm not.

It's pretty evident Conte has zero interest in developing young players, he's just proving to be another chequebook manager like the rest of the big name managers. Maybe we'll give him the cheques to do so for the next 6 months or possibly longer should he stay but if anyone has any hopes for our young players developing into first teamers it should be put to bed.

There was an article a week or so ago about how he expects the academy to produce him ready-made first team players... it's just more horseshit from him, there are barely any players that go from academy straight into the first team in the Premier League, even elite talents like Foden were bedded-in slowly and not just ready to go from the off. Conte won't even bed-in the likes of Skipp, Sarr, Spence, Gil etc so they're just better off putting in transfer requests and try making it elsewhere, which they probably will.

I really am tired of it all to be honest, if he's not serving up utter dogshit football, he's whining about the squad that he fails to properly utilise or he's playing silly buggers over a new deal (as if he deserves one at present) plus he's unable to develop players.

Either give him £200m in January so he can buy his way to an FA Cup or something or sack him so someone can actually do a proper job of coaching and managing.

That’s kind of what I’m getting at. Somewhere along the line (and while it’s frustrating I understand if it’s not in January because it’s hard to find value in the market then, so it may be this summer) we either need to step up to the plate or there’s no point Conte being our manager. Not good for us or for him if we won’t buy the players he wants.

He’s proven he can work with this squad to get top 4 but on the pitch there’s clearly a lot going wrong, we don’t have the solidity at the back we had last season and going forward we’re out of sorts because Sonny isn’t firing and our right side is a mess, even more so if Emerson plays.
 
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Past buys have really hamstrung us. Ndombele and Lo Celso, particularly the former because of his wages and at least Gio has proven he can be a good player for Argentina, these two are very difficult to move on.

The club needs to decide what it wants to be. We likely have the financial power now to compete at the top table. There will always be richer clubs but if we get the scouting and coaching right then we can be in amongst it. That can be what Conte does. Spurs need to work out if the Mourinho and Conte appointments were a step change towards buying largely more established players and trying to act like a Bayern, or if we want to keep recruiting good but younger players with sell on value, like a Dortmund. Were those appointments a sign of change or a last gasp effort to wring trophies out of our star players at their peak? Every club buys prospects like Sarr or Gil but we also need to plan better for those players’ progression if we’re not going to appoint a coach who will develop those players at the club. Whether finding a club or two in other leagues who will be happy to have those younger players on loan for a season or two, or appointing a manager who develops young players, like Poch.

Whichever direction we go in, I just want to see decisiveness from Spurs. Commit to a vision and do everything to make it right. We seem continuously stuck between two roads right now and it’s running the risk of not working for anyone.

This is a brilliant post and spot-on <applause>

It is pretty clear already that there are 'Paratici' signings (Gil, Sarr, Spence, Udogie) and then there are 'Conte' targets but he hasn't been able to bring in many of them and overall I have to say, I think that is a good thing. Other than Perisic and Richarlison which both strike me as obvious Conte signings, the majority of our business is almost certainly being done without the manager's blessing, hence his constant whinging about the squad. Ultimately we can't act like a City or Chelsea because we exist in a different world to them financially, and I am glad for it as I would much prefer whatever paltry success we have to be earned rather than 'roided.

Paratici clearly has a knack for spotting young and/or underappreciated talent - historically the bread and butter of our who's who on out best signings in history list - but his coach has no idea what to do with many of those players, especially the younger ones who as DH has said he has little to no experience in developing.

The more I think about it, I am firmly behind the idea of keeping Conte until the end of the season at least - it would be a madness not to unless there is a total collapse between now and then. We also need to back him in January and back him with established players like we did last year. It is totally unfair to expect him to deliver results on someone else's terms.

Ironically were it not for the enormous baggage, a Paratici/Poch combination could potentially have the makings of one of the deadliest in football. Poch would need to eat a slice of humble pie and accept that for all his own talent and ability to develop it, he was piss poor at spotting it in the first place and would need to hand over all control of transfers to the Italian. But as I say, there is probably too much baggage there for me, although I don't think Levy is of the same opinion.
 
This is a brilliant post and spot-on <applause>

It is pretty clear already that there are 'Paratici' signings (Gil, Sarr, Spence, Udogie) and then there are 'Conte' targets but he hasn't been able to bring in many of them and overall I have to say, I think that is a good thing. Other than Perisic and Richarlison which both strike me as obvious Conte signings, the majority of our business is almost certainly being done without the manager's blessing, hence his constant whinging about the squad. Ultimately we can't act like a City or Chelsea because we exist in a different world to them financially, and I am glad for it as I would much prefer whatever paltry success we have to be earned rather than 'roided.

Paratici clearly has a knack for spotting young and/or underappreciated talent - historically the bread and butter of our who's who on out best signings in history list - but his coach has no idea what to do with many of those players, especially the younger ones who as DH has said he has little to no experience in developing.

The more I think about it, I am firmly behind the idea of keeping Conte until the end of the season at least - it would be a madness not to unless there is a total collapse between now and then. We also need to back him in January and back him with established players like we did last year. It is totally unfair to expect him to deliver results on someone else's terms.

Ironically were it not for the enormous baggage, a Paratici/Poch combination could potentially have the makings of one of the deadliest in football. Poch would need to eat a slice of humble pie and accept that for all his own talent and ability to develop it, he was piss poor at spotting it in the first place and would need to hand over all control of transfers to the Italian. But as I say, there is probably too much baggage there for me, although I don't think Levy is of the same opinion.

Prospects should be bought from a position of strength and with a plan to develop them. That’s blatantly not what’s happening at Spurs. Our youth development has been a bit of a mess for a while tbh.

Conte has had a lot of injuries to deal with so deserves some slack for that, but he also needs to be pulled up for some of his frankly bizarre choices. He’s largely doing the best with what he has but the RWB situation is baffling.