Transfer thread for 2016-17 season

So we'll be cheering on Red Bull Salzburg next week?

 

I'm not at all concerned about N'Koudou, because he's a nice to have, not a must have. I'm very pleased we have both our must haves in (Wanyama and Janssen) and they both look first rate. I'm shocked they arrived early and already look fully integrated with the team, actually. N'Koudou vs. N'Jie doN't make me N'o N'evermind.

 

Yep. I saw that too. Young Croatian star coming to Spurs? Deja Vu. I'll believe it when I see it. (Coric in a Spurs shirt I mean.)

 

Pritchard releases an apology for the Brighton fiasco:

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...d-apologises-to-brighton-after-norwich-u-turn

The former Spurs trainee told Sky Sports News HQ: "I'm not going to lie about it. I had a good conversation with both clubs and I can only choose one. I apologise for what happened.

"I just left home. I wasn't on the M25, I don't know where that's come from. It's one for the gaffer to talk about, not me. I'm a Norwich player, not a Brighton player. It is what it is. It's football.

"It was a difficult choice. There was interest from both parties. For me it was purely a football decision, and getting to the Premier League, and I'm just here now and can't wait to get started. I think it's the best option for me."

Very noble of him and in truth, completely unnecessary. The words I've highlighted in bold essentially sum up why he did nothing wrong, and why Brighton were haplessly naive about the whole thing. Football hasn't been a gentleman's sport since Keith Burkinshaw uttered those famous words 'there used to be a footballl club over there'. It's a money-driven well oiled and vitally important cog in the entertainment industry. Players are economic assets and clubs are for-profit corporations. The sooner Brighton get their heads around this painful but simple paradigm shift, the sooner they'll find themselves back in the PL (promised land).

 

Dunno.
As I said, I am hoping that Spurs had the same terms with both clubs regardless of what
wages each offered Pritchard.

 

1. Who will he replace in seniors or Academy prospects for game time ??

2. My man in Croatia reckons Coric is nowhere near PL ready, so would we loan him back home
as we intended to do for Halilovic ??

 

My guess is he'd replace Pritchard for game time as an understudy to Eriksen. Not sure why Pritchard wasn't given a chance, maybe because Pochettino is looking for someone even younger for that position who he can develop. Who knows?

 

One obvious question: how can somebody who was deemed ready for the European Championships (ahead of Halilovic, by the way) not be ready for the Premier League? Does he need to work on his tolerance for flavoured vodka shots or something?

 

Because according to my man in Croatia, Coric at this moment in time would not survive
the physicality of the PL. Which could be damaging for his development.

We know it took Modric at least one season in the PL to get to grips with that.
And that was a proven player already starting for and driving his national side
in international competition.

 

I hear that, however if we wait for a player like this to be the finished article, we'll probably miss out. Pochettino seems to specialise in preparing players for the physical side of the premier league with his super-intensive training methods, and developing youngsters to best fit his system.

It appears he really is trying to get them early, keep those with major potential to work in his 'way', and ship those who won't cut it for whatever reason. All early enough to make a profit for the club if a sale has to happen.

I just hope it works and doesn't bite us in the bum at a later date.

 

You don't wait. Hence the attempted deal for Halilovic (buy then immediate loan back) .
You have the player on paper, increase the good will with the selling club, and they carry
on their development for a while.

You don't want the Chelsky scenario where you try and hoover up all prospects, and
then loan them to clubs they neither wish to be at nor helps their development.

 

Pogba is far from the finished article, IMO, and he's costing £100mill+

 

Yep! That Pogba situation makes me VERY glad that we grabbed Alli when we did (and for the price that was paid).

 

http://www.skysports.com/transfer/n...delayed-tottenhams-georges-kevin-nkoudou-deal

Call me a pessimist, but I've just got a funny feeling this one will drag on until after the season starts and ultimately collapse without leaving us enough time to pursue an alternative.

 

Unless we're all missing something very drastic, the improve,ent on NJie seems likely to be minimal anyway. Just call the bloody thing off.

 

There's a theory doing the rounds that the reason we're suddenly showing an interest in Sofiane Boufal and Rafa Silva is to give Marseilles a not-so-subtle hint: we have other options, and coincidentally those options don't have a season-long N'Jie loan as a sweetener...

 

Agreed. Not sure why we're investing this much time and effort when the relative benefits seems minimal. Even if Nk is a noticeable step up from Nj, he isn't going to feature regularly anyway as our '3' are so settled and Lamela in particular looks as though he has spent the summer drinking red bull and listening to death metal he's that hyped.

I'd much rather we address more crucial areas, which to my mind are (in order)

- Proper cover for Dembele. If Bentaleb moves on we are desperately short on physically dominant yet at the same time attack-minded CM. Mason and Carroll just don't have the same grip on the game as the big Belgian, and whilst he had a good pre season, this may be too big an ask of Winks.
- Competition for Eriksen. It would be really nice to have a second player in the squad who assumes the role of 'spark' when Eriksen is rested or out of form. I've suggested elsewhere that we should go all out for someone like Juan Mata.

If the window closes and we don't have the above players, I fear that having Nk could prove irrelevant in the long run, especially once the fixtures start to pile up and CL kicks in.

 

- I too was very worried about Dembele cover, until I remembered that Alli very much plays as an attack minded CM as his main position. I think he was original featured in the three when Chadli went out of form and also when Eriksen was injured. I agree we could use cover here though. We saw what happens when both Dembele and Alli are out. Wanyama doesn't cover either effectively in my humble opinion, even though we can play him and Dier as a pair.

- Juan Mata won't do for the same reason that Chadli is questioned now. Not enough defensive, off the ball, work for the managers style of play. I'd personally like to see us make a bold move and really go 'all out' for someone like Draxler in this window for that position.

At the moment I feel a bit like we're having the same transfer window we would have had if we achieved 5th place last season. To me It would be nice to put down a statement of intent by bringing in a marque signing that'll help us cement our place in the top four and the champions league.

 

Mata works a lot harder than people give him credit for. I guess that he worked on that aspect of the game after being sold by Moanrinho for that very reason. And he certainly offers more going forward than anyone else we could bring on from the bench. I just doubt he'd want to move anywhere at the age of 28 with so few of his peak years left in the tank and play second fiddle to anyone.

You're right about Alli but there is no question that his best position is further forward - and his link up play with Kane is mesmerising at times.

Finding like-for-like competition for Dembele is easier said than done as the Belgian has such a unique skill set. Sissoko of Newcastle is similar but would cost a fortune and apparently only bothers turning up for the big games. Tielemans of Anderlecht is another great shout but he looks more like another Alli than another Dembele.

 

I actually think being able to offer CL football has made very little difference to who we could realistically sign. I think the majority of players are quite lazy in the fact that there are a set group of clubs that they will join just because of their perceived recent success. Just look at Kante, from league champions and in the CL to a basket case club, out of Europe all together and who have a reputation for chopping and changing both managerial and playing staff. Sure, staying at Leicester could be a risk but Chelsea? It's just a default choice to me. Can't be bothered to do any thinking? No balls to take a risk and help build a legacy? Sod off to a default club for a load of cold, hard cash.

That's why we will struggle. Players will always take the easy short-term option rather than take the long-term view. How many players have had their careers pissed away at the likes of Chelsea, Man City and even Arsenal.......