Tottenham Transfer Talk on Tuesday 28th Dec
Tottenham Transfer Talk on Tuesday 28th Dec
Dušan Vlahović is joining Spurs in the summer
Happy Tuesday folks in a nice quiet period between Christmas and the New Year.
We'll talk transfers today.
He wasn't getting any game time at City and Barcelona have told him he will be a big player for them.
The fee is €55m not pounds as lazily and incorrectly reported by Sky Sports, The Evening Standard and The Sun for instance.
Why can't these professional journalists actually convert euros to pounds to accurately report instead of just lazily changing the currency sign?
€55m
£46.5m
US$62.26m
AUS$85.99m
It is totally unprofessional and misleading reporting not to currency convert, given there is getting on for a £10m difference.
Myself, I have no desire to one of them, I do this for fun. I research to be better informed than the average fan, while my detractors like to take things out of context, which says more about them than it does me.
Are there any bargains we could pick up from Spain.
I write pieces and often hold them for a couple of days to add more and Conte only goes and says what I am writing, two coaches on the same wavelength.
A lot of what I have written for you over these years is being seen under Conte and spoken about by him, mentality for instance, that a player MUST perform when given a chance and not expect a run of games to start producing, that's the difference between trying to win and having a winning mentality.
There are no excuses.
It is relative, someone coming back from injury for instance, has lower expectations or will be asked to give everything for a shorter period. Fatigue causes injuries so it has to be managed.
Our busy schedule now is going to put a strain on the players so it is a huge bonus that Conte has had the two weeks to work with some of them and give us greater ability depth in the squad than we had previously.
We can see how learning a system is so important with the improvement in the fringe players and indeed the first team squad.
I'll repeat, it isn't about sending out players with ability and letting them play, it is about following a system and playing to that system.
A player has to totally believe in it and buy into it to produce his best otherwise you get the performances we saw under Mourinho and Nuno.
One telling stat is that Spurs have gone from the side who run the least in the Premier League to the side who run the most.
That takes a different level of fitness.
Now we are staring to see improvement perhaps some people will calm down with players who looked to be unsuited and unmotivated, now seem to have grasped what the manager wants from them in his system.
Matt Doherty now has a good game under his belt and while one swallow doesn't make a summer, we don't have to worry about buying a right wing-back in January.
That can wait, if needed, until the summer window.
Whoever is playing right wing-back is struggling to provide sufficient attacking threat at the moment.
I think it is pretty obvious Hugo Lloris will be offered a new deal, even if we bring in another English keeper to challenge for the number one spot and help our homegrown quota.
Pierluigi Gollini was bought to challenge but a new manager brings new plans and a homegrown keeper may be essential to allow more non-homegrown outfield players.
Fabio Paratici doesn't rate Joe Rodon, he thinks there are far better young centre-backs throughout Europe and it's clear we need an upgrade for Davison Sánchez at the end of the season.
If we can finish fourth then we could return for some of our former transfer targets with Jules Koundé agreeing to join Chelsea.
Occasionally I am not timid and will say when we are signing someone, regardless of what journalists say, such as Lo Celso, Ndombele, Sessegnon (indeed that window I told everyone at the beginning who we'd sign and for how much), well I'm going to put my neck on the line again.
Not for January, unless we can pull it off which I doubt, but definitely for the summer, we will be signing Dušan Vlahović.
In our favour is that a section of Fiorentina fans have turned on him as he won't sign a new contract. Supporters can be disgusting people.
There is plenty of talk in Italy that he wants to join Juventus, but I will repeat for you, Vlahović has already agreed to join Spurs in the summer.
He wants to work with Antonio Conte, feels it will be great for his development.
Spurs are his number one choice, NOT Juventus or anyone else.
There will be plenty of stories linking him elsewhere and there is a long way to go, but as of now he wants to sign for Tottenham Hotspur (his first choice his agent tells us) and particularly wants to develop under Antonio Conte.
We DO NOT have to sell Kane to buy him and Harry Kane is happy again at Spurs, now that Antonio Conte has arrived.
I have written in previous posts that there are signs that Harry is getting some of the motivation back and I predict we will see him returning to his best before the season is out.
I also do not think he will be angling for a move away this summer either, I think he'll want to stay and work with Conte, if the clubs starts to develop the squad with the quality of player we need, which Paratici will.
Obviously Spurs will be offering Kane a new contract and if he signs then the stadium sponsorship might actually then go through. As I have said before, it has been tied in with Kane staying.
In the meantime Spurs have offered 30-year-old Italian left winger Lorenzo Insigne a 6-month loan deal what with he and Napoli burning any bridges between them.
This has been discussed in the Italian press and the bad blood between the two parties has been going for a while with his contract running out in the summer.
The press telling you we are in advanced talks with Franck Kessié are out of date. He told Spurs he will join the club a while back and like Vlahović, we know the wages involved and they are not a problem.
Whether Paratici activates that free agent deal or not we will have to wait and see, but it is all in place.
Other Tottenham Transfer Talk
Spurs have scouted and Fabio Paratici has on his radar, highly-rated central midfielder Mattias Svanberg from Bologna.Manchester City are understood to have sent a scout to watch the 22-year-old (23 next January) play recently against Roma.
Svanberg is interesting clubs because he recently turned down a contract extension at Bologna, has a current contract until 2023.
Apart from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, the Swedish international (15 caps, 1 goal, 2 assists) born in New York, USA is also interesting Inter Milan, Atalanta, AC Milan and Juventus.
His career to date in Serie A covers 102 games from which he has 9 goals and 7 assists.
Moussa Niakhaté
Tottenham are interested in 25-year-old (26 next March) Mainz 05 left-footed centre-back, Moussa Niakhaté.
The French U-21 international (11 caps) was born in France but also qualified for Senegal and is under contract until 2023.
To date, he has played 35 Ligue 1 games (1 assist) for Metz before moving to Germany where he has played a further 112 Bundesliga games (6 goals, 4 assists).
We'll keep things brief and be back soon with more Tottenham transfer talk, specifically some young targets we are monitoring.
COYS
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COYS
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5 comments
The rest of what you say makes great sense (Not that that bit doesn't of course - simply that I see it a little differently.) and the time since AC's arrived has seen such an up-turn in our fortunes and expectations. Dušan Vlahovic certainly seems a real prospect. January would be nice; before his worth increases as well as allowing him time to get used to things, as we all know a first season is often spent acclimatising. His attitude seems very impressive though so I expect great things from him (in a Spurs shirt please).
Another of my favourites - Lucas Moura - seems to be coming good under AC too. I think he still has a lot to offer as he's one of those very rare players who can often get past players and turn a h…
While I agree the different shape & expectations allow some of the players to show up better, I don't believe that's the full story. Expectation is clear. All have had to work a great deal harder in training. The mentality is also different. Pushing harder in all games is known by all to be required and the results reflect that. Most people are happy to work harder if the rewards are clear - especially sportsmen. All these things have a cumulative effect.
How did you get the 'ć' of Vlahović to show up correctly? I copied & pasted via a text editor and it reverted to a simple 'c' :-(
Kane may well benefit from help - not least to allow him to rest from time to time. Needing is another matter. I believe recent campaigns have shown we do well enough with our forwards as they are. Only this season have we failed to be very much up there with the best in terms of goals scored.
Vlahović will be important because he can ensure we don't struggle t…
BTW I always liked Winks, I thought he was great under Poch then he got that 2017 injury at Burnley when he fell over a trainers box, that set him back a long way. Happy New Year
COYS
I don't say that Winks has always played well but I like his attitude generally & I'd love to see him turn his game around again and get back to playing regularly.
Happy New Year to all.
COYS!!