da aviator aposta： Tottenham Hotspurs spent a combined total of nearly £70million during this summer’s transfer window as Mauricio Pochettino looked to strengthen his side following their third place finish in the Premier League last season.
da cassino： For his £70million, the Argentine acquired himself Vincent Janssen, Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko, Georges-Kevin N’koudou and goalkeeper Pau Lopez.
Spurs also managed to offload over £20million worth of talent as they saw Ryan Mason leave for Hull City and Nacer Chadli move to the midlands with West Brom, and Alex Pritchard and DeAndre Yedlin making the step-down to the Championship with Norwich and Newcastle respectively.
While the £50million net spend may seem plenty of money, Tottenham were relatively quiet in the transfer window in comparison to past summers where they had recruited heavily but managed to somehow make a profit through the sale of their key stars, such as Luca Modric and Gareth Bale.
Spurs fans were left a little disappointed that they did not pounce upon the opportunity to invest heavily and build upon last season in which they came oh so close to lifting the Premiership title for the first time in their history.
So here are five mistakes we think Tottenham made this summer…
Striking Dilemma
Yes, Spurs did sign a striker after it was heavily publicised that the club needed a partner or back-up for talisman Harry Kane.
However, signing an unproven Dutchman who had only announced himself on the world scene after one good season in the Eredivisie is not what people expected.
He was my choice for flop of the year and so far he is living up to it. Spurs should have gone for a more proven goalscorer.
Sissoko and Wanyama
The signing of Victor Wanyama made total sense. A defensive midfielder that cold sit alongside Eric Dier, allow Moussa Dembele to wander further forward and is also accustomed to Pochettino’s style of play having played under him at Southampton.
Signing Moussa Sissoko for a whopping £30million on Deadline Day now presents a problem where there shouldn’t be one: two very similar players competing for the same position. Variation is key, and Sissoko is not that.
Learn from the Past
Last year Spurs signed Ligue 1 ‘prodigy’ Clinton N’Jie in an effort to bolster their attacking options. Unsurprisingly the move failed, so what do they do? Sign another of the leagues young attacking talents instead in the form of Marseilles Georges-Kevin N’koudou and send poor Clinton in the opposite direction.
It didn’t work the first time and it probably won’t the second.
Keep Dele Alli
Although Spurs were insistent on not selling their ‘player of last season’, in all honesty they should have once again cashed in on their prized asset, and this time spent the money on a marquee signing rather than a handful of average ones.
Alli did have a fantastic season, but the Englishman is still young and already looks to be suffering a case of second season syndrome which will see his value – and use to Tottenham – plummet come next summer.
No Big Names
If you look at all the clubs surrounding Tottenham and where they should be come the end of the season, all of them made statement signings in their own right.
United have Pogba and Ibrahimovic, Arsenal Granit Xhaka, Chelsea David Luiz, Leicester Islam Slimani and Manchester City John Stones.
13 clubs broke their record transfer fee this summer to bring in new talent, and Tottenham should have done the same as a signal of intent ahead of the new season.