Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

Think it's pointless looking for an Eriksen replacement, whoever we get won't be as good. That's why I, Hudd and a couple others have pointed out the likelihood of changing formation to 433 if he does go. Then focus money on one or two elite CMs ideally with creative attributes, potentially another WF depending on how happy Poch is with Lucas and Lamela, not forgetting our situation at RB either and possibly a new LB.

A potential post-Eriksen (and post-Toby) side looking something like:

Hugo/ Gazza
New RB, Dave, Jan, Rose/ New LB
Alli, Sissoko, New CM
Lucas/ New WF, Kane, Son

Is pretty tasty if those in bold were of the ideal calibre and style.

 

I think it’s realistically three starters and another three or four for depth, given the state of the squad and who we expect to leave over the summer.

 

There are potential Eriksen replacements out there that won't break the bank, with the van der Beek hype train gathering steam after Ajax beat Juve, while the collective blind spot journos have for Nabil Fekir after he rejected Saltypool last summer continues to baffle me - especially as he has just a year on his contract

In terms of going 433, that would likely require at least one winger to be brought in and probably two considering the current options available

Left wing
Son - guaranteed starter
GKN - walking meme who can't get a game on loan at Burnley or Monaco
Georgiou - seasoned international™ (for Cyprus) and fills the HG quota but, at 22, has little first team experience
Shashoua - has been gaining experience at Baleares, but there's a huge leap between the Spanish third tier and Premier League

Right wing
Lucas - likely starter, yet wildly inconsistent
Lamela - a good rotation option, for both flanks considering he played on the left for Roma way back when, but injury-prone
Edwards - at least a year behind in his development due to injury and twattishness, although loan to Excelsior is helping somewhat

That definitely says we need to sign another left winger, with GKN hopefully making way to help with our HG quota problems, although with Lamela's injuries becoming a real problem this season it's also likely we should be looking to sign a right winger too, either to cover Lucas or potentially we go all-out to sign Ziyech and have Lucas rotating between either flank

 

Yeah I think that sounds about right. RB and CM being the two real musts from a first XI perspective. Get them sorted, the rest are then somewhat bonuses.

 

What I have seen , neither Shashoua nor Edwards have the speed to be wingers like Son and. Lucas. That said I think they can be the understudy.
Edwards might be able to play as the understudy to Eriksen - he is definitely capable if his mind is right.
I think Markanday is more suited to wing play.
As for the RB situation. Was Poch giving Foyth a trial at that position , recognizing that he is too slight to play as a CB in the PL. In which case, cash in on Trippier and use KWP and Foyth and Aurier as RBs and buy Andersen as our new CB.
I'd still like to buy N'Dombele.
And Sessegnon for our LB cover and/or left winger.

 

Van de Beek is more in the VDV mould, if we maintained 4231 he could certainly take that number 10 role but we'd need to ensure that a CM with creative attributes was signed. Similar to how we had with Modric and VDV. I don't know enough about Fekir to judge, Ligue 1 is a league that's tough to determine if someone like Fekir could come to the Prem and perform to a similar level as Eriksen.

Realistically Georgiou and GK have no future. Whilst I thought Shashoua's loan to Baleares was bizarre and can't imagine it's done too much for his development.

Lucas could possibly be our first choice RW if he can improve on his consistency. Lamela as you say is a solid rotation option but his injury record has made him someone who I'd consider selling, I'm a big fan but we can't be relying on someone who's missing around 15+ games per season. Whilst I don't think anyone has an idea as to what Edwards' future holds.

So realistically Son and Lucas we can guarantee will be here and I'd say we'll need two wingers for each position in a 433. If we signed someone like Zaha for instance, who like Son can play on both flanks, there's a possibility that someone like Bowen/ Clarke could be courted as the fourth choice winger. A wildcard option could be Malcom but he's a probably a bit Rabiot-esque with regards to mentality. There is also the possibility of moving Alli into LW where he's been very effective in the past and having Son RW, though that would depend on how many CMs we signed in the summer.

 

I've seen (completely unsubstantiated, but what the hell...) talk that we're shopping around Aurier for a summer departure, and I've said for a while he's more expendable of the two RBs as he's simply not been the player we hoped he'd be, he seems to get injured on a monthly basis, and he takes up a non-HG spot in the squad while we also have to register KWP from next season

The thing is I sincerely hope we don't have a Trippier/KWP axis at RB next season, so we definitely need to look for a first team-worthy RB be it Wan Bissaka, Meunier, or we help the Chavs out with their transfer ban-mandated clearout by helping ourselves to Azpilcueta...

 

Fekir does have a few things in common with VDV albeit he plays deeper, playing behind the striker instead of alongside them like VDV did - although the France national team tends to dump him on the wing so they can squeeze him in when he plays

If we do retain the 4231 formation next season we should consider modelling the spine of our midfield on Lyon's setup, where they have Ndombele as the box-to-box bulldozer like Dembele/Sissoko, Aouar as the deep-lying playmaker a la Modric/Rakitic, while Fekir either creates chances or takes them due to the space opened up by Ndombele and their nitrous-fueled wingers - and they also have Tousart available as a traditional DMF for when they want to change formation, shore up a lead, or rotate. In comparison we can sort of fudge some of that with whose available, with Sissoko as Ndombele, Dele as Fekir and Dier/Wanyama as Toussart, but we're clearly missing the playmaker in that arrangement

In terms of Shashoua's loan, I think it was for the sake of his physical development as he was unable to last 90 minutes in the PL2 last season, whereas he's regularly playing 80-90 minutes this season - although I strongly suspect that, if he's still in Poch's plans, he'll probably have an Eredivisie loan next season (provided he extends his contract, that is)

 

I think you're forgetting (bold) the Hemel Hempstead Messiah in your thinking there hbic

I can see arguments for sticking with the 4-2-3-1 as well, the only real difference between that and the 4-3-3 that myself and others are advocating (similar to the style of Liverpool, City and others) is the defensive responsibilities allocated to Dele - who will be playing 10 (in 4-2-3-1) or the hybrid 8/10 role (4-3-3) after Eriksen is sold - and the nature of the wide players, who in 4-2-3-1 tend to cut inside, whereas with the 4-3-3 tend to have more balance and freedom to pull wide or cut in, situationally.

Eriksen for all his faults is a wonderful player who I feel lucky to have seen for his years in a Spurs shirt. But selling him could be a 'Coutinho moment' for us, in so far as we already have a surfeit of players who want to play 10 or cut into the space in and around the striker, and selling Eriksen for a good fee will allow us to strengthen in other key areas and transition to a different style of play that lets us get the best out of the squad as a whole, and maybe fix one or two of the issues that have plagued us for the last couple of years.

 

Rumours floating around. Napoli interested in Trippier and Eriksen is about to sign a new contract. Might change a few peoples thoughts if those two happen.

 

I think he’s irreplaceable and it will be a huge blow if he leaves

 

https://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2019/04/22/5cbd89a4e5fdea4e2c8b460d.html

Bale, on loan. I wouldn't be surprised if Levy jumps all over this, negotiating some kind of appearance based fee structure.

For shirt and ticket sales alone… Global brand and all that.

 

Guaranteed that Madrid will attempt a signing of some key Spurs
player as part of such a deal. However, tis their wage bill that Bale is
burning a hole in, and not a Pochettino "must have" player, so Levy
could play "chicken" with Perez on this for as long as necessary.

 

We'll just tell them that Shilow Tracey is seen as the long-term future of our club...

 

Damn right. Outraged for a friend.,

 

commentator goes way too early. Lucky the pass came back or he'd have ruptured something.

 

Turk Watch/Persistent Linkee Watch
Calcio Mercato...wait, come back!

Calcio Mercato are reporting that Roma are open to letting Cengiz Under leave this summer to reinvest elsewhere, and are willing to accept a bid of €40m

If we were to go 433 next season, Under would be the sort of player we need to look at as he's both pacy AF and has some damn good control, chips in with goals and assists on a reasonably good basis, is left-footed so offers balance, and is capable of playing on both flanks - and yet at the same time he's not going to throw the wage bill out of whack as he's on £15k a week at Roma, so even if we triple his wages he'll be on less than Harry Winks takes home a week while also offering room for his wages to increase if he does well, something which can't be said for Zaha who'd expect a six-figure salary

 

The Turks have some promising young players, both Cengiz Under and Emre Mor stand out. Under looks like the player we hoped Lamela would be - pace and trickery abound coming in on that left foot - I guess the questions are around consistency and further development.

If we could get the cost down it could be worth a punt, even better if we can send someone like GKN (or even Lamela, if we decide his days here really are done) back the other way to get them off the books.

 

He was a stand out option last summer but we didn't go all out for him. I think we believed that Zaha and Martial were realistic options but we were never going to spend that kind of Dosh.

 

I’m a bit wary about Seria A wide forwards. As good as Lamela is in his own right (minus the ****ing injuries!), he wasn’t what we expected when we signed him and I’d worry Under is similar, especially as he plays in the same position for the same club.

I’d make an exception for Dybala though