Lautaro Martinez

[SpartanSpur]

Anyone else slightly confused that this story hasn’t been strongly dismissed by the journalists who cover us yet…

Personally I think it's highly likely that we are trying, it's just that with Inter involved it's unlikely to come off.

That makes it a difficult one to bring up in the hyper reactionary world of social media.

We'll probably get Ally saying that Conte loves the player but it'd be a very difficult and expensive deal to do.

 

[Yiddo100]

Anyone else slightly confused that this story hasn’t been strongly dismissed by the journalists who cover us yet…

At the moment it just seems like an everyday link with not much to it

 

[McFlash]

The problem for me with kulusevski at wingback is the fact he’s left footed. It forces him to cut back to cross etc which negates the advantage an Overlapping fullback has
It’s fine at rwf, because the rwb takes the opponent away to create space.
like i said, I’d need to see it in action working successfully to believe it’s an option.

I'm with you.
Apart from the fact that Deki has been just fine where he is, I don't really like the idea of a left footed RWB.
I don't mind switching him there on the odd occasion, to change a game and our system but I wouldn't want him regularly starting there.
Just seems like it would greatly reduce what he's currently bringing to the table.

 

[Basil Brush]

I don't think this is happening at all, but if Conte really likes Martinez and can see him fitting in at spurs, why not have a crack?

I would prefer we upped our bid for Bastoni myself, but that may be fanciful

 

[panoma]

What’s crazy is contemplating moving Kulusevski to wing back!

Why would you move such an attacker who’s had incredible output high up the pitch to a wide position where he has to spend half his time defending?!! And risk disrupting all the momentum and confidence he’s built here. It’s like moving Son to left wing back. It would be insane.

It's football manager syndrome (FMS). It's about cramming as many good players as possible into the lineup, disregarding positions. That's why u see these shitty linups with Kane as a midfielder and Kulu as a WB.

 

[Gbspurs]

Spurs fans are so broken. The experience with Poch and Levy and us refusing to buy anyone as our first XI was too good has completely warped the mind of fans.

Son and Kane aren't going to be here forever and have no cover as it stands. Liverpool played 63 games last season so to think that Kane, Son and Kulusevski can all play that many games, without injury is mad.

When they aren't playing, if we are to achieve our goals we need as minimal drop in quality as possible.

Not just that but bringing in quality ensures that if you want to be in the starting XI you need to be at the top of you game.

Personally I'm all for it if Conte wants to do it. If Son or Kane did their ACL in the first game of the season we would be in big trouble if we don't bring in quality, we rely too heavily on them as it is.

 

[SpartanSpur]

It's football manager syndrome (FMS). It's about cramming as many good players as possible into the lineup, disregarding positions. That's why u see these shitty linups with Kane as a midfielder and Kulu as a WB.

Is it Football Manager Syndrome or Big Club Syndrome?

This is the kind of weird transfer the very top clubs make, and whilst it means you can't quite lock down a clear starting XI from their squad it's those clubs (City/Chelsea) that tend to win a lot of trophies.

On Kulu as RWB - Our actual manager has literally been quoted as saying this.

On Kane as a midfielder - it's a visual representation of Kane dropping into a false 9 position with Son and Lautaro running in behind. In reality it'd be more of a front 3 and would be much more fluid.

I haven't played a football manager title in over 10 years.

 

[snakehipsspurs]

I’d love Lautaro, I think he’s brilliant and if it is around €75mil maybe we will do it. But I just don’t see us actually buying him.

Ali G has said we want versatile forwards and every other attacker we’ve had a serious link too can play multiple positions. If we buy Lautaro we then still need a winger and I just don’t think it’s in Fabio’s plans to do that when we still need 3 more players.

 

[Dunc2610]

Is it Football Manager Syndrome or Big Club Syndrome?

This is the kind of weird transfer the very top clubs make, and whilst it means you can't quite lock down a clear starting XI from their squad it's those clubs (City/Chelsea) that tend to win a lot of trophies.

On Kulu as RWB - Our actual manager has literally been quoted as saying this.

On Kane as a midfielder - it's a visual representation of Kane dropping into a false 9 position with Son and Lautaro running in behind. In reality it'd be more of a front 3 and would be much more fluid.

I haven't played a football manager title in over 10 years.

Conte said Kulu COULD play wb, doesn't mean either of them WANTS to him to play there though.

 

[gnuelwerdna]

Maybe Conte wants to try his dream 4-2-4 formation again?

 

[SpartanSpur]

Conte said Kulu COULD play wb, doesn't mean either of them WANTS to him to play there though.

Conte is very specific about these things. If he said it it likely means he'd be willing to do it.

I don't think it'd ever be a long term option but my point is it's ridiculous to say a manager won't do something he's literally been quoted as saying.

 

[barry]

He's obviously coming.

 

[C-oops]

I don't like the idea of Kulusevski as a wing back, especially with Perisic on the other side. Wouldn't be averse to Martinez but the reality is someone is going to have to be benched every game imo, whether that is Martinez, Son, Kane or Kulusevski. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but do you spend £90m on depth? Then that's not even discussing how you'd even manage if you dropped Kulusevski to deploy Martinez, Son and Kane in the same XI. Who on earth is capable on the right there?

I'm also not sure about Kane being a natural 10, his behaviour is more of a deep lying forward or false 9, it's a different movement imo. He's our best player, we shouldn't be moving him around to accommodate Martinez.

I'd rather we paid £70m or whatever Everton want for Richarlison than £90m+ for Martinez not because he's a better player but because he's a better fit for what we need. An appropriate backup should be De Ketelaere, or maybe someone like Gakpo who I think we could shape into a striker.

I really don't care how many good players we buy and how many players will have to rotate to get games. Give Conte what he wants and let him spend as much of the budget as he wants. Team selection is his problem and it's better to have a problem of too many good players than too few. If players can't handle being benched by upping their game further then they can leave.

 

[Ben1]

Conte is very specific about these things. If he said it it likely means he'd be willing to do it.

I don't think it'd ever be a long term option but my point is it's ridiculous to say a manager won't do something he's literally been quoted as saying.

Also worth noting that he said it when asked a loaded question about us not signing a RWB that window, I may be wrong but I don't think he's ever repeated it in isolation. Anyway...back to Martinez

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I don't like the idea of Kulusevski as a wing back, especially with Perisic on the other side. Wouldn't be averse to Martinez but the reality is someone is going to have to be benched every game imo, whether that is Martinez, Son, Kane or Kulusevski. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but do you spend £90m on depth? Then that's not even discussing how you'd even manage if you dropped Kulusevski to deploy Martinez, Son and Kane in the same XI. Who on earth is capable on the right there?

I'm also not sure about Kane being a natural 10, his behaviour is more of a deep lying forward or false 9, it's a different movement imo. He's our best player, we shouldn't be moving him around to accommodate Martinez.

I'd rather we paid £70m or whatever Everton want for Richarlison than £90m+ for Martinez not because he's a better player but because he's a better fit for what we need. An appropriate backup should be De Ketelaere, or maybe someone like Gakpo who I think we could shape into a striker.

I agree about Kulu as a wing back being a bad idea, but that’s because we will be playing in 4 comps plus have a WC to deal
with. If we were playing our 4 best attackers every game we would die a very quick death. It’s exactly this reason why we need another top quality forward who is on par with our current three. If we bring in Eriksen then it makes even more sense for that option be a CF as we will no doubt be playing two up top a lot.

I also agree that £90 mil would be too much but the reports I have read so far are saying €90mil which is £75 mil. That to me is a fair valuation of him. He is a much better player then Richarlison imo and is valued at only 5 mil more.

As I mentioned previously, really I don’t think there is anything anyone here can say against this transfer IF it were to happen. Conte has worked with him, he knows him better then anyone here. If he thinks he is the missing peace to the puzzle and happy to spend that amount on him that he’s coming to that perspective from a position of knowing Lautaro inside out and exactly how he would fit in alongside our current options.

Still, so far we have only had some ITK saying we like him but it’s unlikely due to price as well as AG and Biasin (inters mouthpiece) saying we are interested. So I’m not sure we should be getting excited or disappointed (depending on one’s opinion of him) quite yet.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Spurs fans are so broken. The experience with Poch and Levy and us refusing to buy anyone as our first XI was too good has completely warped the mind of fans.

Son and Kane aren't going to be here forever and have no cover as it stands. Liverpool played 63 games last season so to think that Kane, Son and Kulusevski can all play that many games, without injury is mad.

When they aren't playing, if we are to achieve our goals we need as minimal drop in quality as possible.

Not just that but bringing in quality ensures that if you want to be in the starting XI you need to be at the top of you game.

Personally I'm all for it if Conte wants to do it. If Son or Kane did their ACL in the first game of the season we would be in big trouble if we don't bring in quality, we rely too heavily on them as it is.

It's not even this for me. It's trying to understand how a player who is the main man and goal scorer for an elite team is going to accept being a rotation option for us.

If Conte/Paratici really want him I totally defer to their expertise on the role they have planned for him.

It's just that in my opinion Martinez can only play as the main striker or in a two. That of course is an issue when you have the best number 9 in the world in your ranks, who will play more often than not, and one of the best wing forwards in the world, who will play more often than not. I don't accept that all three could play in the same team without making us weaker tactically. Therefore that means we have to change our shape and drop Son, or Son and Martinez will have to be constantly rotated. Conte has never shown the inclination to rotate that much previously. Also strikers are creatures who thrive on confidence and rhythm. Being in and out the team will likely mean the overall output lessens for the rotated players.

I am not against bringing in an elite forward to rotate but I believe someone like Richarlison fits our requirements more as it means we don't need to change shape and he is interchangeable with any of the front 3.

 

[arunspurs]

I dont care, if Inter doesn't sell him to us, if we submitted a bid.
I just don't want to see this move, make Chelsea or English club to come into the picture for him & get him before us

For a deal like Lautaro, there will be absolute secrecy from our side, exactly like Bissouma...I guess, we wanted to deal the same way but unlike Brighton, Inter let it slip to reporters so they can try to get others come into a bidding war.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Spurs fans are so broken. The experience with Poch and Levy and us refusing to buy anyone as our first XI was too good has completely warped the mind of fans.

Son and Kane aren't going to be here forever and have no cover as it stands. Liverpool played 63 games last season so to think that Kane, Son and Kulusevski can all play that many games, without injury is mad.

When they aren't playing, if we are to achieve our goals we need as minimal drop in quality as possible.

Not just that but bringing in quality ensures that if you want to be in the starting XI you need to be at the top of you game.

Personally I'm all for it if Conte wants to do it. If Son or Kane did their ACL in the first game of the season we would be in big trouble if we don't bring in quality, we rely too heavily on them as it is.

Also I think a lot of people are forgetting how old Kulu is. Relying on a 22 your old all season is risky no matter how good he was last season. He’s still developing and it wouldn’t be that surprising if over a full season has dips of inconsistency. I mean that’s pretty much how every player develops. And I don’t mean this as any criticism, he’s obviously a big talent, but I don’t see any issues with adding a player of Lautaros ability to that front line. Your post was spot bud ?

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I dont care, if Inter doesn't sell him to us, if we submitted a bid.
I just don't want to see this move, make Chelsea or English club to come into the picture for him & get him before us

For a deal like Lautaro, there will be absolute secrecy from our side, exactly like Bissouma...I guess, we wanted to deal the same way but unlike Brighton, Inter let it slip to reporters so they can try to get others come into a bidding war.

There is never any secrecy in deals. Agents and selling clubs want the best deal possible to it's not in their interest to be secret about anything.

 

[jpascavitz]

Spurs fans are so broken. The experience with Poch and Levy and us refusing to buy anyone as our first XI was too good has completely warped the mind of fans.

Son and Kane aren't going to be here forever and have no cover as it stands. Liverpool played 63 games last season so to think that Kane, Son and Kulusevski can all play that many games, without injury is mad.

When they aren't playing, if we are to achieve our goals we need as minimal drop in quality as possible.

Not just that but bringing in quality ensures that if you want to be in the starting XI you need to be at the top of you game.

Personally I'm all for it if Conte wants to do it. If Son or Kane did their ACL in the first game of the season we would be in big trouble if we don't bring in quality, we rely too heavily on them as it is.

This should be posted about every five minutes across this site haha

If it were up to me I would have 5-6 players that all want to be at this club and none of them wanting a place on the bench. If that means Saturday PL we play Son-Kane-Kulu then on a Tuesday we play Son - Martinez - Moura allowing us to bring on Martinez one match or Kane the next match then so be it! I want minimal drop off