Adrien Rabiot

spursfan77 said:

Not looking positive on this now is it. Oh well. Doubt we will get anyone now, this was the only one thats been in the media all window,.

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Well, transfers and Spurs havent looked positive in awhile so nothing different.

hutchiniho said:

We’re not high profile enough to attract Rabiot/de jong/Werner/de ligt

But then we’re too strong for buying and playing Maddison/Brooks.

We’ve clearly fallen into transfer no mans land.

Would have loved to see Brooks and Maddison playing for us yesterday as understudies to Dele and Eriksen. Still think this is the way to go for us. Good depth and injury replacements and if the worst happens and an Eriksen does move on a ready and waiting heir apparent.

I guess convincing them to play understudy with us rather than starting for afcb or lei is the problem though.

Tricky! I think our position right no should be to poach the best players from the non top 6 prem teams.
And get our scouts to earn their keep of course.

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we are too strong for buying gkn/njie/stambouli/janssen etc., maddison/brooks didn't join us because they didn't want to be backup for us and maybe levy thought they were over-priced

hutchiniho said:

We’re not high profile enough to attract Rabiot/de jong/Werner/de ligt

But then we’re too strong for buying and playing Maddison/Brooks.

We’ve clearly fallen into transfer no mans land.

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Is it clear - it's clear that those two categories of player are proving hard for us to buy. But, while I appreciate the situation is difficult, there are a few things that I think are very clear:

1) We are not the first, or only team to be in this situation. Others have been here and succeeded (and failed) before
2) Those are not the only categories of player that would improve our squad, or first team
3) Regardless of the difficulty, we are not buying anyone...at all

We're going backwards. It's very clear.

Before, while others improved, we at least kept the squad together. That's now changing. Others are continuing to improve, while our squad is weakening.

We might get in the top 4 this year - stress, might. But seriously, I just can't see this lasting. This is sh*t right now

coy-spurs1882 said:

we are too strong for buying gkn/njie/stambouli/janssen etc., maddison/brooks didn't join us because they didn't want to be backup for us and maybe levy thought they were over-priced

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And you know this how? ITK stated last summer that the reason we didn’t go for Maddison was because Grealish was the preferred option. Pretty sure Maddison would have jumped at the chance to play under Poch. We didn’t go for him because we didn’t think he was as good as Grealish (or maybe it’s because JG was thought to be the cheaper option). Then by the time we ballsed up the Grealish transfer it was too late and he was off to Leicester

All these rumors back and forth. He prefers a move to Liverpool.. I'm just counting days until the transfer window closes.

SpartanSpur said:

What if we get another Dier or Dele or Foyth? No every signing is a guaranteed disaster. There must be some middle ground because it seems we are never going to sign a player under the current parameters unless we get very lucky.

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Yes a low cost risk is maybe what we need. Dier, Dele and Foyth weren't really expensive signings. It just seems we're too reluctant to take that step though given that there's always an Nkoudou or Janssen waiting to happen. The trouble is that the market has changed since we signed those type of player in the past. The cost is now ridiculous even for lower league players so the risk has become even bigger than before. 25m wasn't even enough for Grealish in the summer and he was running down his contract. I think we'll either have to find some homegrown bargains from the lower leagues or smaller countries (maybe Berge is a realistic one who surely wouldn't cost too much), get lucky with a top player running down their contract (Werner), or who isn't happy at a rich club who can afford to cut their losses (Rabiot at PSG and Isco at Real Madrid). It seems we took the option to improve the academy at the right time given the market now.

mil1lion said:

Yes a low cost risk is maybe what we need. Dier, Dele and Foyth weren't really expensive signings. It just seems we're too reluctant to take that step though given that there's always an Nkoudou or Janssen waiting to happen. The trouble is that the market has changed since we signed those type of player in the past. The cost is now ridiculous even for lower league players so the risk has become even bigger than before. 25m wasn't even enough for Grealish in the summer and he was running down his contract. I think we'll either have to find some homegrown bargains from the lower leagues or smaller countries (maybe Berge is a realistic one who surely wouldn't cost too much), get lucky with a top player running down their contract (Werner), or who isn't happy at a rich club who can afford to cut their losses (Rabiot at PSG and Isco at Real Madrid). It seems we took the option to improve the academy at the right time given the market now.

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The problem is the elite are also decent bargains too, making us even less likely to get one. Juve and Bayern especially seem to be all over the low contract market.

It's gonna have to be down to scouting, or we consider taking some older heads to plug some gaps despite low resell value.

Whilst I understand Pochettino’s stance, that he only wants players that will take us to the next level, we really need to get smarter at identifying those players, not just the media usual suspects that everyman is after, because we generally lose out on those deals, be it current success or sheer cash on the table.
Even allowing for the stadium hikes, this premier league is the richest league in the world, there is no way we should be skint when our contemporaries splash the cash when require. Yes, they don’t all have stadiums to fund. But even so, we should not be so skint.
If the Rabiot’s and De Jong’s of the world find us not that attractive yet, then start identifying talent elsewhere, because yesterday showed a distinct lack of depth, we looked clueless. The Southampton’s, Watford’s etc identify players from lesser leagues, bring them in, then sell on for profit. If we can’t live with the big boys, then try beating these guys to the players one step sooner.

while it would be great to sign a talent like Rabiot, he has a little too much Adebayor in him for me. Poch wants selfless, not selfish players. You don't have bust ups with the National Team coach and your club coach in the same year if your ego is in check. Perhaps Poch is the perfect mentor but in this case, i'm good either way.

Of course he fancies Liverpool. That's where the higher salary is.

Nebby said:

Of course he fancies Liverpool. That's where the higher salary is.

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And the ambitious board?

Nebby said:

Of course he fancies Liverpool. That's where the higher salary is.

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It's not just that though, is it? Liverpool got to the CL final last season, and will go very close to winning the PL this season. We're in the CL regularly, but we're clearly not perceived as an elite club at the moment. Liverpool aren't quite an elite club yet either, but, if we're honest, they're closer to that classification than we are currently.

I think my stance has changed on this recently.

Especially given @am_yisrael_chai 's info a couple of pages back about ENIC wanting to sell the club.

I just want an owner like the other clubs in the Top 4/6 have.
One that isn't afraid to throw some fucking moolah around every now and again.

We are literally standing still. Treading water. It's painful.

I stated in another thread a while back that something doesn't feel right, and I stand by that.

We'll have a nice stadium to play in, but, unless ENIC/Lewis stance DRASTICALLY changes, no one decent to put on the pitch.

It's all very odd. We have to be successful to command the sorts of figures I expect us to be valued at by our current owners.
If they neglect the playing staff, which they seem to be, we aren't going to be successful.

God, I bet it feels a bit stale going to training every day at the min...

Nerine said:

I think my stance has changed on this recently.

Especially given Israel Yids info a couple of pages back about ENIC wanting to sell the club.

I just want an owner like the other clubs in the Top 4/6 have.
One that isn't afraid to throw some fucking moolah around every now and again.

We are literally standing still. Treading water. It's painful.

I stated in another thread a while back that something doesn't feel right, and I stand by that.

We'll have a nice stadium to play in, but, unless ENIC/Lewis stance DRASTICALLY changes, no one decent to put on the pitch.

It's all very odd. We have to be successful to command the sorts of figures I expect us to be valued at by our current owners.
If they neglect the playing staff, which they seem to be, we aren't going to be successful.

God, I bet it feels a bit stale going to training every day at the min...

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I agree with this. Initially i was completely against the cash rich owners who chucked money around and was actually quite proud of our British roots in terms of ownership.

Not anymore.

I like watching Kane, Dele, Eriksen, Son etc play for Tottenham. Whilst we continue to have an owner who doesnt realise that he cant take his money into the afterlife with him, the risk of them leaving us will always be there.

As long as those kind of players continue to play for us, I honestly couldnt give a fuck how unethical our cash flow is.

If someone were to buy us though it would cost a lot of money, would there then be much money left over to pump into the squad?

I've always said ENIC will only spend what we get from sales until they sell up. They want out and a substantial net spend on transfers just isn't going to happen under them, never has happened in the past and certainly won't happen now. I just hope they sell up to new owners who have loftier ambitions. ENIC are obviously keen to get the stadium up and running this season because they longer the delay, the longer it isn't generating money and costing them money.

The talk of having around £100m to spend is far fetched. We only spend that amount if we get that from sales and there is a very good chance of it happening with Eriksen and Alderweirald in the summer with their contract situations. Anyone hoping for anything else under ENIC is not being realistic imo.

Money talks!! When it comes to players they have a short career and are not guaranteed anything once they retire. So 95% of the time a player in Rabiot's position is going to go where he can get the most money. He might spout about Spurs being beneath his level etc etc but if we were offering Ozil type wages he would probably come.

Now you might say he can get good money at PSG but the spanner in the works is his Mum/his agents/his attitude/insert here any reason. On paper Spurs is an extremely attractive club..Stadium/Training Ground/Cheese Room etc etc.If we pay the money we get the player. Either you are happy we are not paying the kind of wages that other top clubs do so we "don't do a Leeds" or you are crying out for the structure to change so we can start to attract top talent.

I am all for a well run club but Spurs are about emotion for me and once in a while I would love us to go all in and see what happens. Rabiot isn't the be all and end all but he would be a signing to get the emotions going.

I do think we miss having a Baldini to get things done. It just seems Levy is too occupied with the stadium at the moment. Even when it's finished he'll be busy selling it to a massive sponsor and getting as much exposure for it as possible. Do we have anyone pushing a deal like this through this week? Of course they would still need Poch to give final approval first but if we're going to get anyone in we need to make moves. Maybe we are and we're just not seeing it but it does feel like we're too inactive at the moment.

mil1lion said:

I do think we miss having a Baldini to get things done. It just seems Levy is too occupied with the stadium at the moment. Even when it's finished he'll be busy selling it to a massive sponsor and getting as much exposure for it as possible. Do we have anyone pushing a deal like this through this week? Of course they would still need Poch to give final approval first but if we're going to get anyone in we need to make moves. Maybe we are and we're just not seeing it but it does feel like we're too inactive at the moment.

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No we have no one else working for the club who could be involved in transfer discussions.

am_yisrael_chai said:

I think my biggest difference from many on here is that I don’t believe that once the revenues really start to flow that we will see the benefits of that in terms of on the pitch quality. This is because I am ITK that ENIC are actively trying to sell the club and have been since the summer. That info / view radically skews my perspective. I suspect if the fan base knew that all the parsimony of the last few years wasn’t so we could have an amazing stadium that would then allow us to compete for the best players but instead was all just geared to the enrichment of Lewis/Levy that there would be very few BSoDL, but most live on in hope that the promised land is just around the corner.

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We've known all along that ENIC were building the club up in order to make a big profit on a future sale. The stadium was always going to be the final piece in that particular puzzle. As soon as that was nearly ready, ENIC were going to be looking for buyers. You really don't need to have been ITK on that to know it. They are an investment company- it even says so right in their name!

The fact is though, that the club is in a much better position thanks to Lewis/Levy/ENIC than it was before they took over. When they sell, it's the new owners who will (hopefully) be investing in the team- there will be nowhere else that needs working on.

In the meantime, anyone who thinks Spurs under ENIC were ever going to spend money on transfers that hasn't been brought in through sales either hasn't been watching, or doesn't understand what they have been seeing.

This is why I am perfectly happy with the way Poch works and the lack of signings coming in. Get the ones he wants or don't get anybody. ENIC's time is coming to an end, and now we just have to hope that they sell to someone who genuinely cares about the club. I don't know how people aren't seeing it, it's been perfectly clear to me for several years what has been happening and what the plan was, and I'm in the know about nothing.

The groundwork for turning Spurs into genuine contenders has pretty much been done. Unless they sell to someone who has no interest in pushing the club on, the future of the club is bright. It was always the plan for it to be this way, and yes, ENIC/Levy/Lewis are looking to make a huge profit from the work they've done, but let's not for one second pretend that the work that's been done hasn't put the club into a great position for the future.

It's the job of the next owners to bring in the best players and compete for the trophies. ENIC were never about that. It was always about the future, not the present. ENIC are in their endgame now, and that future is nearly upon us. A little bit of patience and a little bit of hope that we get the right new owners is really all that's required.

I'm neither BSoDL nor the opposite- I am grateful for the good things he has done for the club, and disappointed in his mistakes. But the club is definitely in a much better position in every single aspect than it was when he took over as chairman. The promised land might be just round the corner, or it might not, but ENIC were never going to be the owners to take us to it. They were always going to be the owners that took us to the border and then handed the club on to the owners whose job it will be to actually take us over that border.