Transfer Talk: Can Pochettino sell the Spurs project to Bartra?

TRANSFER TALK

Two clubs are reported by the Italian media to be strongly after Marc Bartra the Barcelona centre-back who can leave on the cheap thanks to his loyalty to the Spanish giants and not leaving last summer when they had a transfer embargo.

Those two clubs have a similar profile of player they are after, both want to build with youth who will grow in value while they grow with the side. Those two sides are Tottenham Hotspur and the Italians applying the same strategy for growth we are, Italians Fiorentina.

Ther are also reports of Inter Milan, Sevilla, Valencia, Manchester United and Liverpool taking an interest. Inter Milan don't have Champions League football so they can be ruled out as can Liverpool. Manchester United are a bigger name and have bigger resources than Liverpool so perhaps they may stand a chance, while Valencia have the pull of boing in Spain but have to go through th play-ff round to get to the Champions League proiper. You would expect Bartra to join a team who willregularly qualify for the Champions League which does put question marks over valencia and Fiorentina.

Fiorentina tried to sign him in January but Barcelona wanted to hold on to him in the event of injuries. Coach Paulo Sousa has spoken to his board and informed them he would like Bartra at the club. naturally a Barcelona player available for just £6.1 million (€8m - US$8.91m - AUS$12.4m) is going to cause a lot of interest so getting in early could make the difference.

He is away with the Spanish national side at the moment for the 2016 European championships in France having made the final 23 under Vicente del Bosque.


Spanish and Portuguese players are taught from childhood to play out from the back, booting the ball upfield is very much a last resort. That is an individual way of playing as opposed to the team way of playing that the Spanish are brought up with. It is a mentality which needs to change at grass roots level and work its way through our coaching system.

Mauricio Pochettino, as we have seen, wants his players to play out from the back, even when in tight situations. That is exactly how Bartra has been taught and thus he could be a very valuable asset. If you look at it from Bartra's point of view though, you would expect him to want regular first team football in a UEFA Champions League side. I'm not sure whether another spell of rotation will be uppermost in his mind.

The Spanish reports sat Pochettino wants him but if Tottenham are to sign him then Mauricio Pochettino is going to have to do some smooth talking and sell the Spurs project to him.

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