Debatable. A £55m flop going in the opposite direction (likely plus cash) doesn't really constitute as much of a success for us. And the sheer fact that fat, lazy mess has still been a better signing than our pigeon up front (who cost even more!) tells you how bad we've conducted a lot of business in recent years, we've certainly been the ones getting Levy'd more than doing the Levy-ing that's for sure.
Doku Watch Sam Lee at The Pathetic says that Rennes have responded to both our and Chelsea inquiring about Jeremy Doku by slapping an €80m pricetag on him By complete coincidence, The Sheikh Mansour Team also happen to have been linked with him at the exact same time they started thinking of big numbers
I'm not a fan of Brennan Johnson. You can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse by overpaying for it. You'd think Richarlison would have taught Spurs that. But you can see how it happens. 1. Look at the good forwards. 2. Get sticker shock. 3. Look at the players who are good, but not ready. 4. Say, but he can't help us now. 5. Look at the forwards who are ready, but not good. 6. Think, hey we may be able to afford one of those, and he can go straight into the lineup! 7. Feel reassured when the selling club charges a price near to what the good forwards are going for. 8. Think, hey, that must mean he's really a good forward. 9. Fork over big money. 10. Wonder why you spent so much for a forward who's not good.
The only sure fire way of having transfer failures is to go all out and overpay for players the coach wants. This is exactly the opposite of Levy’s previous behaviour but I think he succumbed to the 'back the manager' bollocks
I don't know the details of the finances well enough to know how much has been spent but I would guess we have another £75m or so to spend plus whatever we can raise in transfers out. It seems to me that we are waiting to spend the maximum possible depending on outgoings which is a perfectly reasonable strategy
He succumbed because he had no choice but to back the managers after years of messing about due to having no clue what to do and that filtered down to the pitch as we looked like a side with zero direction or idea. And in the case of Richarlison, there were reports that actually went against the notion he was even a Conte signing, when you also consider that Conte rarely trusted him, it would further back those claims up that he was a Levy purchase and not a Conte target.
“It is believed Daniel Levy did a lot of the running for the deal. A source close to the transfer said Levy recognised before pretty much any other Premier League club that Everton would be in financial peril last summer and would be willing to sell Richarlison for a fair price. It felt like an opportunistic move rather than one that was the result of 12 months of hard scouting and a realisation that Richarlison was the perfect fit.”
It won’t be easy to get the right player. Assuming the money goes on a Kane replacement, the following have to be considered: 1. Selling clubs know Spurs have a lot of money 2. No European football to offer 3. Wages are unlikely to match the Saudi/PL/European alternatives Maddison was a great signing because none of the above were a bar to it happening. But top strikers are like hen’s teeth. Are Spurs willing to risk a big fee on potential - like Utd have with Hojlund?
Phoney passive in the opening line followed by quoting an unnamed close source suggests this is completely made up.
The Athletic are generally a respected collective of journalists, they’re not randos from The Star or Daily Sport etc. Tim Spiers who wrote that article, primarily covers Spurs too so chances are he does have some credible sources in and around the club. Plus as I said, the fact Conte rarely trusted Richarlison would certainly also back up the claims he wasn’t a signing he particularly wanted/ asked for.
There’s an argument to say that’s not a risk though, more borderline stupidity. I don’t know enough about him to truly judge but from the general outset, £70m+ on a striker who only scored 9 league goals last season seems bizarre, regardless of his perceived potential. Our bracket range will likely be between £25m-£50m depending on if we go for potential (Orban) or more ready made (David).
I agree about the Athletic but Conte was quoted at the time as wanting Richarlison....https://www.football.london/tottenh...richarlison-transfer-arsenal-chelsea-25078637
Only time will tell, but it is a huge risk at that price. This is the problem with not being successful. Once upon a time, Utd would have signed Haaland, like we signed Rooney. Now those players are out of reach and the dice has to be rolled. He has the attributes to get a top player, but no guarantee that he will be - or anywhere near.
Football London have quoted FourFourTwo there. Whilst Football London are excellent for Spurs related stuff, I’m not sure we can say the same for FourFourTwo. That’s not to say it isn’t true though, it could well be and probably is. It could be closer to the notion that Richarlison was someone both Levy and Conte agreed upon, unlike Spence for instance who was definitely a Levy buy and Conte openly said that in interviews. I’d love to know exactly what Conte may have said to Richarlison though if that call did happen, can’t help but feel a few lies may have been told because I think Richarlison would’ve expected a lot more game time than he got, even though most fans saw from the off he was going to be a backup to our front three.
I think it largely comes down to more panic than actual lack of success, though the two could somewhat be linked I guess. Utd are still a massive club with a huge draw but it’s probably fair to say that similarly to us you haven’t really had a clear footballing plan for quite some time and with that comes expensive buys that either don’t fit the manager’s style or are just simply massively overpriced for their actual ability. Between you, us and Chelsea, I reckon we can field an XI of ridiculously overpriced poor players that would finish bottom half of the Premier League to highlight and act as a warning that spending large amounts doesn’t actually equate to success if there’s no thought behind it. Personally for us, I’ve been sucked into believing we could be finally moving in the same and right direction as Ange has brought in a hell of a lot positivity but I won’t say anything’s for certain just yet, have to give it time.
I wish I shared this optimism but ultimately a leopard never changes its spots. The same people who spent 4-5 years making a series of bafflingly stupid decisions are still in charge and the scarred Spurs fan in me sees our first few games and the relatively positive performances/results and I just know Levy is sitting in his office thinking 'right then, this is fine again, marvelous. We'll stop here' and we won't see any further moves of ambition before the window closes. I'm yet to see Levy truly back a manager or truly invest from a position of strength. If he does do the former, it is either too little or too late. If he does the latter, it is more often from a position of weakness which is precisely what leads to the panic buys you've mentioned. Time will tell what level of influence Scott Munn has but it'll take a hell of a lot to convince me and I know of many fans who feel similar. There's a long road ahead and while I've also taken very warmly to Ange, I'm still firmly convinced that we'll walk that road further and quicker if Levy removes himself from all footballing decisions and just focuses on what he is actually good at: business portfolios.
Lloris Dier Tanganga Sanchez Reguilon Spence Ndombele Gil One week to go and there's still a hell of a queue at the exit.
Spence's sister, Karla Simone-Spence starring in Confessions of Frannie Langton on ITV. At least she is one of the first names on their team sheet.
