I would like to open this blog post by addressing a few things that have been said to me about past blogs I have written or things said on our podcast. I share my opinion’s based on information I have either seen with my own eyes or been told to me by people I trust due to their track record, these people are journalists.. and despite my jokes not Tina the Hotspur Way Tea lady. I do not work for the club and have never claimed too… I am a fan and from running a FB page like ours for years and immersing myself in the community with journalists who are part of the Tottenham press pool I have simply learned who knows what and who talks utter garbage. Anyone can do it, however please don’t as then no one will need me anymore ha ha
NOW all of that being said this blog is about the transfer window that has just partially closed…. I say partially as this year due to COVID the FA in this country have allowed an extended window for business to be done between the English Football League clubs – so a Premier League team can buy, sell or loan to a Football League but cannot do a deal with a fellow Premier League club. This window closes next week so as I type this there is one more deal Spurs look like they are trying to do in terms of incomings and there are several players who will be leaving on loan.
That one player I mentioned is where I will start; he is a Welsh international playing for Swansea and his name is Joe Rodon.
Aged 22 (turns 23 end of October) Joe is a right footed central defender who plays on the left side of the central defenders and since making his international debut last year has earned four caps and looks set for more. He is an international team mate of Ben Davies and Gareth Bale. He has attracted interest from Manchester Utd, Everton and now us having identified him as one of the best central defenders in the Championship last season.
He is not a player I know a lot about personally however I trust in our scouting and a journalist for Sky Sports (don’t hold that against her) who covers Swansea wrote the following about him when asked: “Arguably the best CB in the Championship. Superb in the air – in both boxes, composed on the ball, comfortable bringing the ball out from the back, calm under pressure, strong.. And if you throw a brick at him, he’ll head it back.. as the song goes! & potential to improve further!”
Another key piece of information from yesterday is that despite the young man being Welsh and coming through the academy at Swansea, like Ben Davies, he will be classed as home grown both in the Premier League and Europe. This is because Swansea officially joined the English FA recently. So Ben sadly will remain classed as non HG in Europe but if Rodon was signed he would be okay. Mad rules I know but they are what they are. Now the Europa League squad can be updated in January now even if Rodon signs this week.
Now if we were to complete that signing it would mean that we have signed seven players in a transfer window; do you all remember the magnificent seven we signed with the Bale money? Yeah, we all know how that went however this time I believe we are in a much better position with the players signed. Also quite funny should it be seven that the last lot were with the Bale money and this time it includes Bale… Well I think that would be funny.
So up first in our signings that have been made is former England number one and capture on a free transfer following his release from Barnsley; its Joe Hart.
The club were looking for an experienced goalkeeper to replace Michel Vorm (rather than releasing then re-signing him again this year that is) and in Hart they found one that ticked three important boxes. For the club he was a free transfer. For Jose he was an experienced dressing room leader and is home grown under FA and UEFA rules meaning it added much needed balance to the squad.
Many fans were really upset with this signing originally but I hope as the season goes on he proves his worth to the squad. For me it added increased competition for as much as I liked Vorm I felt he was not pushing Lloris or Gazzaniga for that matter, especially after re-joining. However with the CV he has and by all accounts his dressing room presence I believe Hart will and already has.
Another key signing and our first of the window was Southampton midfielder and captain Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. Since the demise of Wanyama (horrible knee injury) and Eric Dier no longer fitting the role of a defensive midfielder we have struggled terribly to fill the hole in our team and squad they left. This signing pleased me so much as I really felt (and I hope many will agree now justifiably) that with him our whole team will look better, not just in terms of defending but also going forward as will allow creative and attacking players more freedom.
I do not think it is a coincidence that we went from having the best defense in the league for two seasons to the worse in the top six for the last two seasons when you consider we had peak Wanyama / Dier and Dembele …. and then we had no one filling that role at all. The defenders lacked protection, something they are now getting again. Could also be argued that the decline in form of Dele, who has been forced to adjust his natural game to drop deeper and “help out” more is linked to this also.
I am genuinely excited to see what the team can do with Højbjerg in the team this season and I think in smashing Manchester United 6-1 away we are already seeing glimpses of what is possible.
Before the window opened on our podcast I said to my co host Matt a good window for me would be to address the need for a defensive midfielder (see Højbjerg), get a HG goalkeeper in (see Hart) and grab me a new right back. Matt Doherty is one I was not expecting but delighted by his signing. An Irish international at Wolves, who due to time in their academy is classed as Home Grown by UEFA, he was one of the stand out performers in the Premier League last season contributing goals and assists on a regular basis from a wing-back position but also his ability in the air defending set pieces was outstanding – clearly something Jose likes.
It was a funny signing this one as there were no rumours, no reported interest just one day a journalist said his name and within three days he was holding the shirt. Impressive move done quickly by the club and a player that has already shown his quality…. and also we are seeing a far more competitive Serge Aurier early this season too so competition for places clearly has an impact!! Who knew!?
One of the positions I was not expecting us to make a move to strengthen this window was left back. Although obvious Danny Rose no longer had a future at the club we did have Ben Davies and academy graduate Dennis Cirkin who Jose rated highly so for me, knowing how tight money is, we were done in that position however the club saw an opportunity and jumped at it in signing Spanish international Sergio Reguilón from Real Madrid (our good friends at Madrid finally coming good on that partnership).
Manchester United were close to signing the player however were not keen on a buy back clause being inserted into the deal so our chairman Daniel Levy struck, we are paying less that what Man Utd were due to pay and we accepted the buy back clause which should it be invoked would see us make a profit on the deal however the key wording in the clause which the club hope will be the decider is “the player choosing to return…” and young Sergio appears to be loving his new life in London; so far anyway… not had PROPER winter yet and we do now thanks to the League Cup have an evening fixture in Stoke for him to endure… could have him running back to Madrid pretty fast! All joking aside that clause is active for the summer of 2021 and the summer of 2022 and the club obviously hope that the player will fall in love with the club and not want to go anywhere.
He has already shown in his brief cameo appearances he is a real dynamic full back who is rapid and that pace is good in getting back when the ball is lost but also in bombing forward when we win it giving our midfielders an out ball all the time. I think this lad is going to be a great signing for the club.
A position I did not mention in my dream window shopping was striker. The main reason for this is I kind of gave up on the idea that this football club was capable of adding a striker worthy of competing with Kane however in this window they have actually managed it and I am over the moon about this deal and I think all fans should be too.
Not because I think that Carlos Vinícius is 100% going to to smash in goals for us, the fact is you can never tell how a player will perform when changing leagues and playing in a different footballing culture etc however the fact is we have loaned him, with an option to buy next summer meaning this is quite literally try before you buy and just for the account nerds like me… the loan fee we spent on this young man is about the same as we have received for Foyth going to Villareal in Spain. Balanced the books and added a very good striker. He is now at Hotspur Way and has the international break to work with Jose, members of the squad and settle before games come again thick and fast. He will get opportunities and I hope he settles quick and gets to scoring as I think we can already see in Kane someone who is thriving on having a competitive squad.
So that brings us to the final (currently) piece of the transfer window jigsaw and the one that created the most buzz and probably the best atmosphere I have ever felt amongst Spurs fans online. Gareth Bale, the prodigal son, has returned to North London. Yes on loan but that is because there is no way we were going to be paying him the sort of insane money those folks in Madrid pay – we are paying 40% of his wages – and we have an option to extend the loan for another season next summer should we want too. The player is over the moon to be back and you can see that on his face in every interview and any time he is seen around the place. He feel’s like he is home and said this is where he feels loved and when he feels that he plays his best. Let us all hope that is the case.
This transfer is a funny one. Every window since he left its been a discussion; especially in recent years when it was clear how unhappy he was in Madrid however due to his wages and the money involved it was just never possible but the minute there was a slight chance Daniel Levy pounced with one well connected journalist writing; “bringing back Bale has been a dream of his (Levy) ever since the Welshman left and he moved quickly to do the deal as soon as he knew there was a chance…”
A funny piece of information that has just come to light also is why there was a delay in Bale arriving and the announcement. During the medical the fitness of the player was noted and so the club realised no way he could play for about a month, not wanting to be paying the wages of a player just training Levy dropped the deal by £1m in those 24 hours while all the fans waited for the official announcements to be made.
Daniel Levy rightly has come in for a lot of very critical comments from fans. The owners and the board I feel did let down the previous manager in terms of allowing the squad to become stale; now that could be argued that it was an equal error there. Pochettino wanted certain players that cost X and the club due to the stadium (or lack of ambition to take the risk) could not afford them and so offered Pochettino alternatives which he rejected.
If he had accepted these maybe the squad issues would not have happened… or maybe they would have flopped… we do not know but what we do know for sure is under Jose there is a much more pragmatic approach to transfers. Our current manager apparently wrote weekly reports on the squad for Daniel Levy and Steve Hitchen identifying exactly where he felt we had issues and what needed to be addressed and judging by his comments recently on our transfer business he is over the moon with what has been done.
So, this window, Daniel Levy for me deserves a lot of credit. He has not just backed the manager he has done it in a smart way during insane upside down times (thank you COVID) and we now have a squad strength I have not seen in some time and I am genuinely looking forward to seeing what we can achieve.
Mr Levy has done his job. Over to you Jose!
