The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - 1st January

[DanielCHillier]

The previous attempt at securing Zaha shows we're not willing to pay the wages to match.

There's nothing to indicate that it was purely down to wages, that's just the line that everyone uses when it comes to us not getting players.

 

[tiger666]

We should form some kind of official link to Ajax.

 

[spursfan77]

One of the best bits of the new itk from Hercules is the Rose situation looks to be getting better. On his day he's the best left back in the league and I don't want to lose him.

 

[John48]

We should form some kind of official link to Ajax.

Just like L'Pool have with S'Hampton perhaps?

 

[Hakkz]

Just like L'Pool have with S'Hampton perhaps?

...except for the part where Southampton go out and report Liverpool for tapping up players!

Would be sensible to get RB in and loan out KWP (if Trips is staying).

 

[SpursD22]

If KWP isn’t playing games next season then I’m sorry but I have no faith in Poch giving academy players the chance

 

[Phomesy]

i wonder that this is

consistently the most woeful player at the club.

Never ceases to amaze how many fan think they know football, Spurs players and what strengths particular players bring to the squad better than the actual coaching staff.

We've just been given specific ITK that Poch and the coaching staff rate Sissoko and won't sell him but STILL posters know better.

Why don't you wait outside Enfield for Poch and scream "You're a fucking mug, you %&$£!" in his face before kicking him in the shin and running away

 

[Bobbins]

Enormous infodump from @Hercules - great stuff, much appreciated.

 

[Japhet]

Appreciate this update Hercules.

Mixed bag really. We seem to have some good targets regarding young players and it's pleasing to hear we've put a lot of effort into getting Sessegnon.

However, not good to hear that Poch isn't been entirely backed or helped with the Zaha and Barkley deals. If we've messed up with Zaha it does appear it may be too late to secure him now, although I think Levy should try for Poch if that is the number one wish of his. Barkley would be an infuriating one, he's entirely gettable, shouldn't cost too much and is a clear fave of Poch's. You've got to trust Poch in this instance, he's earned it after all. If he ends up at Chelsea we could certainly be in for a rocky road ahead.

I'm sure Barkley knows that if he goes to Chelsea he has the same chance of going to the World Cup as Danny Drinkwater.

 

[Phil-spur99]

The news on RB and Zaha sounds very similar to when we mucked around with
Aubameyang and alienated him before he went to Dortmund. I’m sure there have been others too that I can’t quite remember now...

Appreciate this update Hercules.

Mixed bag really. We seem to have some good targets regarding young players and it's pleasing to hear we've put a lot of effort into getting Sessegnon.

However, not good to hear that Poch isn't been entirely backed or helped with the Zaha and Barkley deals. If we've messed up with Zaha it does appear it may be too late to secure him now, although I think Levy should try for Poch if that is the number one wish of his. Barkley would be an infuriating one, he's entirely gettable, shouldn't cost too much and is a clear fave of Poch's. You've got to trust Poch in this instance, he's earned it after all. If he ends up at Chelsea we could certainly be in for a rocky road ahead.

 

[p.l.edmonds]

"Poch wants RB badly....He has waited until January"

Surely if that's the case (and let's assume his injury is not a career limiting one), and he's only got 6 months left on his contract, then it would have be stubbornness of the highest order by Levy to not make it happen. More than that, surely a ridiculous own goal as it relates to relations with Poch. The absolute max we'd have to pay now is surely £20m or so, possibly a good deal less (likely settling on £12 - £15m would be my guess) and when you put that into the context of the broader transfer market we'd be mental not to go for that.

I don't see why this view is so readily taken as a given.

If Everton and Spurs existed in a vacuum then yes, absolutely - Everton would need to decide whether they would rather have £12m now (+ Barkley off the wagebill) (option 1) or Barkley for the rest of the season (+ a slim chance that he'll decide he wants to stay there) (option 2) - and surely option 1 is the only sensible choice.

But as soon as this becomes anything like a competitive situation, Everton aren't just comparing option 1 and option 2 - they'll want to deal with the highest bidder. In which case, I wouldn't have thought that his contract situation would make much difference. Chelsea will bid an amount they think will trump Spurs (also factoring in the benefit in weakening us if he goes to Chelsea) and we'll do likewise.

Contract position notwithstanding, I can still see him costing £30m plus.

 

[JonnySpurs]

It's somewhat tricky with Barkley. You could understand Levy wanting us to try and convince the kid to come in the summer at no cost rather than pay out possibly 15-20m now when he might have zero impact on this season. With that said, if we made the player assurances last summer which convinced him to pass on a move to Chelsea (which does seem to be the case) then we should honour that and bring him in now.

Whilst I have often been one to back Levy and I'm happy with what he's done overall, he's been far too tentative in most transfer windows, leading to last day deals and that ultimately having an impact resulting in players taking too long to get up to speed.

We're in a crucial period ahead of moving into the new stadium and whilst teams around us are making statements with player signings we need to try and be bold (as we were with Davinson Sanchez) on a more consistent basis. Not asking for multiple 50m plus signings but equally, 1 player of that ilk each summer window would be good to see, along with a few younger players like Kluivert, Sessegnon etc.

Based on the ITK it seems that across the January and Summer windows we would be looking at Kluivert and Sessegnon bros as the young player additions. Barkley as a bit of a "too good to pass up" kinda signing and then someone like Zaha in summer as that big money addition.

 

[Japhet]

We should form some kind of official link to Ajax.

Ajax are pretty straightforward to deal with. They should make CL every season at a canter and they can sell to us for good money. They have a very good development setup and always a string of talented players coming through. A proper link to them would be great but I don't know how that would work out in real life.

 

[bomberH]

Just gimme De Ligt and keep D Rose.

 

[worcestersauce]

The news on RB and Zaha sounds very similar to when we mucked around with
Aubameyang and alienated him before he went to Dortmund. I’m sure there have been others too that I can’t quite remember now...

Just to play devil's advocate, the striker we had to draft in instead of him hasn't turned out too bad though has he.

 

[daryl hannah]

There's nothing to indicate that it was purely down to wages, that's just the line that everyone uses when it comes to us not getting players.

I thought there were multiple reports that we'd offered Zaha a derisory £40k/wk and he turned us down?

 

[Tucker]

Really good chunk of info from both Trix and Hercules in the last couple of days. Thanks guys.

It all sounds fairly reasonable to be honest. Yes Pochettino wants Barkley, but you can understand Levy being slightly hesitant when he’s had a nasty injury. At the end of the day he still needs to balance the books, and while he may be more than happy to back Poch, it doesn’t necessarily fall into a black or white choice of he backed him or didn’t. Same with the whole Zaha situation, and Sessegnon.

I guess the ideal outcome this window, would be getting Barkley in, signing Zaha and Sess, and loaning them both back to their respective clubs.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I don't see why this view is so readily taken as a given.

If Everton and Spurs existed in a vacuum then yes, absolutely - Everton would need to decide whether they would rather have £12m now (+ Barkley off the wagebill) (option 1) or Barkley for the rest of the season (+ a slim chance that he'll decide he wants to stay there) (option 2) - and surely option 1 is the only sensible choice.

But as soon as this becomes anything like a competitive situation, Everton aren't just comparing option 1 and option 2 - they'll want to deal with the highest bidder. In which case, I wouldn't have thought that his contract situation would make much difference. Chelsea will bid an amount they think will trump Spurs (also factoring in the benefit in weakening us if he goes to Chelsea) and we'll do likewise.

Contract position notwithstanding, I can still see him costing £30m plus.

Not sure I agree with that. How frequently in football do you actually get an auction like situation?

More often than not, the price appears to be set, and it then comes down to the player. It depends how much he wants to come to us.

Frankly Chelsea could well just put in a bid at that (£30m) level and offer him £150k a week, at which point we'd struggle - end of story, and you'd have been proved right. But clearly he's turned them down in the past for us, so if that persists it's possible that they'd have to find a middle ground

 

[dagraham]

Not very encouraging info imo. Apart from the fact we seem fairly advanced regarding Sessegnon it just feels like more typical frustration and dithering.

Of course from a 100% business point of view, acquiring Barkley for free in the summer against £15-20m now is a no brainer, but it’s a human being, not a tin of beans. We seem to operate in a world where no other interested parties exist. You snooze, you lose basically and with a player well within our means there is no excuse really.

Mahrez link is interesting. I’ve been banging on about him for ages even though most don’t share my enthusiasm. Sadly we won’t pay a big fee, but how big is big? After all we paid £30m for Sissoko who’s 2 years older and not even half the player Mahrez is. In fact I actually think Mahrez is better than Zaha even though Zaha is a couple of years younger.

Mahrez’s ability to carry to ball and quality in the final third would cause havoc imo with any combo of Kane, Dele, Eriksen, Son.

 

[andyp8080]

Never ceases to amaze how many fan think they know football, Spurs players and what strengths particular players bring to the squad better than the actual coaching staff.

We've just been given specific ITK that Poch and the coaching staff rate Sissoko and won't sell him but STILL posters know better.

Why don't you wait outside Enfield for Poch and scream "You're a fucking mug, you %&$£!" in his face before kicking him in the shin and running away

Did i say i know better? I questioned what the turnaround means as I sit in the stands each week and for the last two seasons have seen a player in Sissoko that rarely justifies his play on the pitch. We saw a few better performances early this season but most of the time he looks scared of the ball, struggles to control it and is clearly devoid of all confidence.

He might be the best trainer in the squad, he might have a great attitude and bring a good vibe to the squad, but on the pitch he is massively below par

I am entitled to my opinion and entitled to question what it is he is bringing to the team

So get of your high horse and allow me to have my opinion and thoughts