Tottenham are not a club that spend £20m on a player often, in fact, we've only done it twice. To believe that we are going to start spending that type of money without our new stadium or increased commercial revenues is not being realistic. Will the money be available for a player like Morgan Schneiderlin? Absolutely. After all, we made a profit this past year and look likely to clear up significant wages as we attempt to offload 7 or 8 players. But to advocate that we sign the likes of Schneiderlin, Benteke, Depay (pre-United agreement) as if Spurs are going to buy more than 1 player of £20m+ in one summer is advocating for fantasy football rather than reality. We've got a quality core of players with Hugo, Jan, Dier, Rose, Bentaleb, Eriksen, Lamela & Kane but we need more impact players that fit the mould. Here are my suggestions for the 2015 summer window (I owe some credit to Sam Zurawel whom I had a great chat with about transfer values, wages).
Sales:
Emmanuel Adebayor- £2.5m, we need to subsidize his wages for him to leave
Soldado- £7.5m
Capoue- £7m
Lennon-£8m
Paulinho- £12m
Townsend- £10m
Carroll- £5m
Kaboul- £3m
Chiriches- £7m
Stambouli- £6m
Soldado- £7.5m
Capoue- £7m
Lennon-£8m
Paulinho- £12m
Townsend- £10m
Carroll- £5m
Kaboul- £3m
Chiriches- £7m
Stambouli- £6m
Total: £68m in transfer fees and a significant amount of wages freed up
Purchases:
(4) options for center midfield at different prices, any of the four would be huge upgrades to our central midfield ranks. These are my top four targets:
Jordy Clasie- £7m
Yohan Cabaye- £12m
(4) options for center midfield at different prices, any of the four would be huge upgrades to our central midfield ranks. These are my top four targets:
Jordy Clasie- £7m
Yohan Cabaye- £12m
Lars Bender- £16m
Morgan Schneiderlin- £25m
Jean Paul Boetius-£4m
Viktor Fischer- £10m
Charlie Austin- £10m
Charlie Austin- £10m
Toby Alderweireld- £10m
Kevin Wimmer- £4.3m (DONE DEAL)
Kevin Wimmer- £4.3m (DONE DEAL)
Out of that list, the highest amount is transfer fees we could pay is, £63.4m and the lowest amount could be £45.3m. Among that list, only the central midfielder would require significant wages.
Jean Paul Boetius is a lightning quick winger that can play on either wing or even up top in a pinch. He has had a down year, scoring 5 goals and assisting 4 after scoring 11 and assisting 10 in 2013/14. At 20 years old, he is a player that can develop into something really special or fizzle out. Pochettino has proven that he can work with young players to fulfill their potential and Boetius would be a great investment.
Viktor Fischer was labelled the next big thing at Ajax 2 years ago, playing alongside Christian Eriksen but a poor campaign combined with an injury last year created questions about his development. He recently returned from the injury and has been on fire, scoring 3 goals in 4 games for the Dutch side. It has been rumoured that Spurs have been watching Fischer for well over a year and it's easy to see why. He is a very talented player that has shown the ability, like Boetius, to play on either wing or up top.
The two youngsters from the Dutch league represent players who can play anywhere amongst the top 4 attacking spots that are full of technical ability, impressive work rate and most importantly, very reasonable transfer fees and wage demands. Versatile wings who can also play up top and contribute goals, assists and creativity make perfect sense for us.
Charlie Austin is a striker that is clearly available since QPR have been relegated. He fits the lone striker role incredibly well and finished 2nd among English players to (he's one of our own) Harry Kane this year in Premier League goals. He is a work horse who is desperate to score goals and for the price, represents a good alternative to Kane when he needs a rest or to poach late goals. Do I love Charlie Austin? No, but the man scores goals everywhere he goes! Since 2008 in his lower league days, his goal scoring ratio has not dropped below 1 goal in 2 games.
As for the back line, Alderweireld is versatile and familiar with Jan. He is a quality ball playing centre back that has performed extremely well for Southampton. We need to shore up our central defence and do it with strong depth.
With this mass clear out and addition of 5-6 impact players, we can not only compete for Europa League, domestic trophies and top 4 but play with a style that we all love to watch and can be proud of. Feel free to pass my number along to Baldini in case he wants advice! This will be a fun summer for Spurs fans as we attempt to bolster the squad and continue to change the culture at White Hart Lane.
---Marc Ashed
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Some good ideas,mate! Let's see how many of your tips actually come in, and if all the deadwood leaves as well!
ReplyDeleteEvery time I see a fan article like this I think "Here we go..." but i think this is pretty much spot on and I'd be happy if such plans came to fruition. Personally I'd like to see Fazio leave too if we signed a CB, he's far too error prone and inconsistent for this league. That would leave Jan, Wimmer and Dier + new CB for those two positions. I believe we've had an exciting young CB in the reserves/U21's this year too, which doesn't do any harm.
ReplyDeleteA good article but I think moving some of the players on will prove a lot tougher than you think.
ReplyDeleteEven though they look cheap, Paulinho and Soldado would command a total package fee of about £20m, in terms of fee, wages, signing on fee etc. I expect Paulinho to leave on loan, while Soldado will stay.
I also expect Carroll and Stambouli to stay, especially the former, as he is Home Grown and these players are difficult to replace for both PL and EL competitions.
If we get £8m for Lennon then Levy should be knighted. I think £4.5m is more accurate. If Lennon goes then Townsend will stay. Again, having a core of English players is important and something Poch is a fan of.
I would also expect another centre back as well as Wimmer, providing we shift both Kaboul and Chiriches. I would expect a name none of us have heard of (apparently we are after a young Italian who plays in the third tier?)
Cabaye is a great shout for the centre of the park, and Fischer would be an excellent signing.
I'm not really sure about Austion, although he has scored everywhere he has played. I just remember names like Gary Hooper and even Marcus Stewart in the past who had good seasons in average sides - but for one year only. I think Spurs may look to someone more proven or younger. Ings would be superb, but Lavezzi at PSG is my choice.
If we got Cabaye and Lavezzi I just hope Lloris doesn't go the other way, although a first refusal clause could be beneficial...