Player Alex Scott

[Frozen_Waffles]

Chelsea have just paid nearly 25 million for a kid from Rennes, if that's a marker and you add the home-grown tax Bristol would be mad to let him go for any less than that.

I wouldn't be using Chelsea as a marker for how much to spend on a player.

 

[carmeldevil]

I wouldn't be using Chelsea as a marker for how much to spend on a player.

But other teams do.

 

[coy-spurs1882]

But other teams do.

the selling clubs, to be precise

 

[spursfan77]

I’m assuming the right price is a lot less than they want?

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

But other teams do.

Maybe I'm out of touch but the spending of United, Arsenal and Chelsea is beyond ludicrous.

Just look at Chelseas business compared to ours..

Bissouma, Maddison, Sarr, Bentancur = Enzo Fernandez

Or Richarlison and Kulusevski = Mudryk

Considering we finished above Chelsea last season and above Arsenal the season before I don't see the relation between spending huge amounts of money on young unproven players and success.

Chelsea don't care because if it doesn't work out they can just use their Saudi connections and basically cheat.

So no, I think we shouldn't be using Chelsea as a marker for anything.

 

[DiVaio]

Liverpool - we need a top CB to take us to the next level - VDV
Man Utd - we really need a CF to compete, as if by magic, there's a offer that can't be refused on Atalanta's doorstep.
Tottenham - let's try and haggle, with figures miles apart in valuation for months on end, only to fail, miss out, and leave everyone short.

Big club structure, small club attitude to recruitment.

Really weird example considering every Serie A or Atalanta fan will say Hojlund for 75+10m is massive overspend from United and he's worth maybe a half of that.
It isn't small club attitude at all - Liverpool or City who are most successful clubs in last few years doesn't overspend on players at all and happily move on when they think it's too much and usually it ends up good for them(Maguire, Cucurella, Werner etc). Compare it to Chelsea or United

 

[Whazam]

But that’s the point - settling for the cheaper option. There are no guarantees, but we are being cautious instead of bold.

Reportedly, at the time, Lo Celso was Poch's preference all along, as well as a safer bet. Nothing pointed at us settling for him.

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

GLC and Ndombele were both second choices. So was Soldado. Sanchez wasn’t our main target and if I’m remembering rightly he wasn’t even 2nd choice.

Reggy was a punt because of the favourable deal we were offered.

Romero and Porro are only instances where we went out and got our number 1 target.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure @Trix said at the time that Conte actually had a different top target for the RWB position.

 

[Albertbarich]

I wouldn't be using Chelsea as a marker for how much to spend on a player.

You would if you were selling your prized asset.

 

[Dazzazzad]

But that’s the point - settling for the cheaper option. There are no guarantees, but we are being cautious instead of bold.

But that's the argument I'm making, that the more expensive option is often not the better option. That a more prudent choice may be better and if its not, then you have another bullet in the chamber (the savings) to try again.

Muani was free a year ago and is valued at 80 million today. Bentancur was a cheap buy and is now one of our best players. Etc etc.

Look, I'm not against blockbuster signings it's just that I feel the argument tends to default to the more we spend the better (more ambition, more bold) - but I think we should be smarter.

I'll be annoyed as anyone if we don't have a quality CB next to Romero in a few weeks but I'm not going to be excited based on how much we spend on that player.

 

[For the love of Spurs]

I’m assuming the right price is a lot less than they want?

In life we make many assumptions, some wild and some sensible. This is probably the most sensible 100% on the money assumption you could possibly get.

 

[yido_number1]

GLC and Ndombele were both second choices. So was Soldado. Sanchez wasn’t our main target and if I’m remembering rightly he wasn’t even 2nd choice.

Reggy was a punt because of the favourable deal we were offered.

Romero and Porro are only instances where we went out and got our number 1 target.

Itk said porro wasn't Conte's first choice either

 

[yido_number1]

who were GLC and Ndombele second choices for. de Jong? I can’t remember.

i think sissoko was our choice after missing out on Grealish, no?

Sissoko was the mane replacement, don't laugh it's true.

 

[mil1lion]

Sissoko was the mane replacement, don't laugh it's true.

I don't think that's true at all. Obviously a player in a different position is not a replacement or alternative. It's just another opportunistic signing where we jumped on it to try and save face. It's pretty much the same here, if a player comes up at a good deal we tend to show interest. Centre midfield isn't the priority but if Scott was available at a good price we would probably pounce regardless. That' why our squad gets so messed up because we rather a squad of good deals over a balanced one.

 

[yido_number1]

I don't think that's true at all. Obviously a player in a different position is not a replacement or alternative. It's just another opportunistic signing where we jumped on it to try and save face. It's pretty much the same here, if a player comes up at a good deal we tend to show interest. Centre midfield isn't the priority but if Scott was available at a good price we would probably pounce regardless. That' why our squad gets so messed up because we rather a squad of good deals over a balanced one.

It's in Pochs book it is true. He wanted a fast player that could break the lines. We spoke to Mane and the deal was too expensive for Levy and levy went with Sissoko.

 

[yido_number1]

It's in Pochs book it is true. He wanted a fast player that could break the lines. We spoke to Mane and the deal was too expensive for Levy and levy went with Sissoko.

That picture of mane crossing it into Sissokos arm in the champs league final is Levy's strategy in action and how it hurts us.

 

[mil1lion]

It's in Pochs book it is true. He wanted a fast player that could break the lines. We spoke to Mane and the deal was too expensive for Levy and levy went with Sissoko.

But that isn't Levy thinking of Sissoko as an alternative, it's just him coming across a deal Everton had lined up and jumping on it late in the window

 

[For the love of Spurs]

But that isn't Levy thinking of Sissoko as an alternative, it's just him coming across a deal Everton had lined up and jumping on it late in the window

doesn’t that just sum up how we operate. We need Mane but it’s a bit over the fee/wage price point so we back out then put the money to a player in a completely unrelated position.

it’s not about what we need it’s about the market opportunity. That ain’t ever going to help us win trophies.

 

[yido_number1]

But that isn't Levy thinking of Sissoko as an alternative, it's just him coming across a deal Everton had lined up and jumping on it late in the window

He was playing right wing for Newcastle at the time. It's exactly what levy was thinking.

 

[JayB]

But that isn't Levy thinking of Sissoko as an alternative, it's just him coming across a deal Everton had lined up and jumping on it late in the window

A deal that happened to be for a pacey winger. It was only after Sissoko had failed in the RWF positon that he transitioned into playing the box-to-box CM role for us.

Yes there was an element of opportunism to the deal but it’s also accurate that Sissoko was, in practice, the cheaper alternative to Poch’s preferred option at the main position we were attempting to strengthen that summer.

The same general dynamic has played out repeatedly. Look no further than our current CB conundrum where we brought in Rodon as the cheap alternative to Skriniar and Lenglet as a stopgap loan instead of Bastoni/Bremer.

We’re never going to land the manager’s top choice at every position but our alternatives have been woefully inadequate.

Levy’s obsession with getting “good value” on a deal rather than paying what it takes to get the right players with the right attributes to thrive in the manger’s setup has cost us time and time again, yet nothing seems to ever change.