Transfer thread for 2016-17 season

Just seen a tweet from Spurs official with quotes from Poch saying "nabil started to train with the team, but he's still out."

Minutes later, Bentaleb tweeted saying "feeling good, 100% back now!"

Make of that what you will. Unless I'm massively reading into it, I'd suggest that was an intentional dig, with Bentaleb trying to make a point to the fans about his current situation.

 

If Bentaleb is messing about then he'll lose...and will either rot in the reserves of be on his bike.
The lesson from Pochettino is clear...the team means more than the individual.

 

Hard to tell if it's a sly dig or not but the problem for Nabs is that he's not exactly in a huge bargaining position at the moment. Despite a great 14/15 season he started this one poorly against Utd and then got injured a few games later against Everton, since then I think he featured once before getting another injury and in this time Dier and Dembele have struck up an incredible midfield partnership while Alli has also come in and been a sensation. I really like Nabil and hope that he gets his head down in the Summer to be a useful member of the squad but if he's getting too big for his boots and thinking he's deserving of first team football then Poch will show him where the door is. There were murmurs last season that he was rejecting the initial contract offers as he wanted parity with the high-end first teamers so there could be something in his attitude which isn't going down too well with Poch.

 

Other rumours include some sort of bike crash and playing for his country when not fit.
I think that this one's just down to a difference in wording, though.
Being fit doesn't mean that you're match fit.
That's especially true in our current system.

 

Yedlin's been linked with a move to Burnley - although there's a remarkable lack of detail about whether this is a loan or a permanent.

 

So who goes this summer?

Mason was great against Sunderland and his return to the side early in the season actually saw us noticeably improve. Injuries and lack of game time have clearly taken their toll though. It's not easy but the trouble is that he's not done what we'll need him to do in our squad. He's not going to be a regular starter so he needs to be able to come in for 1 or 2 games here and there and be able to perform, which he obviously hasn't done at the end of this season. He also needs to be able to bounce back from injuries quicker given that he's prone to them. If £6mill is all we're being offered then I'd keep him for another season. That said, we need another defensive midfielder and with Dembele and Dier nailed down and Winks coming through, that's already 4 players for 2 positions so I think 1 or 2 of Bentaleb, Mason and Carroll need to go. I'd definitely sell Carroll, he's never shown he can do anymore than fill in for the easier games. I'd probably keep the other 2, unless someone quality becomes available

I remember hearing an ex-pro awhile back saying that coming on as a sub could be one of the hardest things to do. You don't get time to feel your way into the game, you have to be sharp straight from the off. So I feel like Chadli and N'Jie, in particular, have had it tough as they've often had to come off the bench when we really need a goal. Again, circumstance might see one or both go in the summer. We'll have Kane, New Striker, Eriksen, Alli, Lamela, Son(hopefully less injured), Onomah and Pritchard next season competing for the front 4. I think one of them will have to leave and I'm not sure the other will get much more gametime than they have this season. It's also quite a drop off in quality from our starting choices so I think we may need a player that can really compete for a starting place and take a bit of the pressure off Alli, Lamela and Eriksen. N'Jie offers us raw pace, which is something we don't have too much of outside of Rose and Walker so I'd keep him as he offers something different. Chadli, I think should leave simply because he'll probably fetch the best fee in the market and, like Townsend, I think his value to other clubs is much greater than his value to us.

Davies is an odd one. He's played quite well this season and is clearly a more than capable second choice for us. However we lose a lot of pace when Rose is not on the pitch and I think it really affects our style of play. It may not be a change we need to make this summer but I'd certainly hope we're on the look out for a more like-for-like replacement.

 

"So who goes this summer?"

Mason and Bentaleb probably have a stay of execution because of injury + their 2014-15
season performances. Similarly for Chadli (no Euro 2016 for him may be a blessing in disguise) .

Davies and Trippier : IMHO we will know their true worth when the FB rotation starts for
the CL (they are going to be starting either a PL or CL game often enough) .
If there is no Academy FB talent waiting, or Yedlin does not have a great pre-season, then
we may have to look at signing future prospects.

Carroll is not going to make it (sad from the Academy viewpoint but there you go) .
Fazio is going to have to be fly-tipped somewhere.

 

Let's see here...

GOALKEEPER

It all depends on whether Vorm is happy to be on the bench for the majority of matches next season, because outside of the COC and maybe FA Cup I can't see him starting too often - and he was linked with a summer move to Everton a couple of months ago. If he does move on, we'll probably move to bring in backup as I can't see Poch being content with having McGee or Glover on the bench.

FULL BACK

Yedlin's been linked with a couple of potential moves, either a season-long loan with Burnley or his loan at Sunderland becoming permanent. If it's the former, Tripper will get a second season as Walker's understudy (but I can't see him getting a third) As for the left back berth, barring the sudden reincarnation of Paolo Maldini becoming available we won't be moving for anyone - although Connor Ogilvie may well be allowed to leave.

CENTRE BACK

Fazio needs to go, it's that simple - although Sevilla saying they don't want to turn his loan into a permanent means we'll have to devote some time this summer to schlepping him around to try and get rid of him. Meanwhile, it looks as if Dominic Ball's loan to Rangers is going to become permanent this summer.

This does create an issue in terms of the right-sided centre back, because if Toby gets injured/suspended the current options are either moving Dier back (which will leave a hole in midfield) or throw an inexperienced CCV in at the deep end, neither of which are ideal scenarios. Various options have been linked in the last few months: soon-to-be free agent Nicolas N'Koulou of Marseilles, Marc Bartra of Barca (for the third summer running...), Domagoj Vida of Dynamo Kyiv and Niko Maksimovic of Torino are the main ones.

Of that list, Maksimovic can likely be ruled out as he recently signed an extension until 2020 so the asking price is likely to be £20m+ and Vida might be ruled out if the talk of us not wanting to sign anyone above the age of 26 is to be believed, so then it comes down to N'Koulou or Bartra. Personally I'd go for N'Koulou, not just because he's a free agent but because he can also be deployed as a defensive midfielder - although the obvious question is whether he'd want to play second fiddle to Toby and Dier. If not, the options can be reduced to Bartra, or we come to the conclusion the U26 strategy need not apply to understudies (if it even exists) and bring in Vida.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD

Bloody hell, a lot of work needs to be done here.

First of all, the out list: Carroll's out of contract this summer and there's no sign of an extension being offered so he's off, while the £6m that Bournemouth have offered for Mason is frankly too good to turn down so we should take it. That leaves Bentaleb, and he's a bit up in the air: the Standard have written a few stories this season about him falling out with Poch, a couple of blogs are coming up with conspiracy theories about how he isn't injured and has been frozen out (although given Poch acknowledges his existence, which he didn't with the Kaboul Cabal, that's unlikely) plus it's been said we're willing to listen to bids of £10m or over. There's also the fact that he's the May player on our 2016 calendar, making him a total Jonah. Add to that Grant Ward will likely be allowed to move on and Filip Lesniak's not been signed to a new contract, that's yet more players who will likely leave.

Yet selling those three means our options in central midfield will be Dier, Dembele, and....and...at that point I'm not even joking when I say Harry Winks.

Before anything else, the Bentaleb question needs to be answered...

If it turns out the Standard et al have been using his injury-enforced absence to conjure clickbait out of the ether, he'll have next season to overcome his injuries. If there's a kernel of truth to what they've been writing, then the issue of not having any suitable backup for Dier or Dembele this season will be exacerbated by not having any backup for them.

There's been several headlines in recent weeks pinpointing Saul Niguez as our #1 summer target, with all manner of headline figures being bandied about, such as a £36m fee and £6m a year in wages, making him our record signing and highest-paid player...and that's about the point it sounds a tad unlikely, because I can't see Levy being willing to obliterate the wage structure overnight. The other likely candidate is Victor Wanyama, who has been frequently linked with us since last summer, and with his contract having a year on it and him stalling on signing an extension he may well be available - but Southampton aren't mugs, so he won't be cheap.

Away from the headlines, plenty of other central midfielders have been linked: Axel Witsel was strongly linked back in January and was frequently linked with a move away from Zenit this summer, but he's recently said he's changed his mind and wants to stay - although with a year left on his contract, expect this one to become the next Leandro/Rabiot saga. Mateo Kovacic was linked with a season-long loan a few weeks back, although there's plenty to be wary of, not least because I wouldn't put it past Los Ladrones to sell him next summer after using us to get potential suitors interested. Youri Tielemans was heavily linked back in March, with talk of a bid of £15m + add-ons, although there's quite a few suitors for his signature. Lastly there's Mahmoud Dahoud who was also linked in March - although Bild reported that the only way Monchengladbach would be willing to sell is if we paid £27.5m...and then loaned him back for next season - so either they have a deal already signed with someone else, given a similar line was trotted out by Rennes when we bid for Dembele III (who promptly joined Dortmund) or they didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by just refusing. A shame, as it;s just so much fun to say his name out loud. Lastly there's the annual tradition that is being linked to Lassana Diarra, who is out of contract at Marseilles.

Of the list, we should press ahead to land Tielemans as he looks like one hell of a talent for a 17-year old and he can certainly fill in for both Dier and Dembele, and after that it depends on whether Wanyama or Witsel (if he's stopped playing silly buggers) want to go from being guaranteed starters to rotation options. If they don't, look elsewhere - at which point I'll start banging on about Andrea Bertolacci again, or we go for free agents such as Diarra or Michael Carrick.

ATTACKING MIDFIELD

It wouldn't surprise me if Chadli was allowed to leave this summer, as he's lost his starting place to Son - and with Alli moving into attacking midfield, Eriksen's been deployed on the left as well. With him missing out on the Euros, it wouldn't surprise me if he started looking for first team football.

To be honest I can't see any real reason to add an attacking midfielder this summer - Eriksen, Alli and Lamela have done more than enough to earn their starting spots, Son and N'Jie will likely to have more of a chance next season, plus there's the likes of Onomah and Pritchard who may get more chances next season - unless the talk of Pritch being loaned to Rangers next season carries weight.

In short, this is part of the reason I can't see Adam Lallana, Sofiane Boufal, Yunus Malli or Andrija Zivkovic arriving. The other reason is as follows...

STRIKER

Simply put, we can't gamble on Kane being fit for an entire season, that's madness.

Plenty of strikers have been heavily linked, quite a few of them with Wet Spam declaring an interest several weeks later - because screwing the taxpayer out of a stadium isn't enough, now they also want to try and force up transfer fees due to their general dicketry.

Michy Batshuayi is the headline striker, and it's been confirmed he will leave Marseilles this summer - and as the club has been tracking him since he was at Standard Liege, if we want him we should act. However, the thing with Batshuayi is he is an out-and-out striker (as are Sebastien Haller and Callum Wilson) and this is where I start to overthink things

Big money moves for Alexandre Lacazette, Breel Embolo and Domenico Berardi have all been reported, as well as not-as-big-money moves for Anwar El Ghazi, Moussa Dembele, Sandro Ramirez, Jonathan Calleri and Ademola Lookman, and this is the other reason I said we might not be looking for any attacking midfielders this summer: all of them are capable of playing up front or in the attacking three, for example Lacazette, El Ghazi, Ramirez and Lookmanare capable of playing on both flanks, Dembele II can also play on the left, Berardi can also play on the right, while Embolo and Calleri can play on the right or as a number ten.

Of the list, we can probably rule out Calleri due to third party shenanigans, while Dembele II has dragged on to the point we've likely lost interest (which is the reason I didn't include Saido Berahino on the list), and this is before wondering if the formation will change - because paying £20m+ for Batshuayi to understudy Kane makes little sense, and I doubt we'll play Kane on the left like AVB wanted to do a few years back.

If we go for two up top next season, sign Batshuayi + an understudy, for the sake of argument let's say El Ghazi. If we play one up top next season, sign one of Embolo, Lacazette or Berardi due to their ability to multitask.

 

I was mightily impressed by Mousa Sissoko yesterday and have been whenever I've seen them play this year (which is granted no more than 5 games). He looks like the real deal - suitable age, strong as an ox, quick and powerful runner with an excellent engine. Wouldn't be astronomically expensive as they've been relegated plus has 3.5 years' PL experience under his belt. Ticks lots of boxes as far as I'm concerned...but would a former PL captain be happy sitting on the bench?

 

You missed out diving twat, CK!

It's hard to judge a lot of the Newcastle players, as their defenders are pretty bloody poor and they lost two goalkeepers to injury, too.
That left them extremely vulnerable at the back and McClaren didn't know how to deal with it at all.
Benitez sorted it out a bit, but still didn't really know what his best team was for a while and the results didn't materialise.
I'd worry about the mentality of a lot of their players though, as they only seemed to turn up about 10% of the time.

 

Bentaleb...hard to know as there are so many rumours about him having a negative attitude. I guess we will find out if they are true if he is sold. As a player he showed a lot of potential and ability last season but injuries wrecked his chances this year.
Honestly can not make up my mind on whether to sell or keep.

Mason...am hoping that a rest and a good pre season could see him recapture his early season form. Keep

Carroll...would sell as he is not making an impact at spurs and this is not due to injuries (unlike Mason and Bentaleb).

Vorm...very harsh but would sell...being a second choice doesn't seem to suit him. Whenever he has played he looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Chadli...would sell. Never seems to start and doesn't really seem to make an impact as a sub. Like him and he has done well for us but think that we need players who consistently makes more impact and challenges others for a first team place.

Njie...not seen anything of him due to injuries. Keep.

Son...was looking really good before his injuries so am hoping that a good pre season will see him recapture his form.

Fazio...has lots of ability, good passing range, good at heading. .... definitely keep














Gotcha

 

Great summary hbic. if I can add anything...

GK: I'd assume Vorm is going, and maybe be looking at someone like Karl Darlow at Newcastle to be an understudy to Hugo. Totally agree that I doubt any of the youth-teamers will be deemed ready by Poch.

FB: none in, Yedlin out. Probably a loan but if someone offered us a profit on the fee we paid, I think Levy would take it.

CB: Fazio out, obviously. Hopefully we find a buyer but I doubt he'll have a shirt number next season. I have a hunch Poch will look to use CCV as the 4th CB.

CM: Carroll will be released, couldn't happen to a nicer guy etc. etc. Mason probably to Bournemouth is my prediction (potentially a swap/part exchange?). Bentaleb I hope will stay, I'm hopeful that he's genuinely been struggling to get fit but have a very slight doubt that he might have fallen out with Poch. I've hardly seen anything of hbic's crowd of potential In's for the position but Tielemans sounds like the kind of deal we might be looking to do. That or perhaps take a look at the lower leagues for Alli II?

AM: Potentially Chadli out I think - he'll want football now his Belium place is threatened and at his age he has plenty of potential to find a groove somewhere, not sure he'll be a starter now at Spurs really. On Sissoko - he thinks he's a lot better than he actually is. I think he was bleating on about how he should be playing CL football earlier this season but most Newcastle fans I reckon would tell you that Sissoko, perhaps more so than any of the players there, turns it on when he wants to. And that isn't nearly often enough by all accounts. If we bring in an AM I think it'll be a proper big name (Saul?) as we don't need too much there, though I think we've been strongly linked with Ritchie at Bournemouth throughout the season so maybe that'll happen. Recent links to Lallana too but I'm doubtful on that. Onomah, Pritchard and maybe even Oduwa will be looking to break in as well next year of course.

Striker: Absolutely need one, and a good one at that. Needs to compete with Kane and potentially play as a 2 as well. Could be a similar kind of player (a bit versatile, likes to drift a bit as Kane does) or more of a pure 9. Names like Lookman and Callum Wilson have come up. We'll see if it's a player from the English leagues or a (likely) more expensive import, but I'm sure we'll add at least one senior striker and maybe an understudy too.

We're at a crossroads and the right investment this Summer could set the tone for the club for the next decade or more. Huge few months com in up for Poch, Levy, Mitchell et. al.

 

All very well posting the executive summary, but people like me need the underlying details.

 

In terms of Yedlin next season, I'm sure somebody at GiveMeSport is going to use these tweets for the next three months worth of AdSense...

 

As far as attacking midfielders are concerned, there are 2 that I'd love to see at Spurs - Yunnus Malli of Mainz looks a tremendous player. Supposedly (yeah, right!), he has a £10m release clause. He's 24, a Turkish international and has scored about 15 goals this season. He looks a real prospect to cover for Dele Alli or allow him to play out wider. Also, Wissam Bin Yedder. of Toulouse. He plays up front for them but he's only 5' 7" and as quick as the wind. He's more of a goal threat than N'Jie has shown to date.

However, I'll trust MP and team to get what we need. However, no more last minute nonsense, Daniel? We bought Clinton and Son at the last minute and they've not been fit enough and I'm not sure they were our first choices?

I might be tempted to keep Yedlin. Even if we loan him out for a year. He has come on a bomb in the last few months.

HBIC, thanks for The Clash. It may not be their finest hour but I still love it. It's my Karaoke number when I'm smashed.

 

Go round the Terry household. "White riot" is their Karaoke singalong of choice.

 

He doesn't have the class to love The Clash. Footballers have the worst music taste.

 

I doubt Police on My Back would go down well in that family...

Carles Puyol is a Ramones fan, so there's that.

 

Essay begins in 3...2...1...

Lloris - Keep. One of the best in the world, despite a dodgy end to the season.
Vorm - Keep. Great back up.

Toby - Sell . Most definitely keep, best CB in the league.
Jan - Keep. Great defender on his day.
Big Kev - Keep. Stepped in easily for Jan, could well knock the Belgian out of the starting XI if he gets another run in the side.
CCV - Keep. Don't want to loan him and would rather he becomes fourth choice CB.
Fazio - Sell. Great for European football, shocking in the English game.
Walker - Keep. Still hits a patch where his form dips but on his day is the best RB in the country.
Rose - Keep. Best LB in the country.
Davies - Keep. Great competition for Rose.
Trippier - Keep. Great competition for Walker.
KWP - Loan. Needs first team experience.
Yedlin - Sell. Not enough room for him, could probably get a perm deal with Sunderland or another Prem club.

Dier - Keep. Unbelievable transition into DM role.
Dembele - Keep. Finally became the player we hoped he'd be.
Mason - Undecided. Probably sell if a solid offer came in, good player when on form but isn't similar to Dier or Dembele and I think it'd be ideal to bring in guys with similar styles to the first choice two.
Bentaleb - Undecided. Like Mason he's not similar to Dier or Dembele but he is a class act when fit. Unless a very good offer came in I'd keep but must improve his overall game.
Carroll - Release. Decent little player but just not for a side with our aspirations.
Winks - Loan. Ideally to a Championship side but must get regular starts.

Alli - Keep. Sensation... Absolute sensation. Truly believe he's England's next superstar if he carries on and improves on his debut season with us.
Eriksen - Keep. Had a slow start but came into his own in the latter half. Ended up with just three less assists than Ozil, who's considered the best number 10 on the planet by many.
Lamela - Keep. Finally showed his quality in his third season, work rate is unrivalled in that attacking midfield role.
Chadli - Keep. A natural finisher on his day who also chips in with assists, does go missing in games but his predatory instincts are too good to let go in my opinion.
Son - Keep. Started and ended the season brilliantly, the injury seemed to mess him up a little, looks a quality player though and with a pre-season behind him I think he can push for a starting spot.
N'Jie - Keep. Nightmare season for him thanks to injury, showed a few glimpses of class though and like Son, could do with a pre-season and then hopefully see the best of him.
Onomah - Keep. One of the best talents to come through the academy, featured in a decent number of games and didn't look out of his depth. Expect him to get better with age and experience and think he's a long term answer to Eriksen or Dembele in the deeper role.
Pritchard - Keep. Gutting for him as this was meant to be "his" season here, don't know why WBA didn't utilise him much but I think he's a player with a very good future. Could surprise a few next season and get a lot more game time than many may think if he stays injury-free.
Oduwa - Loan. Ridiculously skilful, think he could have a great future but needs to work on decision making. A Prem or top Championship side would be good for him.

Kane - Sell, don't need strikers . Keep obviously. Best English striker and one of the best young strikers in Europe.

Ins:

Striker. Ideally I'd like a Prem-proven one, Berahino would be my pick, despite a dodgy attitude he's a great finisher and completely different to Kane so would add a new dimension to our attack. If we can't recruit locally, then Breel Embolo or Alex Lacazette would be my picks if they were interested in joining.

One, maybe two CM's depending on Mason and Bentaleb's situations. Ideally I'd go for an ageing DM who can pass knowledge to Dier while stepping in when required and an up and coming midfielder who has similar attributes to Mousa that can learn from the Belgian and then possibly take over from down the line in a few seasons. Not seen an abundance but there's a kid at Inter called Assane Gnoukouri who looks Pogba-esque in the way he plays, Inter likely won't want to sell but if Spurs have their scouts about I'm sure they know of this lad and would surely keep an eye on his development.

Anything else is bonuses.

 

Think we were actually linked with Bin Yedder at the start of this or last season.