Tottenham Hotspur came close to a fairy tale season for themselves last campaign before running out of steam towards the end. But it was a satisfactory season nonetheless and the club hierarchy were chuffed with the return of Champions League football to the White Hart Lane. While Tottenham have not gone in hard in the transfer window, they still have bolstered the squad to an extent and have looked to beef up their wafer thin striking options and have replaced exiting midfield personnel.
TRANSFERS
In
Vincent Janssen – AZ Alkmaar, £18.6m
Victor Wanyama – Southampton, £11m
Juan Pablo Gonzalez Verlasco – Brentford, free
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou – Marseille, £11m
Pau Lopez – Espanyol, loan
Moussa Sissoko – Newcastle, £30m
Out
DeAndre Yedlin – Newcastle, undisclosed
Nabil Bentaleb – Schalke, loan
Federico Fazio – Roma, loan
Luke McGee – Peterborough, loan
Nathan Oduwa – Peterborough, loan
Grant Ward – Ipswich, £0.7m
Christopher Paul – QPR, free
Filip Lesniak – Slovan Liberec, loan
Emmanuel Sonupe – Northampton, free
Alex Pritchard – Norwich, £9m
Dom Ball – Rotherham, undisclosed
Will Miller – Burton, loan
Clinton Njie – Marseille, loan
Ryan Mason – Hull, £13m
Nacer Chadli – West Brom, £13m
SOURCE: Sky Sports
WHAT POCHETTINO HAS GOT RIGHT
One of the major issues of Spurs was their threadbare striking line. One injury to Harry Kane and it would have curtains for all their ambitions. And they couldn’t take the risk of going two seasons with this flawed strategy. Vincent Janssen has been brought in to provide cover and as well as offer another dimension up top. Victor Wanyama will be adding solidity and depth in the central midfield and with the number of matches the addition will prove to be a factor as the season goes on.
Nkoudou was finally confirmed after all sorts of snags on behalf of the selling club and will look to challenge the likes of Eriksen and Lamela for a starting berth. Sissoko was a late addition and Spurs will hope they will see the player as more of the French International than that of Newcastle. His versatility will be handy and he will add a more robust approach from midfield.
WHAT HE MIGHT NOT HAVE
For all their recruitment critics have wondered at the quality of the players they have brought in. Some sections argue that the calibre of the new players are far off from the quality they will be encountering in the Champions League. And Spurs have basically replaced the likes of Mason and N’Jie rather than add to the team. With the business, they are unfortunately looking like a team who have to play out of their skins to ensure a Top 4 finish at max.
