With the transfer window now open across all the major European leagues, Premiership clubs have until 8th August to carry out whatever wheelings and dealings they feel will strengthen their squads for the 2019/20 season.
The below is a list of the top transfer stories involving my beloved Tottenham Hotspur who (thankfully) have already been busy this summer.
Lo Celso - On again, off again
There are so many conflicting reports about this possible transfer that it's difficult to know where to start so I'm going to take a page from Donald Rumsfeld's playbook of bullshit to analyse this one
The known knowns
- Poch rates him
- The player is interested in working with Poch
- The player has a buy out clause in the region of 80mil Euros in his contract
The known unknowns
- Who else might be sniffing around? Man United have been muted
- What Betis will actually accept for him? It's been suggested they'd settle for less than the buyout amount
- How close are we to finding a buyer for Eriksen? A deal for the Dane is likely to need to be in place before we see Lo Celos holding up a Spurs shirt with a cheesy grin
The unknown unknowns
- Well by definition I can't tell you these but you can be sure that as with any major transfer there will be multiple bumps in the road to navigate
Sky are reporting that the deal is "on-hold" for now but there are various other sources that state Tottenham are still very much in contact with the club and the player. In fact, French newspapers have reported that Levy was fielding calls from Betis about Lo Celos while securing personal terms with record signing NDombele earlier in the week. Other sources "close to the player" (make of that what you will) have also said that Poch has been in contact with his fellow Argentine to confirm that he wants him at Spurs and that he should sit tight while the club looks to get Eriksen off their books.
Chances of a deal being done: Moderate to Good
Dani Ceballos - do you wanna do swapsies?
Allegedly Spurs have a "special relationship" with Real Madrid that was forged during the days, weeks and months of the Gareth Bale transfer. I can only assume that after that prolonged negotiation with our Chairman Daniel Levy it is the kind of special relationship that I have with many women around the world i.e. they ask me to please not call them again ........
Anyway, there is a rumour doing the rounds that the talented young Spaniard has been told that his first-team chances at Real will be limited next year and that he should probably either accept that or find another club. Of course, with Real Madrid being one of the sides that we are trying to shill Eriksen to then a few of the papers have put 1 and 1 together and come up with obligatory 11 that is a potential swap deal.
There are always a few of these types of swap deal rumours doing the rounds and they very very rarely materialise. The first reason is that by in large they are just fabricated by the newspapers. Most of the reports I've found in this instance originate from Spanish tabloids AS and Marca who don't have a great track record of accurate journalism on such matters.
Furthermore, even if there was a willingness for both clubs to do business in relation to the 2 players it would be incredibly difficult to reach an agreement on the relative prices and then for both players to agree terms. Ceballos has also been quoted as saying he doesn't want to leave the club so I'm not sure that Poch is likely to be pursuing a midfielder who isn't really committed to the club to replace another player (Eriksen) who is not really committed to the club.
Chances of a deal being done: Very low to low
Ryan Sessegnon - on and on it drags
Sessegnon to Spurs seems to have been a possibility for the last couple of years. Fulham held most of the cards last summer with their promotion to the Premier League and the fact the kid had a relatively long contract. However, given their big spend last year and immediate return to the Championship the dynamics have shifted somewhat. Add to that the fact that Sessegnon has made it pretty clear he wants out and as such will not sign a new contract and I'd expect that we will see him end up somewhere this summer but will it be Spurs?
A few of the more reputable broadsheets have run stories suggesting that Tottenham are keen on making Sessegnon a Spurs player next year. Reports are that Fulham value him at £40million which is crazy money for a player who struggled to make an impact in his debut season in the Premier League. Unfortunately, this is just the kind of premium that clubs have to pay for young English talent so Spurs will have to up their bid of £25million that is rumoured to have been made in order to get his signature.
The other questions then are who might need to make way in order for Sessegnon to come in and which position does Poch see him playing. Would he be a left-sided winger or could he be a wing-back? If it's the later then you'd assume that either Danny Rose or Ben Davies would need to make way.
Rose's career has stagnated following an injury and in 2017 and a publicised falling out with Poch after he questioned the club's ambition. That being said he was one of our better players towards the end of last season (it wasn't difficult) so if he is willing to stay and fight I'd be happy. As for Davies, it really depends if you are a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of person as to whether you view him as moderately useless or moderately useful. I'd say Spurs need better if they want to progress to the next level.
Chances of a deal being done: Moderate to Good
In general, the level of future activity that we undertake in this transfer window could well be determined by how much deadwood we can shift from our books and I'm sorry to say that is not something we have been very good at doing over the years .........
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