The eleventh hour: Tottenham leaving it late again for transfer dealings
There is less than two weeks to go before the summer transfer window slams shut and Daniel Levy is yet to get his checkbook out. Is it time for Tottenham fans to worry?
Life of a Tottenham fan
When it comes to transfer dealings, Spurs fans have learned to adopt the patience of a Mormon’s fiancé. The club’s chairman, Daniel Levy, has a well-earned reputation as the most merciless negotiator in the game.
In Leading, Sir Alex Ferguson describes doing business with Spurs as ‘more painful than [his] hip replacement.’ While, an anonymous chairman told the Daily Mail, ‘Daniel likes to squeeze your balls until your eyes start to water.’
Last season Spurs were the only team to start the campaign without a single signing. Davinson Sanchez was the first to arrive but that was a couple of weeks into the season when valuable points had already slipped away.
This year things looked to be different. A moment of caprice came after Tottenham’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United back in April.
There was a feeling Mauricio Pochettino was banging his head against a glass ceiling and for the first time he hinted at a life after Spurs.
However, emotions had been running high and he soon resumed planning for the future back at N17. But the Argentinean was defiant that he wanted summer business wrapped up before the World Cup.
He urged the club to ‘be brave’ and ‘take risks’ before meeting Mr. Levy for crunch talks.
Tottenham fans hadn’t been as nervous since Serge Aurier attempted a slide tackle in his own box, but what transpired seemed resoundingly positive.
Poch signed a new contract and Spurs smashed their wage structure to tie down Harry Kane, purporting that the club had turned a monetary corner.
But since then, its been an all too similar narrative.
Current transfer window
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Poch’s wishes of doing business early were clearly nothing more than a pipe dream and now seem almost comical.
Even the rumor mill has been quiet for Spurs’ standards. The only link that has gathered any real momentum is that of Jack Grealish.
Ideally, Spurs should have snapped him up from cash strapped Villa in advance of their current US tour. But the brinksmanship of Levy can be to his own detriment and with the Championship side now under new ownership Steve Bruce warned any interested party ‘must pay a premium.’
This week Poch stated that ‘there will be movement.’ However, any business will likely be left to the eleventh hour, titillating Jim White and Sky Sport’s deadline day crew.
Reasons to be positive
It is not in the cursory fan’s DNA to worry about the tedium of balancing the books, although it’s still reassuring to know that your side has a chairman that won’t allow the club to follow in the footsteps of Portsmouth or Leeds.
It’s also pretty outlandish to suggest Spurs haven’t spent money when you consider they’ll be moving into one of football’s most state of the art stadiums in just a couple of months.
There may not have been any incomings thus far but, as Levy promised, Spurs haven’t parted with any stars either. A couple of players have penned new deals and it might seem rather idealistic to say, but Lucas Moura could be like a new signing.
The Brazilian struggled after joining in January, but he was the star man in Wednesday’s clash against Roma and should prosper in lily white after a full pre-season under Poch.
Similar sentiments could be held for Toby Alderweireld. As of today he is still a Spurs player and should the Belgian finally sort out his contract conundrum his reintroduction to the team would be invaluable.
Above all Spurs’ strength in recent years has been the group’s cohesion. Poch prefers to promote from within rather than unbalancing the squad with reckless signings.
Tottenham have watched rivals spend lavishly for years; yet, they are the only ones who have shown enough consistency to qualify for the last three Champions Leagues.
Reasons to worry
Although Poch has said he is not concerned with the lack of transfers, his comments seem nothing more than an obligatory platitude. Should Spurs fall short again this year he will no doubt rue the summer’s umming and ahhings.
He made his position clear last April and if Spurs don’t back him in the next two weeks then no one could blame the highly coveted manager from eventually walking away.
There’s no denying Spurs could do with some fresh legs if they want to hit the ground running. They had nine players active in Russia until the final week; while, Son Heung-min will jet off to the Asian Games after Spurs’ opener.
Tottenham fans have an awful lot to be happy about these days. But there is a general consensus that they could finally cross the final bridge to glory if Levy advocated the Spurs motto and was just a little bit more daring.
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Who do you think Spurs will sign before the window closes?