The Tottenham Hotspur boss believes the powers-that-be at the north London club are trying to improve one aspect of the transfer work
Thomas Frank believes that it's key Tottenham become good sellers in the transfer market and that those above him are working hard on improving that aspect of the club.
Spurs struggle to sell on players at the right time and for the right price, often suffering huge losses on their most expensive transfers such as Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, with the club having spent around £100million more on that duo in 2019 than they got back in return last summer.
Now Tottenham have accepted a bid of around £35million for last season's top scorer Brennan Johnson, with the player yet to decide on his destination amid interest from a string of other clubs, with Bournemouth also having made an approach and Everton and Sunderland among those monitoring the situation.
If the 24-year-old does leave north London then he will become the third highest sale at the club in recent history and the fourth of all time behind Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Kyle Walker.
Signed from Nottingham Forest for £47.5million in 2023, if Johnson does depart two-and-a-half years later then Spurs will have sold their past three top goalscorers.
While Frank would not comment on Johnson in particular and said the player was set to be in his squad to face Brentford on New Year's Day, the Dane did make it clear that Tottenham need to become good sellers.
"I think that’s key. It’s not only doing one thing right, playing a specific way or getting the culture right or whatever, there’s a lot of elements that we need to do well to be able to compete at the highest level," he said.
"Part of it is being able to sell. You see the other top clubs, they are quite good at selling. That’s something we need to be improving. That’s something I know the guys above me are working very hard on. Everything’s linked."
Frank explained why Johnson has started just six Premier League games this season after recording 25 goal involvements in the previous campaign.
"Brennan is a very important player for us. Sometimes things change if another player comes in. Unfortunately, [Mohammed] Kudus came in for him and played on the right side and has done well. So it's been a little bit more tricky to get enough starts. He started the season also quite well from the left," said the Spurs boss.
"I think Brennan has a lot of attributes. Very good running in behind, very good scoring goals. That's a good quality. So some of those key things is fantastic. Also working hard for the team, but you need more than just 11 players. That's the way it is. I think Brennan has been a top professional, is a top professional, trained well today. He's ready for two days' time [for the match at Brentford]."