In recent years, summer transfer windows have been a particularly nervy period for Tottenham fans. With the club repeatedly facing battles to keep hold of its most exciting talents and the Spurs hierarchy seemingly addicted to deadline-day swoops, July and August have been difficult months for fans.
If last season represented a transitional period on the field – with Mauricio Pochettino taking steps to implement a high-tempo game – this summer has been equally transitional off it, in terms of player recruitment. As blogger and Spurs fan Seb Stafford-Bloor recently observed, the introduction of defensive reinforcements including Toby Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier and Kevin Wimmer are indicative of the expectations placed on new head of recruitment Paul Mitchell.
The appointment of Mitchell from Southampton is intended to introduce a more structured, analytical acquisition process. The aforementioned purchases certainly reflect that, with the signings appearing to address the defensive shortcomings evident within last season’s squad. Yet the time taken to address Tottenham’s attacking deficiencies has been a cause for concern among many fans, Stafford-Bloor included. However, while the squad still lacks the depth to compete with top-six rivals over the course of a season, it should be sufficient to see Spurs through its four August fixtures.
The two immediate areas of concern are defensive midfield, where Nabil Bentaleb featured prominently last season, and the lone striker role, where Harry Kane still appears to be short of a deputy. Tottenham also need at least one high energy creative player to alleviate the workload placed on Christian Eriksen.
Source: tottenhamhotspur.com
Spurs have been linked with many strikers throughout the summer, including Saido Berahino and Fernando Llorente. Perhaps more realistically, rumours linking the club with Clinton N’Jie and Timo Werner persist. Each – or both – of these players would appear astute signings. Tottenham have no need to pay over the odds for ‘homegrown’ players. With Kane now the undoubted first-choice striker, there also seems little sense in paying the inflated wages that a player of Llorente’s caliber would command. Furthermore, Werner and N’Jie would be more likely to feature in wide attacking roles when Kane is fully fit and rested. If securing their signatures is a testing task, fans should be prepared to wait it out, frustrating and nerve-wracking though that may be.
The deep lying midfield vacancy appears more tricky to fill. The downside of introducing young midfield players such as Bentaleb or new signing Dele Alli is a lack of experience in what is essentially a crucial bone of the team’s spine. Borussia Dortmund’s Sven Bender appears an ambitious target. A player with the correct temperament, in addition to physical and stylistic attributes, will not have been easy to identify. This could well be a position filled late in the transfer window, and Bender may not be the player to fill it.
With Hugo Lloris, Danny Rose, Bentaleb, Kane and Eriksen all apparently sticking around, Tottenham have successfully retained their core players and strengthened their immediate problem area. Are Spurs playing a dangerous game leaving it so late to bring in necessary attacking reinforcements? Perhaps. However, should the club sign N’Jie and Werner in the coming week the approach of the transfer deadline may not be quite so nerve-wracking.
There should still be time to secure high-quality players such as Christoph Kramer or Andriy Yarmolenko. That would stand Tottenham in very good stead for the 34 games from September onwards. There is no need for Levy to hit the ‘panic buy’ button just yet.
Kenny Wastell
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