So Paulinho is expected to sign for Spurs within the next business day or two but will the 24 year old Brazilian be the last summer arrival as far as midfield players as concerned? The Press are adamant today that further reinforcements will arrive and challenge for already oversubscribed berths across the middle but how much truth is behind any of the rumours?
All of the names have appeared before and the first is that of Miralem Pjanic, the 23 year old Bosnian. The link has possibly been reinforced by the arrival of Franco Baldini at White Hart Lane and our technical director will have prior knowledge of the player from their time spent with Roma but with Paulinho’s arrival, claims of a £20m spend on another attacking midfielder may be wide of the mark.
A more likely rumour surrounds Barcelona reserve striker Gerard Deulofeu who bagged 18 goals for the Barca B Team last season. With no sign of a regular first team slot in La Liga, the 19 year old is said to be keen on a loan deal in order to get some game time at a higher level.
Deulofeu’s arrival might be a welcome one but only if Spurs get a higher profile striker in and don’t play the teenager as third choice behind JD and Ade.
What is it with Spurs and midfield players? We seem to have an aversion to buying a striker and have done for quite a while now. I think Levy doesn’t like them because they earn too much money and really resents paying out for them.
Looks like the old zip on Mr Levys transfer fund bag is rapidly closing yet again ! I have no doubt that these foreign clubs are inflating prices and are difficult to negotiate with ( much the same as DL is to them), so why the hell have we not sounded out Chelsea re Torres ? Arse and Chelsk look at Utd players and vice versa, and we are like a creche for Utd, so why don’t we join in at looking at the opposition and their players ? They b____y do it to us !! Sell Ade and top up his wages for Torres; a proven premiership goalscorer in need of decent service. Torres and Villa with Bale behind or Torres with Lennon and Bale either side, would that be exciting or not ??
Torres!!!???
15 goals in 82 premier league games for chelsea (worse than one in every 5 games).
£150k a week plus wages.
Whatever silly fee Chelsea would ask (£15m at least)
29 years old and his legs went before 2010 world cup.
Yeah … good shout
You may well be right but 19 goals from 42 starts last season (12 of which came after Benitez joined) is better than either of our current 2 and his record at Liverpool wasn’t bad either, 65goals in 102 domestic games – 81/142 in total doesn’t make him a bad palyer. If we are supposedly looking at a 31 year old Spanish star, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to look closer to home also
quite possibly the worst suggestion I’ve seen out of all the names being thrown about
have you actually watched any of his performances for chelsea, he was absolutely disgraceful!?
besides why are chelsea going to do us a favour after the modric saga? if we were going to try and get anyone from them it would be lukaku but that won’t happen either for the above reason as well as the fact that would make us a lot stronger and thus increased competition with them
Agree. Lukaku is by FAR the better option of the two. Torres’s day’s in the world class column look a long way behind him. I can’t remember the last time Fernando terrorised an EPL team defence (or any defence for that matter).
Chelsea would be lucky to get £15m for the Spaniard based upon his form for the last 3 years or so, and unfortunately Spurs just don’t have that kind of money to waste!
Loic Remy however would be a great bag for someone, providing he beats his (alleged) sexual assault charges.
Reminds me, more and more, of a certain Frenchman who played up front for our neighbours up the road. I imagine QPR will desperate to get him of their books following their relegation, and with Parker (begrudgingly) thrown into the mix, Spurs could get themselves a REAL bargain.
Makes so much sense, on so many levels.
Spurs need to get creative players in the midfield. Since the loss of Modric, Van der Vaart and Kranjcar, there has been a lack of creativity in midfield.
The only creative midfield players at Spurs are Carroll and Pritchard.
Dembele offers little creativity or goal threat.
Paulinho is an effective all round player but is not what you call creative.
Sandro, Parker and Livermore are defensive midfielders.
Holtby can be creative but is most effective as a deep lying midfielder.
Sigurdsson and Dempsey are mediocre players.
When Dembele and Sandro played together, they were effective in some ways but they rarely set up any goal scoring opportunities or got into good attacking positions.
So unless Carroll and Pritchard start playing, Spurs need to buy a player like Pjanic to provide that creative flair. Deulofeu is an amazing player and would be an awesome capture even if it is just for one year.
We need 6 midfielders for our 3 man midfield. currently we only have Sandro, Dembele, Paulinho, Holtby and Carroll. Thudd has unfortunately not stepped up to the player he should/could be due to injuries, even his lack of mobility before had question marks. and at 27 he probably wants more playing time. Parker is on the outs. Livermore is at best a good championship player or relegation scrapper. and Siggurdson doesnt look like he has the right temperament for the middle (at least not yet) and would be better suited in the front 3. So the chance, as someone said earlier, to get a creative player that we lacked lost year after VdV, Modric and Kranjcar (i would have kept him) is something we need. The established 4 of Paulinho, Sandro, Dembele and Pajnic can be our core. with Carroll and Holtby the go to guys for cups rotation etc. Yes, we need to sort out the forward situation, but I have faith we will sort all areas this summer. midfield was one of our weaknesses last year.
Great points,mate. Especially the one about Kranjcar, who was/is SO underrated, and badly under used during his time at Spurs, by a certain ‘Arry Redknapp.
Not sure about Holtby being regarded as a Cup man though. He is FAR too good for that. Problem is Bale is playing (rather rigidly) in his best (most effective) position. Carroll would probably be best served by going out on loan to another EPL side.
Miralem Pjanic, if he isn’t already, has ALL the tools required to be a world-class midfielder. As such, his signing, on the back of the Paulinho deal, would UNDOUBTEDLY enhance the Tottenham squad/team beyond measure….The only problem would be, where does that leave some of our brightest young talents?
Assuming the likes of Dempsey, Huddlestone, Parker and Livermore are all sold, the arrival of Pjanic, for me would still raise Sig-nificant question marks over the long-term development of both Gyfil and Lewis Holtby.
Whilst Tom Carroll could quite understandably be sent on loan accelerate his progress, the same couldn’t be said about the 2 more senior, international players, who both NEED as many minutes on the pitch as possible, if we are to ever see them reach their (ENORMOUS) full potential.
At 22 and 23 years old, respectively, you could argue that Sigurdsson and Holtby still have plenty of time on their hands to progress their careers at the club, but the problem is, is that these are the formative years of their development as professional footballers. These are the years that they will learn the most about their capabilities and potential before going on to fine tune their abilities during their mid-late 20s.
How much are they going to learn/ progress/develop from sitting on the bench?
That’s without mentioning the fact that it is also a world cup year, and both players will have designs on making their respective national team squads before the tournament in Brazil.
Having said all of that, I am NOT convinced that Spurs would be looking to break their transfer record for a 2nd time,this summer, on a midfield player.
But IF we did, It would be interest to see just how AVB manages with having so many quality, young, players in the midfield department…
The number one aim for the club is to get in top 4. Sig and Holtby weren’t good enough this season, and deserve time maybe in europa league. We need creativity in the middle to break tough defences at times along with Bale in the middle.
Sig and Holtby’s potential can still be achieved with substitutions and Europa League. Top 4 is a must with 1 more year of Bale for certain now. This is required if we are to progress as a club.
Besides Europa League, we will have cup games as well.