Tottenham Hotspur have butchered yet another transfer, and it ought to come as no surprise considering the number of times this has happened.
Some might say it is the history of Tottenham. Anticipation and hope begin to build, an ever-growing belief that the club is ready to move to the next level. Then, in a sudden moment, they are back to square one.
There is a reason a fan-led movement called Change for Spurs now exists. The purpose of this group is not to demand the resignation of Daniel Levy or for ENIC to sell the club, but for a change in direction and strategy. For too long, profit has been a greater priority than getting results on the pitch.
Ange Postecoglou became a victim of this, as when the Tottenham first-team squad was ravaged with injuries, he was not backed in January. Spurs only made two outfield first-team signings, both as initial loan deals. It is worth remembering that the Mathys Tel deal looked to have fallen through and only occurred as a result of Posecoglou’s persuasion.
The Australian is now gone, despite winning the Europa League, and Thomas Frank is here. However, the man who initially failed to land a deal for Tel remains in his position as chairman, where he has had the opportunity to mess up another transfer which appeared to be as good as a done deal.
Tottenham should have got the Eberechi Eze deal done quicker
Tottenham’s negotiations for Eberechi Eze were bordering on comical. Each day went by and the message continued to be the same. A deal is close to being agreed, but Tottenham have not quite met Crystal Palace’s terms. As frustrating as this for Spurs supporters, there was still plenty of belief that the deal would eventually happen.
However, Arsenal swooped in and the reason is clear. Despite their failure to win any major trophies over the past five years, the Gunners actually have some ambition to improve. There is an understanding over at the Emirates that a willingness to spend transfers to more victories on the pitch.
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Tottenham, on the other hand, attempted to play the long game to save a few million pounds. Spurs offered £55m plus £5m in add-ons, but a £68m payment earlier in the summer would have activated his release clause, meaning negotiating with Palace would not even be necessary.
Even if Spurs were unwilling to pay the release clause, there has clearly been a lot of time wasted attempting to get a better deal. However, when that results in no deal at all, it is better to just spare a bit of extra money and move forward.
The increased deficit could even be funded by actually making some player sales. After all, why are the likes of Bryan Gil and Manor Solomon still at the club when they are in with little to no chance of even making one of Thomas Frank’s matchday squads?
Spurs should have adopted a better transfer strategy
Firstly, Tottenham could have shown more intelligence in deciding which player to prioritise signing. Eze is just as good as Morgan Gibbs-White and while they were the frontrunners to sign the Nottingham Forest playmaker, there has always been the knowledge that Arsenal were prowling around Eze.
Spurs could have begun negotiations to sign Eze much sooner and before making a final decision, weighed up whether to go for Gibbs-White. Instead, the club put all their eggs in one basket and went all out to sign Gibbs-White. That failed, and immediately Tottenham put themselves at a disadvantage.
However, there was still time to secure Eze and this should have been accelerated after the Savinho blow. Manchester City blocked a move for Savinho to join Tottenham. As soon as this happened, Levy should have considered how that was now two failed transfers this summer. To avoid another, he should just pay the money Palace want to avoid a third.
We now know this is not the approach he took and it is Thomas Frank who will pay the price for this failure. With under two weeks until the transfer window slams shut, it is essential that whatever player Spurs decide to target, they get a fee agreed early, even if that means paying a little more than they would like.