As somebody else has suggested elsewhere (apologies for forgetting who, but I did spend half the morning locked in a life or death struggle with Spotify...) if Poch needs/wants to make wholesale changes we shouldn't buy half an outfield squad in the summer and wait for them to bed in, we need to get some key personnel in place in January and the rest will be added in the summer Based on the list of potential January departures in The Times, a DM definitely needs to be the top priority in January given the other first team DMs are reportedly available to leave, although the second option is tough: on the one hand the heart says make another play for Dybala as he'll add both creativity and goals, although the head says if both Verts and Toby are leaving we need to get a centre back in place so they have time to build an understanding with Sanchez as they'd likely be our starting centre back pairing next season Of course, if we happen to buy all three that'd be nice...
Real Madrid will enter talks with Tottenham to try to sign Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen, 27, in January Needs to stop popping up in the match day squad
There's a slight issue with Atal this season: he's not playing RB, he's mainly playing as a RW - and on at least one occasion a LW Of course, this might play in our favour...
Aye...just been reading up on him He has been playing as a winger but prefers his RB role...scored on the weekend but claims that he prefers the responsibility of his defensive game.
He was linked during the summer, with the presumption being that Aurier not leaving scuppered the deal - although Nice being taken over by a British billionaire during the summer may have also made it a tad problematic, at least until Boris Johnson became PM and no doubt downgraded him to a mere millionaire...
Scouting the Scouts Rumours/reports/whatever suggest that Steve Hitchen has been in Argentina, reportedly scouting the following players Agustin Almendra (19yo Boca Juniors central midfielder) Adolfo Gaich (20yo San Lorenzo striker, who made his international debut at the end of September) Agustin Urzi (19yo Banfield left winger) We were linked with Almendra a few months ago, and back then I said he looks like a good long-term prospect, and considering he primarily plays as a number 8 in midfield the obvious suggestion would be that he would be the long-term replacement for Sissoko, although with Boca playing him in a DM role this season I wouldn't be surprised if Poch sees him playing in Harry Winks' false 6 role Gaich and Urzi are a little harder to dig up information about, which is more to do with Almendra being seen as the top prospect in the Argentina league than anything else, but from what I can dig up Gaich was linked with Everton in the summer and is similar to Maxi Lopez as his game has the physicality and heading ability of a target man but the speed and instincts of a poacher, while Urzi comes across as being pretty similar to Lamela as he's got the skill but also a hell of a lot of tenacity Of course, one obvious counterpoint: our midfield needs a number 6 in it, especially with rumours of Dier and Wanyama being on the chopping block, and none of these players are really that - Almendra is closest, as he's Winks with better tackling, but hardly a Kante-type we so clearly need - and there's the whole most-of-a-back-four question on top of that...
So, yeah, centre backs... With it likely that at least one of Verts and Toby are off at the end of the season, and even if one of them stays they need a long-term replacement, it's odd that there's very few stories linking us to centre backs at the moment. On the one hand we technically have plenty in that area in Sanchez, Foyth*, Tanganga and Eyoma, the fact that the aforementioned list includes one player currently being used as a right back for club and country and two youngsters with one start between them, obviously we need to address this with at least one CB signing And because I got the ball rolling, here's a short list... Dayot Upamecano (20yo, Taurine FC Leipzig, contracted until 2021) Pros: likes to pass out from the back; has the physical attributes; hasn't signed a new deal since 2017, giving us some Levy room Cons: Leipzig won't be letting him go cheap; current favourite of r/coys, so we'll all be sick of his name by next April Ibrahima Konate (20yo, Taurine FC Leipzig, contracted until 2023) Pros: similar to Verts in the way he plays out from the back; also has the physical side to his game to fit into the Premier League Cons: signed a new contract back in January, so Leipzig can think of a big number if we make an approach Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen, 23yo, contracted until 2023) Pros: likes to pass out from the back; heading ability and physicality make him a good option for the PL; quick for a CB Cons: it begs the question why nobody's come in for him and, more importantly, why the Germany team always overlook him Nikola Milenkovic (21yo, Fiorentina, contracted until 2022) Pros: great in the air; an impressive first touch; adept at RB...which we also need Cons: a bit of a card magnet in Serie A, so will probably be permanently suspended in the Premier League Joachim Andersen (23yo, Lyon, contracted until 2024) Pros: Looks like a young Verts with the way he moved the ball; can ping long balls like Toby Cons: Lyon only just signed him, reportedly giving us an ultimatum to back off or we wouldn't get Ndombele, so expect a rinsing Lisandro Martinez (21yo, Ajax, contracted until 2023) Pros: the latest centre back off the Ajax production line, so you know what to expect; left-footed, which Poch is on the lookout for Cons: Ajax only signed him in the summer, and with the De Ligt and De Jog cash they can name any number they can think of
Nathan Ake for me. Good ball playing CB plus he’s left-footed, good in the air despite being relatively small for a CB at 5’10/ 5’11 and he’s used to the Prem, think he may also qualify as HG too which would be a bonus.
Good News Reports suggest that our current shopping list looks like this Ruben Neves Youcef Atal Thomas Strakosha Declan Rice Bruno Fernandes Ousmane Dembele Memphis Depay Max Aarons Ben Godfrey Sean Longstaff Bad News ...reports from the Twitter account that broke the N'Geme story Good News We've also got another shortlist, which reads as follows Paulo Dybala Bruno Fernandes Youcef Atal Max Aarons Ruben Neves Nathan Ake Bad News ...from a bloke named "ITKSpurs079"
Rabiot Watch Oh for ****'s ****ing sake... Le10 Sport are reporting that it's taken less than three months for Rabiot to royally piss off Juve management, to the point where they're willing to offer him as a potential makeweight in a January deal for Christian Eriksen Let me translate this into a language that all parties can understand... Juventus: Vaffanculo Rabiot: Va te faire foutre
You’ve asked the same question as a few on Spurs twitter hbic and the only answer I can give is yes, he probably can better than Serge Aurier
Makes sense. Not as good as he was in the first couple years we had him but he’s a solid enough option and better than Whiteman at the moment.
I think it's time for our defenders to lock themselves away and discuss what the hell is going on with us? (If they haven't already done so!)
Yeah agreed. Can’t help but think that we might be looking for a long-term GK over the summer as well. Hugo isn’t getting any younger or improving and as much as I love Gazza I don’t think the club view him as a first choice option, unless he absolutely smashes it when Hugo is out injured. I’d love to see that. Another position on the list of things to fix then
We were linked with Lazio's Thomas Strakosha over the summer, and his name's recently resurfaced on the ITK lists I'm sure signing an Albanian won't lead to any pig ignorant chanting from opposition fans at any point...
What sort of message does that send to Whiteman and Austin? Poch usually loves youth but signing Vorm seems weird.