Tottenham Hotspur Manager Mauricio Pochettino has presided over a summer transfer window that has seen Spurs make zero additions, and conduct only one major transaction- the sale of defender Kyle Walker to Manchester City. By contrast, Walker’s new home team has spent £200 million. Cross city rivals Manchester United have spent £135m with every intention of adding to that sum before August 31.
Chelsea have put out £125m on new player additions, breaking the club transfer fee record on acquiring Alvaro Morata. Arsenal and Liverpool have likewise broken their club transfer fee records this summer. Even Everton, one of the clubs outside the “big six,” is also spending major money on buying a large group of players.
Tottenham on the other hand, stands pat with what they have.
“There is another team that I feel the dimension of their investment is also phenomenal: Tottenham,” United Manager Jose told a news conference when he was in Washington, D.C to take on Barcelona last week.
Mourinho also said this, earlier this summer of Tottenham Hotspur- “They keep everybody they want to keep,” in what was perhaps a thinly veiled admission of his side’s failure to acquire Spurs star Eric Dier, who was reportedly a target.
Simply put, Tottenham just doesn’t really have the money to spend on transfers this summer, as the new stadium scheme is massively expensive. The new White Hart Lane project is total and wholistic, and that requires conserving money, not spending it.Not to mention the fact that Spurs were the last team standing in the way of the last two Premier League champions the last two season, so maybe if it’s not broke, don’t fix it?
Spurs’ economically thrifty ways to produce a team that finishes higher in the standings than many of the big money clubs, who are always throwing the cash around, it naturally invites some discontent.
You would expect better from the leader of the reigning league champions though. Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte had this to say last week, and you can see why Pochettino had no choice but to respond:
“If they don’t win the title, it’s not a tragedy. If they don’t arrive in the Champions League, it’s not a tragedy. If they go out in the first round of the Champions League, it’s not a tragedy. If they go out after the first game that they play in the Europa League and go down against Gent, it’s not a tragedy.”
“Maybe for Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and — I don’t know — Liverpool, it is a tragedy. You must understand this. You must understand the status of the team.”
Totally classless by Conte there. The team on top should not be throwing shade like that at those below them, and it’s only going to add further fuel to a fire between these two teams. The Italian also gave his exact monetary valuation of Tottenham striker Harry Kane, which was another breaking of the unwritten rules. Of course, further complicating things is that Conte is also talking trash to Mourinho as well.
Although in this instance, Mourinho refused to be drawn in. That’s why this is the football talking season!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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