Poch has said in an interview that u18 striker Kaziah Sterling will be training with the first team squad next season. He's made comments relating to the club's philosophy on young players, stating that remaining at spurs is the best place to learn, rather than going out on loan and learning a different philosophy at another club. So do we read into the fact that anyone who goes out on loan from now on doesn't have a future with us? Those comments tend to suggest that.
Looks like we can rule out a summer move for Inter striker Andrea Pinamonti, as Inter have got around to offering him a professional contract
Harry Winks gave a very interesting and informative interview a couple of months ago. He said that he found last season very difficult. He felt ready to play first team football but wasn't getting the chance. He said that he considered asking MP to let him go out on loan but knowing what MP had said about the best path being to stay at Spurs, to be coached by our coaches, he bit his lip and settled on giving everything in training to impress the management. On top of that, he went away in the summer and put on 5 Kgs in the gym. There's no doubt that it worked for young Harry but all players aren't the same. I agree that there's no point in sending our youngsters out to a standard of football below their talents and that can be detrimental to players with the wrong mentality. However, where we get a really decent side come in with a proper plan to use someone who maybe needs that competitive experience, we shouldn't pass it up on principle. It ain't easy.
Funny how the clickbait merchants are going all in with Pochettino to PSG headlines...yet few of them are broadcasting the Wenger to PSG rumours that are also doing the rounds at the moment. Now why is that? It's not as if there's a shortage of stories they can draw from stating that Wenger's time at Arsenal might be coming to an end, so logically this means he would be available for the princely sum of €0.00 in compensation should PSG decide to get rid of Unai Emery at the end of the season. Or is it that, with Ligue 1 being allocated three Champions league places to the Premier League's four, the fans who are most supportive of Wenger heading to the Parc des Princes happen to support Monaco and Lyon?
Lukaku reportedly rejects a record-breaking contract offer from Everton. Whilst I'd love him to join our Belgian contingent here, I can't see it working out. He'd cost at least £40-50m and would rightfully expect to start every game. If we could arrange a part-exchange with Sissoko going the other way I'd be delighted to see it happen, but where would he theoretically fit in? Up top with Kane dropping deeper into a 3 with Eriksen and Alli? Sounds delicious on paper but then we lose the wing-back system that has proven so effective this season. I reckon he'll go to United personally. Zlatan and Rooney will likely leave and The Special Once doesn't trust their youngsters.
If we could sign Lukaku and retain the rest of our current players, I would predict us to win the league next season. Having his pace up front would complete us. It won't happen under ENIC, of course.
Lukaku could spark quite a bidding war if he decides to leave Everton, but I agree that Utd are the most likely destination. He'd clearly improved Arsenal and Liverpool, so I'd expect them to be interested, too. His agent's Mino Raiola. Who else does he represent? Ibrahimovic, Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Mourinho's accountant. Allegedly.
Here's the full list of Raiola's clients: http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/mino-raiola/beraterfirma/berater/282 Funny how Man Utd, Milan and PSG seem to be so prominent on his clients' CVs, isn't it?
I've seen a few guys on other forums mention that his style of play is uniquely suited to the manic rough n tumble of the PL, and I think I'd agree with that analysis. There's no way Everton will sell him to Liverpool - there'd be rioting on the streets of Bootle. Arsenal is an interesting one as there is a real chance they'll miss out on CL football next year, in which case I doubt he'd go there. Also depends a lot on who their manager is next season. If Wenger stays, I don't see Lukaku as his type of player. He prefers players who fanny about with the ball much more and try to cartwheel the ball into the back of the net. None of that running fast in a straight line and smashing it past the keeper newfangled bollocks. Even though United won't be able to offer CL football either next year, they'll blow everyone else out of the water in terms of wages and transfer fee. Quite a few Chelsea fans reckon he could return there as a replacement for Costa, should the latter opt to move to China in the summer. That could well happen tbh, and if it does, we should be trying to pick up their other Belgian forward on the cheap. No, not the smug-faced diving little ****; the big bloke whose name I can't spell.
If there's one Belgian we need to sign this summer, it isn't Batshuayi All aboard the Tielemans train!
Batshuayi. Chelsea will use him more next season, as they'll have more games to play. Not sure about them buying Lukaku back, but I didn't understand why they sold him in the first place, so what do I know? Utd could easily still make the Champions League, either via finishing in the top 4 or winning the Europa League. Mourinho knows how to win a trophy and they're not too far away from reaching the final, if they get a bit of luck.
I'm not sure if throwing away the GDP of a western European nation in transfer fees constitutes as "knowing how to win a trophy"
Marcelo Brozovic is once again being heavily linked with us, with a fee of £21.8m being bandied about. Considering he's been repeatedly linked with us since the AVB era, is he becoming Croatia's answer to Leandro Damiao? There's also reports that Fulham are offering Ryan Sessegnon his first professional contract, otherwise known as inflating the transfer fee they'll no doubt receive sooner rather than later.
Sounds about standard. So...Tielemans? In something more likely to come to fruition, there's plenty of talk about Pau Lopez's loan becoming permanent - however, as with all things that are headlines first and content later, the fee we're expected to pay fluctuates between £2.6m and £6m. I'd call that a slight difference!
The Chavs are linked with a £100m double move for Lukaku and Barkley...so, Tielemans? Also, with rumours about a summer move for Harry Maguire still circulating, here's a brilliant quote from the Hull Daily Mail: "Think John Stones, but better." Damning with faint praise, but given the fee being bandied about for Maguire is £15m rather than the £47m City pissed away on Stones, feel free to throw as much faint praise his way as you see fit!
Reports say that Ryan Sessegnon has signed a four-year contract with Fulham - or to put it another way, his price has significantly increased. Don't suppose we have any reserve players we're not using that we can somehow convince Fulham's board are worth a few million quid? Well it worked when we dumped Tommy Forecast on Southampton...
I'm starting to get the feeling that football journalists make the same mistake every single summer and buy a Spurs shirt with the name of a player we didn't sign on it. That would certainly explain why we're being linked with Antonio Sanabria again, even though he joined Betis on a five year contract last July - and considering that will no doubt inflate any potential fee, the fact he's scored four goals this season kills that one dead.
...yeah, we're definitely in the middle of a reboot of last summer's transfer window: Domenico Berardi has been linked with us again.
