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In the world of football, the more that some things change, the more others stay the same. And that constant during the January transfer window – which has now firmly closed – was the fact that like in the summer transfer window of 2018, Tottenham Hotspur made no new signings, despite a lot of paper talk and various links.
The question of whether Tottenham’s lack of transfer activity will cost them, in the long run, is the main question being asked about Mauricio Pochettino’s side right now, and it’s a pretty tricky one to answer as there are so many facets to look at.
Firstly, the January window is always a tricky one to gauge – often, January signings have the feel of a panic buy, and it’s not like Spurs were the only Premier League side not to sign anyone this time – title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City also made no new signings, although to counter that argument, both teams had heavily reinforced in previous windows where Tottenham didn’t.
And secondly, would adding a new player or two really have helped Spurs over the past couple of fixtures? Probably not. Since losing Harry Kane and Dele Alli to injury, Pochettino’s side have won three straight Premier League games, beating Fulham, Watford and Newcastle all via late goals – essentially, the kind of form that usually wins league titles.
On the flip side, of course, Spurs have also been eliminated from both the EFL Cup and the FA Cup in the past couple of weeks. Fans and pundits alike have bemoaned this, feeling the two competitions were Tottenham’s best chance of a trophy this season, but realistically, there was no proof that Pochettino felt the same way.
The EFL Cup exit to Chelsea came via a penalty shoot-out, which is always somewhat of a lottery, and while the FA Cup loss to Crystal Palace was massively disappointing, the amount of changes Pochettino made for that game – leaving out the in-form Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld and Harry Winks – suggested the competition remained secondary in his mind at least.
Still, it is a fact that compared to their nearest rivals, Tottenham do have a shallow squad. Their first XI, when everyone is fit, is comparable to any side in the world – but it’s the backup options that are somewhat worrying. Sure, they’ve survived without Kane and Alli in Premier League action recently, but the fact that Vincent Janssen is now back in the main squad despite clearly not fitting into Pochettino’s plans is proof of this shallow nature.
Tottenham fans and Pochettino apologists would probably point to the fact that the Argentine has always preferred to promote from within – using the examples of Kane, Winks, and more recently Kyle Walker-Peters and Oliver Skipp, but while that’s all well and good, sometimes a couple of new faces are simply needed – particularly when a stalwart like Mousa Dembele has departed.
So will the lack of signings cost the team? In the short term, probably not – Spurs have already proven that they can just about survive without their key players, and so signing backups for them perhaps isn’t necessary. But in the long term, that becomes another thing altogether.
A lot depends on where the decisions in terms of transfers are coming from. Some have suggested that it’s Pochettino himself who doesn’t necessarily want new players – hence the links to the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Adrien Rabiot and Josh Maja, all of whom were probably realistic targets – didn’t come off. But if that’s not the case – and the lack of signings comes purely from Daniel Levy being tight with the purse strings – then Spurs fans ought to be worried.
Last summer, Mauricio Pochettino signed a new deal with the club, but also implored them to “be brave”, without actually stating exactly what he meant by this. Many observers took it as him demanding that Levy open his wallet some more, but then Spurs failed to sign a single player in that transfer window, and the Argentine seems to have remained happy.
But is that truly the case? Or is Pochettino simply biding his time and looking for an exit strategy – something entirely possible with Manchester United, who have insane funds behind them, sniffing around and looking for a new manager to take them forward? Right now, it’s almost impossible to tell. One thing is for certain, though – if Pochettino were to leave Tottenham, then the whole ‘project’, as it has been referred to, might fall apart. If Pochettino were to go then how far behind would Alli and Kane be?
As far as anyone is aware right now though, Tottenham’s players are happy. Davinson Sanchez, for instance, came out in defence of Spurs’ squad today, stating that they have the depth to cope without Kane and Alli while they’re injured and praised Fernando Llorente in particular. That’s a stark contrast to the attitude of Danny Rose in the summer of 2017, when the left-back stated that he hoped Tottenham would sign players that “you didn’t have to Google”.
Rose has since been welcomed back into the fold by Pochettino though, and it has been suggested that the controversial interview had more to do with Rose’s mindset at the time coming off a handful of injuries and with concerns about his future. And none of the other Spurs players – including key men like Kane – have suggested anything is untoward.
One thing that could suggest things behind the scenes at Tottenham aren’t perfect is the contract situation of both Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld. Both men are key players for Pochettino and yet rumours persist that both men will leave the club in the summer. Alderweireld is under contract until the summer of 2020, but Spurs had to trigger an extension in order to prevent him leaving this summer – an extension that includes a £25m release clause.
Eriksen’s contract also runs to the summer of 2020, but whether he’ll sign an extension at Tottenham is still up in the air, particularly with Real Madrid supposedly considering a move for the Dane. So would new signings make Alderweireld and Eriksen more likely to stay at the club?
Well, possibly. They’d be a sign of intent, of course, but realistically the thing that will keep those two players is a bigger weekly wage, not more competition for their places. Kane, Alli and Heung Min Son have all signed new deals at Tottenham recently – and it’s hardly a surprise that those deals came with major increases in their wages.
Of course, the other question that then comes to mind is whether Tottenham actually have the money to sign new players in the first place – or whether they might need to sell one of their current stars in order to finance any major moves. Naturally, the fear of that being the case stems from the enormous costs of the new White Hart Lane stadium, which has of course been delayed on numerous occasions now.
If the need to sell a player to buy another is correct, then that could explain why Eriksen is yet to be offered a new deal that makes sense to him – perhaps Levy and Pochettino plan on cashing in on the Dane and sending him to Real Madrid for a huge fee, and then bringing two or three players in to strengthen the squad in his absence.
There’s a major problem with that, though – today it’s been reported that Real are no longer looking to sign Eriksen due to them preferring to target Chelsea’s Eden Hazard – and in the same report, it’s now being suggested that Chelsea or Manchester City could go for Eriksen instead. That’s worrying, as Tottenham fans would undoubtedly be furious if Eriksen was sold to a Premier League rival – and if that were to happen, the ambition of the club would be quite rightly called into question – as would the future of Pochettino.
In the end, Tottenham fans simply need to do one thing, and that’s the same thing they’ve been doing since 2014/15 – trust, assuming he’s still fully committed to the cause and doesn’t intend to leave in the summer, that Pochettino knows what he’s doing and wields enough power at the club to ensure his vision is the one that continues to grow at Spurs – whether it involves new signings or not.
As for the question of whether the lack of signings will cost Tottenham in the long run, only the future can answer that. In a year’s time we may well be talking about how that lack of signings allowed Oliver Skipp and Troy Parrott to break through and become great players – or perhaps we won’t. Only time will tell.
