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- Oct 4, 2004
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-the-crossroads-in-their-quest-for-glory.html
Luka Modric the key as Tottenham stand at the crossroads in their quest for glory
From the outside, Tottenham seemed to spend most of the summer in stasis.
By Duncan White
Having missed out on qualifying for the Champions League a second time and on the Olympic stadium, the club seemed to be caught between going on the front foot and trying to compete with big spending rivals or sticking to the sustainable, frugal policies that helped them get into this position in the first place.
Having had their opening game with Everton postponed because of the riots, Spurs have had an extra week to prepare for their opening game with Manchester United tomorrow.
Finally, things appear to be revving up in the transfer market, both in and out of the club, while even a weakened team dispatched Hearts impressively in the Europa League in midweek.
What happens in the next 10 days will determine whether Spurs are ready to compete for a Champions League place and what happens in the next three months regarding the new stadium could determine whether they will be able to compete with the European elite in the long term.
While it might lack the glamour of last season, this is a crucial campaign for the future of Tottenham.
New signings
There is certainly money available to spend. The club were active in January, looking to sign Diego Forlan, Giuseppe Rossi, Andy Carroll, Fernando Llorente and even Sergio Agüero. Harry Redknapp said at the time that Daniel Levy was prepared to spend more than £30 million on the right player.
The club made £27 million from the Champions League last year so they are capable of making substantial bids for players.
The priority, as demonstrated by their January shopping list, is finding a striker who can play as a lone frontman in a 4-5-1. Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch work better playing with a strike partner while Roman Pavlyuchenko, arguably the best option in that position, is inconsistent.
The short-term solution is the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City but the long-term solution would be to sign Leandro Damiao.
Tottenham tried to sign the 22-year-old Brazilian striker earlier this summer but could not agree on a fee with Internacional, who want more than £30 million. Spurs have a good relationship with Internacional, from whom they signed Sandro, but with Barcelona and Internazionale hovering, it could prove a challenge getting a deal done.
Redknapp also wants to strengthen central midfield and at centre back. Scott Parker was a target but now the club are closing on Real Madrid’s Lassana Diarra.
In defence, Blackburn’s Chris Samba is Redknapp’s preference, having revealed that he tried and failed to sign Phil Jones, now of Manchester United.
“We are still talking with Diarra and Adebayor but I don’t know what progress there has been,” Redknapp said. “If we do get them I am not sure how ready they would be to play. It depends what work they have done with their clubs.”
The Modric situation
All that would change if Modric were sold. For the first time this summer, Redknapp revealed a chink in the club’s iron wall of resistance.
“We’ve got two options with Luka,” Redknapp said last week. “Either we keep a fantastic player or we sell him, get the money and bring in four players and have a better team.”
This is a clear message to Levy not to leave it too late. Redknapp thinks his squad is short and appears willing to sacrifice Modric to get the players he feels they need.
Chelsea have not improved on their £27 million offer and Levy is still refusing to countenance a sale, having staked his reputation on Modric staying. Modric has made it clear he would want to join Chelsea but is not agitating for the move beyond that. Perhaps a bid of £35-40 million could soften Levy’s stance but unless other deals are lined up it would be self-defeating to sell him.
“The chairman has said he is not for sale so that is his decision,” Redknapp said.
Squad congestion
Selling Modric and bringing in three or four players would only add to Tottenham’s other problem: excess players. Tottenham have struggled to sell players this summer and could end up with more than can be registered for the Premier League.
Tottenham pay good wages and have found it difficult to find buyers.
Jonathan Woodgate was released, Jamie O’Hara sold for £5 million and Robbie Keane has joined LA Galaxy for £3.5 million.
They are trying to sell Gio dos Santos, Alan Hutton and David Bentley and would also accept suitable bids for Jermaine Jenas, Niko Kranjcar, Sébastien Bassong, Wilson Palacios and any one of their three strikers.
By Premier League rules you are allowed to name only 25 players in your first-team squad, plus as many players under 21 (born after Jan 1, 1990) as you want.
Last season Spurs named the maximum 25 players in their squad and since then Steven Pienaar has arrived and Gareth Bale and Gio dos Santos have all turned 22. This is in part an explanation for Spurs’ reluctance to buy before they sell: they don’t want to be stuck paying superfluous players when they name their squad on Sept 2. As it stands, Spurs have 27 players over 21.
New stadium
Tottenham need momentum on the field to help sustain that off it. This is a crucial period for Spurs because if it all goes right over the next four or five years they could pupate into a club that offers a sustainable challenge to the European elite.
At the end of this season they will open their Bulls Cross training ground, a facility that will easily match those of the best Champions League clubs but unless they can get things moving with their Northumberland Development Project, they will be stuck with White Hart Lane.
Having missed out on the Olympic stadium, they have refocused on the Northumberland project in Tottenham, the viability of which hinges on whether or not Tottenham get government money.
They have applied for a grant from the Regional Growth Fund which goes before an Independent Advisory Panel chaired by Lord Heseltine before a final decision is made by a ministerial group chaired by Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister.
If they received the funds, they would not be spent on the stadium itself but on upgrading the train stations, the public spaces around the stadium and other infrastructural upgrades.
Some of the worst recent rioting occurred in the area and Spurs have been in discussion with local government about how the project could help an area with high (and rising) unemployment.
Tottenham’s primary motive is obviously to get a bigger stadium to help them make more money but redevelopment of the local area would be a happy by-product and has received the support of Boris Johnson. Without state support, Tottenham would be back to square one. And the club cannot afford stasis on or off the pitch.
There it is. Our current status as a club in one article. New players, 25 rule, Modric, Missing CL, New Stadium, Riots.
Luka Modric the key as Tottenham stand at the crossroads in their quest for glory
From the outside, Tottenham seemed to spend most of the summer in stasis.
By Duncan White
Having missed out on qualifying for the Champions League a second time and on the Olympic stadium, the club seemed to be caught between going on the front foot and trying to compete with big spending rivals or sticking to the sustainable, frugal policies that helped them get into this position in the first place.
Having had their opening game with Everton postponed because of the riots, Spurs have had an extra week to prepare for their opening game with Manchester United tomorrow.
Finally, things appear to be revving up in the transfer market, both in and out of the club, while even a weakened team dispatched Hearts impressively in the Europa League in midweek.
What happens in the next 10 days will determine whether Spurs are ready to compete for a Champions League place and what happens in the next three months regarding the new stadium could determine whether they will be able to compete with the European elite in the long term.
While it might lack the glamour of last season, this is a crucial campaign for the future of Tottenham.
New signings
There is certainly money available to spend. The club were active in January, looking to sign Diego Forlan, Giuseppe Rossi, Andy Carroll, Fernando Llorente and even Sergio Agüero. Harry Redknapp said at the time that Daniel Levy was prepared to spend more than £30 million on the right player.
The club made £27 million from the Champions League last year so they are capable of making substantial bids for players.
The priority, as demonstrated by their January shopping list, is finding a striker who can play as a lone frontman in a 4-5-1. Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch work better playing with a strike partner while Roman Pavlyuchenko, arguably the best option in that position, is inconsistent.
The short-term solution is the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City but the long-term solution would be to sign Leandro Damiao.
Tottenham tried to sign the 22-year-old Brazilian striker earlier this summer but could not agree on a fee with Internacional, who want more than £30 million. Spurs have a good relationship with Internacional, from whom they signed Sandro, but with Barcelona and Internazionale hovering, it could prove a challenge getting a deal done.
Redknapp also wants to strengthen central midfield and at centre back. Scott Parker was a target but now the club are closing on Real Madrid’s Lassana Diarra.
In defence, Blackburn’s Chris Samba is Redknapp’s preference, having revealed that he tried and failed to sign Phil Jones, now of Manchester United.
“We are still talking with Diarra and Adebayor but I don’t know what progress there has been,” Redknapp said. “If we do get them I am not sure how ready they would be to play. It depends what work they have done with their clubs.”
The Modric situation
All that would change if Modric were sold. For the first time this summer, Redknapp revealed a chink in the club’s iron wall of resistance.
“We’ve got two options with Luka,” Redknapp said last week. “Either we keep a fantastic player or we sell him, get the money and bring in four players and have a better team.”
This is a clear message to Levy not to leave it too late. Redknapp thinks his squad is short and appears willing to sacrifice Modric to get the players he feels they need.
Chelsea have not improved on their £27 million offer and Levy is still refusing to countenance a sale, having staked his reputation on Modric staying. Modric has made it clear he would want to join Chelsea but is not agitating for the move beyond that. Perhaps a bid of £35-40 million could soften Levy’s stance but unless other deals are lined up it would be self-defeating to sell him.
“The chairman has said he is not for sale so that is his decision,” Redknapp said.
Squad congestion
Selling Modric and bringing in three or four players would only add to Tottenham’s other problem: excess players. Tottenham have struggled to sell players this summer and could end up with more than can be registered for the Premier League.
Tottenham pay good wages and have found it difficult to find buyers.
Jonathan Woodgate was released, Jamie O’Hara sold for £5 million and Robbie Keane has joined LA Galaxy for £3.5 million.
They are trying to sell Gio dos Santos, Alan Hutton and David Bentley and would also accept suitable bids for Jermaine Jenas, Niko Kranjcar, Sébastien Bassong, Wilson Palacios and any one of their three strikers.
By Premier League rules you are allowed to name only 25 players in your first-team squad, plus as many players under 21 (born after Jan 1, 1990) as you want.
Last season Spurs named the maximum 25 players in their squad and since then Steven Pienaar has arrived and Gareth Bale and Gio dos Santos have all turned 22. This is in part an explanation for Spurs’ reluctance to buy before they sell: they don’t want to be stuck paying superfluous players when they name their squad on Sept 2. As it stands, Spurs have 27 players over 21.
New stadium
Tottenham need momentum on the field to help sustain that off it. This is a crucial period for Spurs because if it all goes right over the next four or five years they could pupate into a club that offers a sustainable challenge to the European elite.
At the end of this season they will open their Bulls Cross training ground, a facility that will easily match those of the best Champions League clubs but unless they can get things moving with their Northumberland Development Project, they will be stuck with White Hart Lane.
Having missed out on the Olympic stadium, they have refocused on the Northumberland project in Tottenham, the viability of which hinges on whether or not Tottenham get government money.
They have applied for a grant from the Regional Growth Fund which goes before an Independent Advisory Panel chaired by Lord Heseltine before a final decision is made by a ministerial group chaired by Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister.
If they received the funds, they would not be spent on the stadium itself but on upgrading the train stations, the public spaces around the stadium and other infrastructural upgrades.
Some of the worst recent rioting occurred in the area and Spurs have been in discussion with local government about how the project could help an area with high (and rising) unemployment.
Tottenham’s primary motive is obviously to get a bigger stadium to help them make more money but redevelopment of the local area would be a happy by-product and has received the support of Boris Johnson. Without state support, Tottenham would be back to square one. And the club cannot afford stasis on or off the pitch.
There it is. Our current status as a club in one article. New players, 25 rule, Modric, Missing CL, New Stadium, Riots.
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