Joao Moutinho

[mpickard2087]

It's not the end of the world. Sure it would have been nice, and given how late we left it and losing our heart, would and brain of the side in two months ( VDV, King and Modric ) I was on the verge of staffing had we signed Joao, even though at the start of the window I was apprehensive.

Banega is another option. Spanish clubs are looking to trim their wage bills lately. All depends on how he comes back. How about we stay with Porto and have a little look at Defour? He hasn't set the world alight at Porto but I for one have always thought he was a talented player. Of course it means dealing with them again so would mean more Levy v their chairman in rich mans bluff calling round 2. Also having Mousa and Jan here would help him slot in nice.

Banega was someone I mentioned last summer when it was reported he was available for about £8m, very good player but lets see how he comes back from his nasty leg break.

There are alternatives out there, lets hope we get someone suitable to replace Modric in January

 

[nedley]

Claudio Yacob.

Maybe I should start a thread for him.

Will be interested in Jan and next summer for sure.

 

[panoma]

I think Moutinho would suit our system in a 4-2-3-1 set-up more then Modric did.

Not saying either is better, but Modric always felt like a jack-of-all-trades kinda central midfielder who didn't really excel at being an attacking midfielder or a defensive midfielder.

If this was true then its wierd how AVB chased Modric so long last summer instead of Moutinho, so its obvious he see Modric as the perfect player for him, with Moutinho a solid second.

 

[DJS]

If this was true then its wierd how AVB chased Modric so long last summer instead of Moutinho, so its obvious he see Modric as the perfect player for him, with Moutinho a solid second.

Or maybe I just know more then AVB.

 

[archiewasking]

Or maybe I just know more then AVB.

Who doesn't??

 

[PT]

If this was true then its wierd how AVB chased Modric so long last summer instead of Moutinho, so its obvious he see Modric as the perfect player for him, with Moutinho a solid second.

Different players at each club. Horses for courses and all that.

 

[SpurSince57]

I don't think anybody really knows his buyout price though. I've heard £32m/32meuros all sorts.

The point I'm getting at is that it was a mighty balls up by Levy IMO. I was personally hoping that this transfer would be to a certain extent; exempt from heavy brinkmanship, especially so close to the deadline.

Basically, if it meant offering that little bit more when push came to shove - we should have done it for this transfer.

It's that important.

IMO will cost us CL (although you can never predict)

Factual statements! Dontcha just love them? I know I do!

It's intriguing that AVB is supposed to be very close to Moutinho (and does anyone believe for a moment that they hadn't talked this summer), yet wasn't aware that he was wanting far bigger money in personal terms than we were able to offer. This isn't supposition; AVB said himself that he had to speak to Moutinho on Friday night in order to get him to reduce his demands, and that must have taken up valuable time.

All we've read is that the deal was apparently agreed, that we were prepared to blow our previous transfer record into the weeds, and then other parties started twatting about and the deal timed out. Naturally, it's got to be 'Levy's fault'.

 

[nedley]

Factual statements! Dontcha just love them? I know I do!

It's intriguing that AVB is supposed to be very close to Moutinho (and does anyone believe for a moment that they hadn't talked this summer), yet wasn't aware that he was wanting far bigger money in personal terms than we were able to offer. This isn't supposition; AVB said himself that he had to speak to Moutinho on Friday night in order to get him to reduce his demands, and that must have taken up valuable time.

All we've read is that the deal was apparently agreed, that we were prepared to blow our previous transfer record into the weeds, and then other parties started twatting about and the deal timed out. Naturally, it's got to be 'Levy's fault'.

Well he is our sporting director, our director of football, our chief negotiator and as I know very little about what goes on behind the scenes - it shall be levy that I blame.

You've got to admit it was all very Spurs when we found ourselves clinging on to the hope that we would still sign him after this 'extension'. Always a show from us on dealine day.

But hey I'm relatively happy with our summer; some fantastic signings.

It's just a shame that we couldn't get this done.

But hey...lets bid big for Yacob in jan instead.

 

[SpurSince57]

Well he is our sporting director, our director of football, our chief negotiator and as I know very little about what goes on behind the scenes - it shall be levy that I blame.

You've got to admit it was all very Spurs when we found ourselves clinging on to the hope that we would still sign him after this 'extension'. Always a show from us on dealine day.

But hey I'm relatively happy with our summer; some fantastic signings.

It's just a shame that we couldn't get this done.

But hey...lets bid big for Yacob in jan instead.

Levy does love his wheeling and dealing, and I don't doubt for a moment there's a strong element of personal satisfaction in facing down the opposition, as well as getting absolutely the best deal for Spurs. When your cash-flow is £8m and you can only finance your buying from selling (unless you want to run up a shedload of unsustainable debt) you just have to chisel out every deal. I wish I was as good at it as Levy—I'd be a lot better off if I were. But we really don't know for sure about what went on here, and at one time early on Friday it looked as if we'd pulled off a real coup against the odds.

 

[DIEHARD]

Daniel Levy is a control freak - he seems to be having too much power at the club.

Does the guy ever get challenged? scrutinised? Do his actions get dissected?

Not a big fan of all too much power.

 

[SteveH]

Daniel Levy is a control freak - he seems to be having too much power at the club.

Does the guy ever get challenged? scrutinised? Do his actions get dissected?

Not a big fan of all too much power.

Daniel Levy controls Tottenham Hotspur and he is very short.

 

[sim0n]

Levy does love his wheeling and dealing, and I don't doubt for a moment there's a strong element of personal satisfaction in facing down the opposition, as well as getting absolutely the best deal for Spurs. When your cash-flow is £8m and you can only finance your buying from selling (unless you want to run up a shedload of unsustainable debt) you just have to chisel out every deal. I wish I was as good at it as Levy—I'd be a lot better off if I were. But we really don't know for sure about what went on here, and at one time early on Friday it looked as if we'd pulled off a real coup against the odds.

I agree and don't feel too bad about "missing out" on moutinho in this window past. I think porto are trying to hold Spurs ransom for a largely inflated price for him due to the AVB connection. A calmer atmosphere in January might better suit DL to do what he does well - get the right player for the right price in order to keep Spurs competitive without an oil oligarch at the helm

 

[Outnumbered]

we gonna make a move again?

 

[tototoner]

from harry hotspur

Good afternoon.

Nothing earth shattering I have to say. a.bola.com the Portuguese site ran a speculative piece yesterday suggesting that come January Andrè Villas-Boas will try to resurrect the deal to bring João Moutinho to The Lane. An interesting turn of phrase from the author, describing the situation on transfer deadline day night as…

“a negotiation that left the British on the brink of a nervous breakdown, after being forced to cancel a pre-enrollment Moutinho sent to the Premier League, just hours before the close of the transfer market in Western Europe.”

Also it supports the notion that there was a deal desperately trying to be hammered out and not a sinister work of fiction as purported by Robby Boy whatsisname from TopSpurs.com and others unable to cope with reality which is in the main, normally quite a humdrum business.

Today the player has issued the following in relation to the move…

“The market has already closed. Not worth talking more about it, I’m just focused on FC Porto and not on speculation. This club gives me all the stability to show my football”

This is what you’d expect from a professional footballer and I guess leaves the door open for ‘another go’ in January. The issue here is third party ownership. As I said on the last HHH, if you were buying a house – and we all know what a completely thankless grind that can be- and then just as you agree a deal a third party pops it’s head around the door in Harry Enfield ‘only me!’ style, telling you they own 15%, odds on it’s Game Over. Do Not Insert New Coin To Continue. Go Home.

 

[yanno]

I was hugely frustrated on deadline day that we'd failed to sign Moutinho. However, on reflection, given the ITK about a huge injection of cash into Spurs was not true, I'm no longer as gutted.

I understand why AVB wanted Moutinho. He's a very good player, and an excellent fit for AVB's 4-3-3. A midfield three permed from Sandro, Dembele, Parker and Moutinho would be one of the strongest in the PL. Possibly the strongest.

If I was our manager, needing results now, I'd be mightily pissed off. In addition, Moutinho could have been AVB's brain on the pitch.

Against that, I don't thnk Moutinho is a £25 million player. I'm also not impressed with a player who changed his salary demands late on deadline day, causing a chain reaction with Porto and third parties demanding more money, and ultimately scuppering the deal.

Modric went for over £30 million, and I'm pretty sure that Man Shitty, Manure and Chavski would have paid that price if they thought we would sold him to them. None of them were in for Moutinho at £25 million.

For £25 million, if our scouts are doing their job, there's a chance we could get a couple of excellent CMs and risk buying a young talent. Oscar for £3 million last season is obviously, with hindsight, a transfer that every single one of us would have sanctioned.

AVB now has five months to see what he can do with a very talented squad. He also has money to spend in January.

Will we blow all that cash on Moutinho?

Answers in December.

 

[SpurSince57]

I was hugely frustrated on deadline day that we'd failed to sign Moutinho. However, on reflection, given the ITK about a huge injection of cash into Spurs was not true, I'm no longer as gutted.

I understand why AVB wanted Moutinho. He's a very good player, and an excellent fit for AVB's 4-3-3. A midfield three permed from Sandro, Dembele, Parker and Moutinho would be one of the strongest in the PL. Possibly the strongest.

We made £27.5m profit on player sales last season, and this summer's sales totalled £63m-£64m. We spent about £50m (£54m if we pay full whack for Lloris), so there was plenty in the kitty without getting ourselves heavily into debt. One presumes there's still the thick end of £40m available for the January sales.

 

[tototoner]

Don't think Tranfer kitty is the issue, wages are

 

[SpurSince57]

Wages were sorted, I thought—although how the hell they suddenly became an issue on the last day beats me.

 

[Wellspurs]

That Moutinho statement must have been written by his agent "I'm just focused on FC Porto and not speculation" yeah right.

The ship has sailed and alot can happen in 4 months.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Quite frankly, I think it may be time we start looking at finding the next Moutinho instead of Moutinho himself. Leaving the door open for Moutinho of course, but a secondary plan should be put into place between now and January.

I have full faith that AVB can find a younger player that he can mold into his Moutinho v2.0 for Tottenham.

I think Isco could be a great starting point. And, the benefit of doing this is presumably finding a talent that a.) Is younger and b.) would probably come at a fraction of the price.

We all know Tottenham/DL is always looking for the smart buy. To me, going with a younger player who is on the fringe of a breakout (i.e. Isco) would be far more worth the money. Moutinho has a very slim chance of improving his value. While Moutinho represents an immediate fit into a position on the pitch for Tottenham, I do think we could do a lot of good for the whole of the squad with that 22-25m.

It's a gamble for sure. I'm essentially saying not going for the proven product because his valuation may not go up, and opt for a younger guy who simply may not pan out. But, if DL trusts AVB's scouting of players (Something I'd really hope he does as he did hire him), then I believe AVB can determine a young player that he believes can come into the first-team and build him up into a new Moutinho.

It's just a thought, and I think either way I'd be extremely happy as Moutinho is a hell of a player and he'd represent an immediate upgrade in midfield.