While Tottenham Hotspur waited until the tail end of the 2017 summer transfer window to get their business done, a big splash was made when they finally did decide to spend. Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy, the man who is in control here regarding White Hart Lane’s (non) participation in the transfer market, authorized a club record signing of Davinson Sanchez for £42 million last summer, and then spent another £47 million on Serge Aurier, Fernando Llorente, Juan Foyth and Paulo Gazzaniga.
In 2018, this pattern did not repeat itself. With Burnley acquiring Joe Hart on Tuesday, Tottenham finished as the only Premier League club not to make a single transfer window buy.
You’ve got to feel for Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, who said explicitly that he wanted his new acquisitions done early this time, so that he could get better acclimated to the new players during the preseason. Levy just never brought the groceries for him to start cooking.
We have now passed the deadline for which Premier League clubs are allowed to buy players. They can still sell players, abroad only, until August 31 as no other league has adopted the earlier deadline. It’s true of just about anything in life- when you’re standing still, you’re actually falling behind. That epigram sums up Tottenham’s moribund transfer window.
Tottenham Hotspur Season Preview: go to this link
Major Tottenham Hotspur Additions: The photo below says it all. Here are all the big name players they acquired:
Or maybe this photo sums up the Tottenham window better:
In addition to no buys (the first club to do so since the window was introduced in its current form since 2003), Spurs weren’t strongly linked very much with adding new players summer. That speaks volumes, because transfer rumors columns love to make a towering inferno out of a simple spark. Tottenham, apparently, wasn’t out in the market very much to provide them with much material.
Or they were and just much better at keeping it covert than the other clubs.
Major Tottenham Hotspur Subtractions:
Keanan Bennetts (Borussia Monchengladbach, Undisclosed fee), Anton Walkes – Portsmouth – Undisclosed
Credit Spurs for locking down key and star players this offseason. While no one came in, on the plus side, no senior layer took off for a bigger payday. Levy is famous for being a hard ball negotiator with tremendous business acumen. While his hardliner tactics resulted in no new players, it could have been a whole lot worse, if some of the franchise cornerstones weren’t extended their contracts, and thus susceptible to leaving the north London club.
Analysis:
We’ve done enough criticism of their transfer window, and now it’s time to say some good things, because “Too much of something is bad enough,” the Spice Girls told us in 1997.
“Too much of nothing is just as tough” too. But seriously though, dullsville transfer window aside the club has a very bright future with the new stadium opening next month, the state of the art training facilities and the fact that they have been arguably the league’s most consistent side on the pitch the past three years.
Immediate, Knee Jerk Reaction Grade (True, Authentic Grades Can Only Be Earned Over Time): D-
When you remember that Pochettino has yet to win a trophy with Spurs, and that the team finished 23 points behind City last season, it’s like playing black jack and holding when you have 12. While Tottenham have finished in the top three the past three seasons, they
1.) were still poor against their fellow big six rivals last season and 2.) still don’t have a single trophy in the Pochettino era.
Transfer Window Grades Links:
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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