Tottenham Talk on Friday 20th Aug
Tottenham Talk on Friday 20th Aug
Morning folks and welcome to Tottenham Talk on Friday 20th Aug.
It has been a rather quiet window as nobody has got any money and nobody can shift their deadwood to bring new players in.
Clubs want to buy the better players and clubs, understandably, including ourselves, don't want to sell them.
Selling players isn't as simple as it appears to some fans, just because you want to sell a player doesn't mean you can, for a variety of reasons.
It may be because the player themselves refuses to move like Emmanuel Adebayor and Danny Rose.
It may be because the players wages are too high and people won't pay the same level or that the player will not lower his pay demands.
It may be because clubs only want a loan.
It may be because clubs don't have any money etc.
Tottenham want to sell players, we all know that.
Dávinson Sánchez was all ready to leave, he even agreed a deal with Sevilla which didn't go through because Jules Koundé wanted UEFA Champions League football.
Well now Sánchez has had a change of heart and doesn't want to leave.
He has been given a chance by Nuno, who obviously has wiped the slate clean and thus far, he has taken it.
Fair play to him.
That possibly takes Koundé out of our equation.
Indeed it probably takes buying another centre-back out of the equation.
We have Sánchez, Dier, Romero, none of whom are leaving and Joe Rodon.
Spurs want to sell Harry Winks, he has been told he won't get much game time, yet he won't talk to any interested parties at the moment, despite previously house hunting in the Midlands.
He is another who has changed his mind, as reported, he has dug his heels in and there is nothing a club can do in that situation.
This week though, Wednesday, he stopped following Spurs on social media, he unfollowed the club on Twitter so has he now accepted leaving?
The game last night did absolutely nothing to advance his cause and there was a scout in the stands watching his performance, they couldn't have been impressed.
I reported on Nahitan Nández on Wednesday morning in the 07:30 GMT post and our verbal bid that matched the requirements of Cagliari, who are now awaiting an official bid.
Is he to replace Winks or his Paratici lining up yet another 'potential' transfer if needed?
Moussa Sissoko is on wages that are just too expensive in the current financial climate for a player of his age and he isn't keen on Saudi Arabia apparently.
Clubs in Qatar and Dubai, United Arab Emirates have made enquiries for him too, but again he isn't keen on a move anywhere in the Middle East.
He'd rather stay at Spurs and fight for a place if he can't get a European move so why wasn't he playing last night?
A deal had been struck, he was due to fly out but now it may have to be a loan move in Europe, which would probably mean Spurs having to pay part of his wages.
Serge Aurier is in the same situation and he too might end up being loaned out, again, why wasn't he playing last night?
Four players we want to sell but for various reasons it's proving difficult which prevents players coming in of course.
Two are central midfielders in an area we want to improve the team, we have no quality in depth in that position.
Will these two players (Winks, Sissoko) end up being our Achilles heel this season, will they prevent us achieving what we want to achieve?
As for Harry Kane nothing has changed, bid near what we ask or he goes nowhere, simple as that.
Man City don't want to at the moment and we have told them, as I reported previously, that they have until the end of the week otherwise it may be too late for us to get a replacement in.
How they expected us to fall for their Dušan Vlahović nonsense, goodness knows.
Remember for us to get a replacement in, the team we are buying from have to get a replacement, as do the team they are buying from etc so it's a complicated process.
Harry Kane is 5 years younger than Robert Lewandowski, who is 33 tomorrow and Bayern Munich value the Polish striker at €100m.
Apart from winning the Golden Boot for a third time and it would be five but for two ankle injuries, one of them deliberately inflicted by Fabian Delph, then of Manchester City, Kane topped the assist charts ahead of specialists in that department like Kevin de Bruyne.
That adds to his value.
Kane is homegrown and a marketing commodity being the England captain, which all carries a premium, adds to his value.
His asking price looks entirely justified.
It would appear City are coming around to our way of thinking but having left it so late to do so, can we get one of our targets to replace him now?
If we can't, then Kane ain't going anywhere, more to this now than just meeting a price, time and a replacement have become big factors.
Ilaix Moriba
I first revealed Spurs interest in Ilaix Moriba on 30th July in a piece where I also explained why the Joe Hart transfer fee would be £1m and how it was worked out.Now the story of the 18-year-old (19 next January) Barcelona central-midfielder has just hit Twitter some 16 days later.
I revealed Moriba was refusing to sign a new contract as Barcelona weren't offering him enough money, unsurprisingly.
The Spaniards dropped him to the B team to try and force him to change his mind but he hasn't.
Clubs around Europe want him and 10 clubs in the Premier League want him.
I revealed we had spoken to his representatives with him now being in the final year of his contract.
The issue is his €100,000-a-week (£85,217 - US$117,096 - AUS$161,390) wage demands. His agent is trawling Europe looking for a club prepared to pay it with no success so far.
Transfermarkt also value him at £22.5m (€26.4m - US$30.92m - AUS$42.62m) so for someone unproven in the Premier League it's a huge gamble over a 5-year contract.
It equates to £44.66m (€52.41m - US$61.36m - AUS$84.56m) plus around £22m (€25.82m - US$30.23m - AUS$41.66m) in bonuses.
A grand total of £66.66m (€78.21m - US$91.58m - AUS$126.21m) plus annual increments for an 18-year-old.
Ain't gonna happen is it.
Snippets
Tottenham sent a scout to watch the UEFA Champions League Qualifier between Benfica and PSV on Wednesday evening according to the UEFA representative at the match.Tottenham have made an enquiry for Grêmio right-back Vanderson amid interest from several European clubs.
The Brazilian Serie A side have refused to enter any negotiations for the 20-year-old (21 next June) at the moment. (Globo Esporte)
Tottenham have reached agreement with Lincoln City for the permanent transfer of TJ Eyoma.
Son scoring the winning goal against Man City means he now has 49 goals and assists from just 55 starts as a central striker.
Strikers
As with every position there are many strikers on our radar, indeed it would be amiss if we were not keeping tabs on masses of strikers and close tabs on all those we have identified as worth following.
No striker list is ever going to be complete therefore, but I have drip fed you players we track throughout this window, with plenty of strikers.
M'Bala Nzola
Relatively inexperienced at the top level M'Bala Nzola had a good season last season at unfashionable Serie A side Spezia.The 25-year-olf (26 next August) was likened to Chelsea legend Didier Drogba by his manager Vincenzo Italiano and his agent Didier Pingisi claims his client turned down West Ham and two other Premier League clubs, plus one from Germany in January.
The Angolan international (2 caps) has scored 11 goals in 25 Serie A games with a further 3 assists over 1,899 minutes, equivalent to 21.1 full games.
M'Bala Nzola has 2 years left on his contract.
Andrea Belotti
The next name on the list is a familiar one you would expect and a player we have been linked with before, Andrea Belotti.The 27-year-old (28 in December) Italian international (39 caps, 12 goals, 7 assists) is captain of Torino and in 248 Serie A games has scored 98 goals with 25 assists in 18,888 minutes, which is the equivalent to 209.87 full games.
He only has a year left on his contract.
Terem Moffi
Terem Moffi is a 22-year-old (23 next May) Nigerian international (2 caps) striker at French side Lorient.
Another inexperienced striker at the top level, Moffi has scored 15 goals in 34 Ligue 1 games with a further 3 assists in 2,263 minutes, the equivalent of 25.14 full games.
He is under contract until 2024.
Well that's it folks, a second post will be out, probably at lunchtime, with my thoughts on the game last night.
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2 comments
After that though, I wondered how well we could manage the games against lesser opposition. Thursday showed that we still have a way to go on that score. A reserve team certainly, but one where few of the players seemed to realise the chance they were given to shine.
Back a few decades and we wouldn't need to worry as the team on the pitch would always be the first team. That's no longer true. We have to be able to rely on those who are required to come in and put in a performance that's up there with the first team.
In an ealier post you listed the problems & errorrs as they occurred by the minute into the game when they occurred. I expect for this game you'll need to list th…