Tottenham Hotspurs In and Outs
Tottenham has been busy early in the transfer window. With an entire season behind him, Ange Postecoglou clearly knows what needs trimming and what needs reinforcing. While a major portion of the transfer window is still left, Spurs have already done some business in this window.
Let’s take a look at the ins and outs till now.
Archie Gray (40m)
Leeds United’s reluctance to sell Archie Gray should be a good indicator of how highly they thought of the 18-year-old. Archie Gray had his breakthrough year last season. While mostly playing as an RB under Daniel Farke, Gray is naturally a central midfielder, and under Ange, expect him to get game time in the center of the pitch.
Leeds United, unable to get promotion to the Premier League in their first attempt, knew they were going to be raided by the Premier League clubs. Summerville left Leeds for West Ham, and Archie Gray went to Spurs.
Spurs hope Gray will have a similar impact as Dele Alli, but they also pray he’ll last much longer than the once-mercurial Englishman.
Timo Werner (Loan to Permanent)
The German started his loan spell promisingly, but faded away by the end of the year. Considering there is currently a dearth in the Strikers market, Spurs have shown faith in Werner and have gone all in on him. Spurs will be hoping the German finally fulfills his potential.
Lucas Bergvall (8.5m)
If you can judge a player on pre-season form, then Bergvall is looking like a fantastic prospect for the Spurs. No one will notice, but the Spurs have a knack for pulling off underrated deals for promising midfielders like Carrick, Modric, and Eriksen.
Departures
Joe Rodon (10m)
With Gray joining Spurs, Joe Rodon went the other way. It was only fair as Rodon had spent the last year at the Championship side and made quite an impact.
Eric Dier (Free)
When Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich, the German club’s board brought in Eric Dier to give Kane some company. It was also the fact that Bayern would get a versatile defender. Dier joined Bayern on loan last summer but made his move permanent this year.
Pierre-Emile Hojberg (Obligation to buy for 17m)
Hojberg carved out a decent career with Spurs, but with Ange Postecoglou shaping the squad to his liking, Hojberg was considered surplus to requirements. He joins Marseille on loan for the season with an obligation to buy at the end of the season for 17m.
Ryan Sessegnon, Japhet Tanganga, Tanguy Ndombele (Free)
Sessegnon finally departs Spurs. It wasn’t meant to be for a talent once regarded as a Wunderkind. Tanganga also departs on a free transfer after an underwhelming spell in North London.
Speaking of underwhelming, Ndombele arrived at Spurs looking to break out as the next big thing and someone the French national team could have relied upon, but it was a complete disaster. Ndombele never settled at Spurs, and constant changes in managerial positions only made it more difficult. In the end, it all ended in shambles. What a waste.