Business in the 1st week of July

Business in the 1st week of July

Nobody has signed players bar Real Madrid really and the European window opened after our window had been open for a while.

We had the international break, then there are various international tournaments such as the European Under-21 Championships, where Ryan Sessegnon is playing and the Copa America, where Giovani Lo Celso is playing.

Mauricio Pochettino has been on holiday and I'm sure you have all seen him on the beach relaxing with his family and players have gone off on holiday too, at least those not involved in international duty.

This break is a break to forget all about football, to refresh the mind, NOT to negotiate transfers and sign contracts. Harry Kane, for instance, has just got married on a beach.

Clueless fans getting their knickers in a twist and venting their daft anger on Twitter is embarrassing.


Discussions happen behind the scenes, it isn't all played out in the media. A player like centre-back Joachim Andersen will know exactly where he stands with us.

He will know if he is our first choice, he will know in what circumstances we would sign him. He will know that his purchase if he is our main target, I'm just using him as an example, is dependent on us being able to sell Toby Alderweireld.

Andersen also knows other clubs are interested in him. Lyon have offered €16m (£14.31m - $18.23m), Arsenal have made an offer, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and the latest is Roma to have been mentioned.

He'll know exactly where he stands with all those clubs and they will know whether they are his preferred destination or an alternative destination if his ideal move doesn't come off.

Assume he feels Tottenham is his priority. He would then sit and wait for us and what happens with Alderweireld. He doesn't need to rush into the wrong move. Assume he was the number one priority for Arsenal.

They can do all they like and their fans can moan as much as our fans moan, but if he is waiting for another club, then they will just have to wait or switch to their second choice target That player will know exactly where he stands too.

One transfer triggers another. A selling club have to line up a replacement, just as we have perhaps lined up Andersen to replace Alderweireld. Sampdoria have to line someone up and the club they buy from has to line someone up.

It is no different than buying a house and being stuck in a chain until something triggers the chain off.

People seem to forget the buy low, sell high business principle, football players are just a commodity like everything else, the same rule applies to them. Clubs have to negotiate to a point of common ground, not, as some daft fans say, simply pay whatever is asked. A sure route to the poor house.

The same people who moan about Daniel Levy, mon about |Real Madrid making low offers for Gareth Bale and Luka Modrić. They ignore the fact everyone operates that way.

Personally, I don't expect to see anything happening until the first week in July.

BUT...

Let me throw in France because French football finances are managed by Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG ) and French clubs from Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 have to submit their accounts to them by 30 June.

They have to sell players to balance their books by then if they need to financially or it goes into the following year's accounts. Thus there are always purchases to be made from France in June and sales to France usually after June. It entirely depends upon their trading profit or loss.

A club like Lyon buy low, develop and sell high, just as they are doing with Tanguy Ndombélé. In the 2018/19 season, they received fees for 9 players.

Thus far this window they have sold four players, Ferland Mendy to Real Madrid, Jordan Ferri to Montpellier, Christopher Martins Pereira to Young Boys and Elisha Owusu to Gent totalling £46.7m (€52.1m - $59.51m). Buys? They have picked up two free transfers.

Finally, having said I expect no movement until the first week in January and explained the French situation, if there is to be movement before then it would be the arrival of Tanguy Ndombélé so the next 2 weeks should see something happen.