Now that the men’s transfer window has closed, our Technical Director Johan Lange sat down with presenter Ben Haines to reflect on the last few weeks...
BEN HAINES: I wanted to start by just getting your reflections on the summer window as a whole.
JOHAN LANGE: Overall, I think we’re looking back at a window where we, as always, have the ambition to be stronger after the window than before the window. I think, without a doubt, we can say that we are we are that as a squad now. We have signed players who will come in and have an immediate impact on the squad. We have signed some great talents for the future and, very importantly, we also made a couple of very good contract extensions of key players. So, overall, we’re sitting here in a very good mood.
BEN HAINES: Take me into this strategy wise, because I've been so fascinated watching previous strategies in terms of the way that we've gone about things over the last few windows. How does it differ this time around?
JOHAN LANGE: All in all, when we looked at our squad in this window, it was very important that we signed a number of players who can come in with big experience from either the Premier League or the top five leagues, also with European experience. The intention with those signings, they come in – and we have already seen for a couple of players, and now of course with Xavi and Kolo Muani arriving as well – with qualities from the first day and also big experience that hopefully will benefit and be positive for the team performance.
BEN HAINES: There are so many exciting things to get stuck into but, forgive me, I want to start with the challenges. Tell me what challenges we faced over the course of this entire transfer window.
JOHAN LANGE: When you go through a transfer period of a few months, for lots of clubs and also for ours, there were bumps along the way, there's no doubt about that. It's not so much if there are bumps along the way, because inevitably that will happen, it's how you react to those challenges you are facing. In some aspects here, players that we might like to sign earlier in the window were not available, they were available later in the window, and when we look back and the window’s closed, I think the outcome has been fantastic for us.
Watch | Johan on the summer transfer window
BEN HAINES: How hard are you pushing to try and do things earlier timings wise? How do you work out when you want to try and make transfers?
JOHAN LANGE: I think, in theory, every club in the world would like to do all their business very early. We knew this summer would be a little bit special for us, because when Thomas and his staff arrived, and you can say around June, then it's not like we have then planned this window together in February and March, which you normally do. It was also very important for all of us that Thomas had a chance to come in and get to know the players, train with them. So, we knew this summer that we would be doing some business a little bit later because of Thomas’ arrival, that's quite natural.
BEN HAINES: Fans will probably never quite know the inner workings of a football club, so tell us a little bit about how you speak to Thomas and how that communication takes place when we look at something like the summer transfer window.
JOHAN LANGE: Yeah, when we had the process of appointing Thomas, obviously one of the key things that we were discussing was our squad. Were we on the same page? We've said a number of times we have a high quality squad here, and Thomas completely agrees with us. Then we, of course, go, ‘okay, if we have the opportunity to sign players in different positions, which position, which kind of profile of the players?’ Of course, in this window, very unfortunately, James Maddison suffered a significant injury. Of course, we will see Madders again, hopefully as soon as possible, and he will have many important years ahead of him in here at Tottenham. But that is also something that influences your decision making. So, many good conversations, many long nights, many early morning runs around the training centre, lots of time to discuss – not only me and Thomas, the scouting group and everyone around this process. It's very intense, but it's also… if you don't like that, you shouldn’t be here.
BEN HAINES: What time is the Thomas and Johan run club in the morning?
JOHAN LANGE: Thomas runs a little bit more than I do! I think Thomas’ run club is around seven and then occasionally I will join it.
BEN HAINES: Let’s go onto the summer signings. We'll begin with Mathys Tel making his deal permanent here, a really exciting young player, offers a lot. Just tell us what you like about Mathys.
JOHAN LANGE: He’s a versatile offensive player. At a young age, he’s experienced so much already, played a lot of games in the top five leagues, and played Champions League. We are very excited that Mathys is here for the long term, we see a player with a with the potential to go even further in the future.
BEN HAINES: What about Kota Takai? We haven't had a chance to see him just yet in action, but tell us about him.
JOHAN LANGE: Kota is a player that we have watched over a long time, he was very successful in the J-League in Japan, played now for the Japanese national team and he’s really pushing to come into the World Cup squad next summer, so hopefully we will see a lot more of him. Again, he’s a player that at a very young age has showed good, promising signs. Of course, he has much more to come.
BEN HAINES: If there's one thing that Spurs fans love, it's players that get you off your seat. And with Mo Kudus we've already had that so many times over the course of the first few games. Before we talk about him as a transfer, how exciting has it been for you?
JOHAN LANGE: Yeah, of course that’s always what you're hoping for. We had that feeling with Mo that he had the potential to do it, because we've known for many, many years, from when he came from Right to Dream (Academy in Ghana) to the Danish league several years ago, Ajax and especially his first season at West Ham, so we knew this player has all the attributes to be a fantastic offensive player in the Premier League. He has that combination of athleticism, pure physicality but also the tricks as we've seen already, the ability to go past people one vs one, really create unbalance in the final third for us. He’s a player that we’ve already seen having a great impact in the team, so let's just cross our fingers this will continue.
BEN HAINES: Let’s go on to Joao Palhinha. What did you like about the profile of the player he is, and why was he important to bring in?
JOHAN LANGE: That was some of the discussion we had when Thomas arrived, to look through the squad then we thought, if you look at the profile of the players, to have a pure number six. When the opportunity arose and we were made aware that he was available from Bayern, we knew how successful his spell was at Fulham and, for us, it was just a no brainer, to be honest, to try to see if we could sign him.
BEN HAINES: You didn't realise you were signing a prolific goalscorer as well straight away at Man City!
JOHAN LANGE: Oh, I think that both that block and the goal in Manchester… it was a great performance and it's very good for him and for the team to come in, have such an impact and get a performance like that.
BEN HAINES: Let's get into the attack. Xavi Simons, what an exciting signing this is. It's one of those that captures the imagination of fans and looking at them thinking, wow, this is really, really cool. Tell us about how that unfolded and why fans can get excited about it.
JOHAN LANGE: Yeah, and that’s what I said earlier. You know, if you have a bump along the way sometimes, you know, things turn out for the better. When we had the conversation with Xavi, his determination and desire to join our football club, you know, it was again, for us, fantastic, because what he has shown in his career so far from a very, very young age, he’s played with some of the best players in the world, when you when you really dig down into his story, the impact he had at Eindhoven, the impact he’s had at Leipzig, in the Bundesliga and he's still so young, so, you know, when you’ve performed at this level, at that age, to bring him to our football club, to bring him into the Premier League, to bring him into a club which has a rich history of producing and seeing players with creativity, with flair… I'm confident that he will be a great addition to the team and hopefully create a lot of fantastic moments for the fans and for all of us. The important thing is when you sit with him and you talk about the project and you see his eyes, his desire to be the best version of himself. When you speak about references from team-mates and coaches from different clubs, they just echo that. This is a very serious athlete, who first and foremost wants to come in, train well, wants to try to maximize his potential. That's the most important thing. Getting to know him has been a pleasure, and we're looking forward to seeing this determination on a day to day basis. That is what really matters.
BEN HAINES: Okay. Lastly on deadline day, Randal Kolo Muani comes in on loan from PSG as well. I guess the question that most people want to know is where you see him fitting in. What type of player is he?
JOHAN LANGE: I think with Randal, first of all, I’m so pleased we managed to get it over the line. Credit to everybody at the club to act quickly when the opportunity of a player of that level arises. Randal is a versatile, attacking player, so he can play across the front line. It gives Thomas and the staff so many options across the front line, where most of our players can play in more than one position and, again, with Randal coming in, a player we have followed for a long, long time, very successful in the Eintracht Frankfurt team a couple of years ago. He's made his move to Paris and then in the last six months, also played with success at Juve, played in the World Cup, played in the Champions League, played for big clubs, so we are very, very pleased and excited that he's here and he will be another great addition to squad for the season.
BEN HAINES: I want to ask you about the loans as well, because I know this is really, really important to you and you have a very specific way of looking at this. Can you maybe let people in a little bit into your view of the loan system and why it's so important for us?
JOHAN LANGE: First of all, Andy Scoulding is doing a great job, heading up the loans department. The loan system is a natural pathway to come into our team. And what is pleasing me and specific about this window here is that if we look at the number of players going out on loan at a higher level… so we have Luka (Vuskovic) hopefully playing regularly in the Bundesliga, another top five league. We had Mikey (Moore) starting in the Old Firm up in Scotland at the weekend. We have several players playing in the Championship, which you can say compares to other European leagues, still a very important league. So, if we compare this to years ago, we can see the quality of the young players coming through now, it's increasingly becoming better and, for us, the ambition is to bring them into our first team.
BEN HAINES: How do you choose, how do you find the right club for them?
JOHAN LANGE: It's a combination of several things. First of all, it's the football analysis from here. How do we predict the game time for the players in the upcoming season? And then we look at multiple things. We look at style of play. We look at the strength of the league. We look at the coach – has he had a career of giving young players a chance to play? We identify the squad of the clubs they're going to, so it's a lot of factors. And then we have in-depth conversations with the club as well. So, for instance, when we send Luka to Hamburg, it's because we really can feel their desire to have Luka and a clear plan for his development.
BEN HAINES: I want to talk a little bit about Sonny, because he was such a huge part of the club. I mean, as long as you have been at the club, he would have been a huge part of the club for you. Can you just share to begin with what it felt like to see Sonny leave the club?
JOHAN LANGE: Yeah. I think first and foremost I was so happy for Sonny, because he's been a club legend, and I think he got a well-deserved hero's farewell.
BEN HAINES: That's so rare, isn't it? How many players get that?
JOHAN LANGE: Yeah, exactly. So, to see him playing his final game in his home country for us and the way that everybody celebrated him was fantastic. You are without emotions if you didn't get a little bit emotional yourself, and I'm sure that a lot of fans did that, but it's so well-deserved.
BEN HAINES: Then Cuti Romero steps up as captain. Can you tell us about the qualities that Cuti has and why he's going to make such a great captain for Tottenham Hotspur?
JOHAN LANGE: I think that in a team, you need multiple leaders. And when you saw us playing last year and you saw the Europa League campaign, everybody can see Cuti is a leader by example on the pitch, such a strong personality, he’s played the biggest games in the world. And he's really a strong leader as well. And a natural captain after Sonny, in my opinion. A team needs more than one leader. We need a lot of people to take responsibility, which they are. For me, it’s very well deserved Cuti got the captain's armband and we're looking forward to him growing even more in that role this season and in the years to come.
BEN HAINES: And a real statement as well, that he signed a new contract, too.
JOHAN LANGE: Sometimes I think you need to take a step back, and sometimes contract extensions should be celebrated just as much, because when you are extending a player's contract, that means that the transfer has been successful or that the youth development has been successful. And both with Cuti and with Djed, two very different pathways to extend the contracts over the summer but, again, we extend the contract and that means that the players are very happy to be here, the club is very happy, things are working. It’s very important to take those moments as well to celebrate and to make them very important.
BEN HAINES: Just one final question on Sonny. He brought a lot of qualities off the pictures as well as on it. How do you replace some of those qualities that potentially we lose with Sonny leaving? Do other people have to step up, for example?
JOHAN LANGE: Yeah, but it's just not one to one, because culture is about people. You know, it's people who set the culture and everybody has that responsibility, everybody in this club contributes to the club being successful, players on the pitch, all of us working off the pitch as well.
BEN HAINES: Let's go back just a tiny bit because you mentioned Djed and, as you said, very different journeys. How rewarding is it for everyone around him that he gets that England call up for the international break?
JOHAN LANGE: It’s a fantastic moment for everyone, but especially for Djed. Development doesn't go in a straight line but, wow, what an amazing period it has been for Djed, coming back and the performances he has produced, both right full-back and left full-back, defensively, you can say coming up against some of the biggest players in the world in that position, he handled that fantastically.
BEN HAINES: How do you stay level and what's required in order to make sure that you get to the end of the window? That you sit here in September and say, ‘that was a great window for us’.
JOHAN LANGE: I have great people around me, we have a great team at the club, every department, and it’s a group effort. The transfer window is a group effort. So, we have the scouting department as referenced earlier with loans, insights, the whole administration department here – the football club is exceptional. The operations, the media, we all work together, the player care department as well, they played a huge role in this. So, it's five or six departments who really have to work together to create a good process in the window.
BEN HAINES: It is a stacked calendar, isn't it? How do you feel the squad is set up at the moment to go out and compete?
JOHAN LANGE: I think that we can say with the additions, we have the right balance with the qualities to compete on all fronts here, together with the depth of the squad. Sitting here, we are optimistic. We have seen already in the first four matches the potential of the team to go head-to-head with some of the best teams in European football, and those performances will be needed across all four remaining competitions this season.”
