Why Spurs were right to break their own rules and sign Llorente

[FootballWhispers]

Hi guys,

We've done a piece looking at what Fernando Llorente brings to the team and why the club were right to break their self-imposed rules to sign the striker.

"By signing Llorente, Tottenham have taken a weight off of Kane’s shoulders. No longer is his fitness and form an absolute prerequisite to success; now, they have a proven Premier League goalscorer to take his place when appropriate.

Last term the 32-year-old adjusted quickly to the English top flight with Swansea City, scoring a highly respectable 15 league goals. And, when it came to his overall statistical output, he was more productive than Janssen in a few areas."

Llorente the perfect Kane understudy

Cheers,

Sam

 

['O Zio]

I'm not sure we have broken our own rules to be honest. We've signed older players in the past where necessary. Sure, we have a strong emphasis on developing young talent but that's by no means our exclusive MO.

 

[-Afri-Coy-]

I'm not sure we have broken our own rules to be honest. We've signed older players in the past where necessary. Sure, we have a strong emphasis on developing young talent but that's by no means our exclusive MO.

I don't think that's what the article is alluding too, It's just a general rule of thumb that we tend to use when it comes to transfers.

 

[Japhet]

I think his experience will be a huge plus both on and off the pitch.

 

[Guntz]

Him and Aurier will be invaluable IMO, both proven winners and hopefully that mentality will resinate around the team.

 

[-Afri-Coy-]

I think his experience will be a huge plus both on and off the pitch.

Experience seems to be a very underrated attribute of the modern footballer these days.

Look at Defoe for Sunderland Last season as an example, which is exactly why the Cherries picked him up for this season.

 

[Kspur]

Thanks for that, didn't see any of Swansea last year so your analysis is helpful to me.

I was initially non-plussed on this signing as I'm eager to see more pace in the line up but I do like this kinds of pragmatic signing in general (that is outside our MO as you point out). One with very little hope of turning a profit, but a high chance of hitting the ground running.

You get a lot of constructive and not so constructive criticism on here. You take it admirably and keep plugging away in a very crowded market place, to your great credit, keep it up.

 

[Japhet]

Thanks for that, didn't see any of Swansea last year so your analysis is helpful to me.

I was initially non-plussed on this signing as I'm eager to see more pace in the line up but I do like this kinds of pragmatic signing in general (that is outside our MO as you point out). One with very little hope of turning a profit, but a high chance of hitting the ground running.

You get a lot of constructive and not so constructive criticism on here. You take it admirably and keep plugging away in a very crowded market place, to your great credit, keep it up.

He may not turn a profit in transfer terms, but a couple of important goals in the CL (where I think he'll represent a huge improvement for us) will more than compensate.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

I'm not sure we have broken our own rules to be honest. We've signed older players in the past where necessary. Sure, we have a strong emphasis on developing young talent but that's by no means our exclusive MO.

We don't sign many 32 year olds.
26-28 maybe atr a push. But since Poch came, I don't recall any older than 28 being signed.

 

[WiganSpur]

He's a good signing, just a shame we didn't bring in anyone quick to complement him

 

['O Zio]

We don't sign many 32 year olds.
26-28 maybe atr a push. But since Poch came, I don't recall any older than 28 being signed.

You're right, but I think the article is trying to make this something that it's not. We haven't signed any 30+ players in years because our plan is clearly to try and develop young players either to play in the first team or to develop and sell on for a profit. However, I don't think it's the case that it was an absolute no-go from Levy until now and he's suddenly just torn up some kind of metaphorical rule book. Nor do I think this is an indication of some kind of changing attitude at the club. I think, quite simply, this was seen as a convenient and suitable solution to a problem.