It’s been a very unexciting and uneventful January transfer window at Tottenham Hotspur, but we did get some insight today into the club’s current values and ideals regarding their transfer policy today. Leaked documents this week revealed that Spurs have the first option of any Premier League club in regards to bringing Real Madrid Winger Gareth Bale back to the British top flight.
When White Hart Lane sold Bale to Real, it broke the world record for a transfer fee.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino offered this today at his weekly press conference previewing the weekend fixture.
“If we have the possibility, he [Bale] is a player who is welcome in the changing room because we know him. Or if we have the possibility to sign Messi or Neymar, it’s impossible to say no.”
“The problem is when you bring in some player who is a normal player, who isn’t a good man and you say: ‘For what?’ We need to bring a player with the right profile and enough quality to improve the squad.”
Pochettino is obviously referring to a given player’s off-the-pitch personality and/or potential character concerns that might come with it.
The Argentine’s comments come just a couple days after Pochettino cryptically suggested Saido Berahino’s reaction to not getting the transfer that he wanted in the summer might possibly make ill-suited for White Hart Lane. The Berahino to Spurs transfer saga has been dragged out long enough, and it now appears to be over.
That’s the major takeaway from what Pochettino is saying here about a “normal player.” You have to also possess the personality and character to gel with the kind of culture he’s building.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.