Managing Director Football: Fabio Paratici

[yankspurs]

From the Athletic. As suspected, we probably wont move anyone on because Levy will still want pre pandemic prices for them.

Who are the most likely and realistic transfer targets? A lot of names have been floated, but I’d imagine only a handful are legitimate — Eric H

Deep breath and… yes, as you say Eric, a lot of names being chucked about. Here’s the state of play as I know it…

Spurs have made a bid of €15 million (£12.9 million) plus add-ons for Bologna defender Tomiyasu, but the Italian club want around €17 million (£14.5 million), as well as add-ons. Arsenal are also interested in the player, but Spurs are hopeful they can push ahead and complete the deal. Paratici’s links in Italy could be decisive.

Tottenham have a number of other defensive targets, with centre-backs Jules Kounde of Sevilla and Lyon’s Joachim Andersen, who spent last season on loan at Fulham, on their list. Their interest in Milan Skriniar of Inter Milan is longstanding, but he will likely be out of their price range. Then there’s Southampton’s Jannik Vestergaard, who after impressing for Denmark at Euro 2020 only has one year left on his contract, and was someone Mourinho admired when he was head coach. Mourinho is now looking to sign Vestergaard for his new club Roma.

Spurs are understood to retain an interest in him, but there have been no talks with Southampton at this stage, and he is not thought to be their first choice. Should Tottenham pursue the move then Vestergaard’s friendship with compatriot Hojbjerg could help convince him to move to London ahead of his other options. And Vestergaard’s preference is to remain in the Premier League.

Incidentally, this approach of talking to a number of targets and keeping options open is a classic Paratici tactic, which I wrote about in my recent profile of Spurs’ new managing director of football. Something else I addressed in that piece is the extent to which, as Niall P puts it, Paratici will have full control over the transfers or will Levy still be sticking his oar in? The expectation is that Paratici will have a large degree of autonomy, but it’ll be a fascinating dynamic, and is something that those who deal with Spurs are extremely curious about.

Returning to transfer targets, I’m told there has been no move made for Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanic, but signing a striker (hopefully as a Kane back-up) is a priority. There has been the suggestion of a move for Danny Ings but that looks unlikely, as unless they receive a big offer Southampton will let the striker run down his contract and keep him for another year.

A bunch of you also asked about the other side of Tottenham’s recruitment this summer: outgoings and streamlining the squad. This is one of the biggest challenges facing Paratici, actually getting fees for Tottenham’s unwanted fringe players.

To answer Mark T and Tom C’s questions, Aurier, Sissoko, Erik Lamela have all been told they can find new clubs. As we reported last week, Toby Alderweireld wants to leave, while the likes of Harry Winks and Davinson Sanchez will learn more now that a head coach is in place. Lucas Moura would be sold if a decent offer came in, but his industry and versatility are valued at the club. With Steven Bergwijn meanwhile, Tottenham’s intention is for him to stay and kick on after a mixed first full season.

But I was talking to a contact about this yesterday: trying to sell players for a reasonable fee is immeasurably more difficult now than it would have been two years ago. The market has been so depressed by the COVID-19 pandemic, in a way that Levy simply could not have foreseen in 2019 when he would have looked at his squad and seen a number of saleable assets.

And selling players is so crucial because, to answer Bill F’s question (this is seamless, isn’t it?), funds for bringing in players will be largely dependent on sales. Money really is tight at the moment.

So excited for the meltdown when we sign no again

 

[pablo73]

From the Athletic. As suspected, we probably wont move anyone on because Levy will still want pre pandemic prices for them.

Who are the most likely and realistic transfer targets? A lot of names have been floated, but I’d imagine only a handful are legitimate — Eric H

Deep breath and… yes, as you say Eric, a lot of names being chucked about. Here’s the state of play as I know it…

Spurs have made a bid of €15 million (£12.9 million) plus add-ons for Bologna defender Tomiyasu, but the Italian club want around €17 million (£14.5 million), as well as add-ons. Arsenal are also interested in the player, but Spurs are hopeful they can push ahead and complete the deal. Paratici’s links in Italy could be decisive.

Tottenham have a number of other defensive targets, with centre-backs Jules Kounde of Sevilla and Lyon’s Joachim Andersen, who spent last season on loan at Fulham, on their list. Their interest in Milan Skriniar of Inter Milan is longstanding, but he will likely be out of their price range. Then there’s Southampton’s Jannik Vestergaard, who after impressing for Denmark at Euro 2020 only has one year left on his contract, and was someone Mourinho admired when he was head coach. Mourinho is now looking to sign Vestergaard for his new club Roma.

Spurs are understood to retain an interest in him, but there have been no talks with Southampton at this stage, and he is not thought to be their first choice. Should Tottenham pursue the move then Vestergaard’s friendship with compatriot Hojbjerg could help convince him to move to London ahead of his other options. And Vestergaard’s preference is to remain in the Premier League.

Incidentally, this approach of talking to a number of targets and keeping options open is a classic Paratici tactic, which I wrote about in my recent profile of Spurs’ new managing director of football. Something else I addressed in that piece is the extent to which, as Niall P puts it, Paratici will have full control over the transfers or will Levy still be sticking his oar in? The expectation is that Paratici will have a large degree of autonomy, but it’ll be a fascinating dynamic, and is something that those who deal with Spurs are extremely curious about.

Returning to transfer targets, I’m told there has been no move made for Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanic, but signing a striker (hopefully as a Kane back-up) is a priority. There has been the suggestion of a move for Danny Ings but that looks unlikely, as unless they receive a big offer Southampton will let the striker run down his contract and keep him for another year.

A bunch of you also asked about the other side of Tottenham’s recruitment this summer: outgoings and streamlining the squad. This is one of the biggest challenges facing Paratici, actually getting fees for Tottenham’s unwanted fringe players.

To answer Mark T and Tom C’s questions, Aurier, Sissoko, Erik Lamela have all been told they can find new clubs. As we reported last week, Toby Alderweireld wants to leave, while the likes of Harry Winks and Davinson Sanchez will learn more now that a head coach is in place. Lucas Moura would be sold if a decent offer came in, but his industry and versatility are valued at the club. With Steven Bergwijn meanwhile, Tottenham’s intention is for him to stay and kick on after a mixed first full season.

But I was talking to a contact about this yesterday: trying to sell players for a reasonable fee is immeasurably more difficult now than it would have been two years ago. The market has been so depressed by the COVID-19 pandemic, in a way that Levy simply could not have foreseen in 2019 when he would have looked at his squad and seen a number of saleable assets.

And selling players is so crucial because, to answer Bill F’s question (this is seamless, isn’t it?), funds for bringing in players will be largely dependent on sales. Money really is tight at the moment.

We are going to be left with the vast majority of our deadwood aren't we? How depressing.

 

[Timberwolf]

Seems Paratici fancies Thuram still. Would be a good forward option.

€30m+ signing 'a priority' for Tottenham - Paratici 'would support' swoop, positive outlook - Sport Witness

Back in June, several stories from the German and the French media had claimed that Tottenham Hotspur were interested in signing Borussia Monchengladbach winger Marcus Thuram. At that time, his release clause with the Bundesliga side had just expired, and it was said the club would demand at...

sportwitness.co.uk

Foot Mercato writes that Tottenham and RB Leipzig are both interested in him. It’s said the player ‘has good odds’ with Spurs, since Fabio Paratici ‘would support his track internally’ and he’s ‘a priority’ for the London side.

It’s claimed that Thuram ‘wants a change of air’, and to sign him, it would be necessary to pay ‘at least’ €30m, which used to be the amount in his release clause.

The website also points out that Borussia Dortmund are following the attacker closely as well, but really makes it sound like Tottenham are the strongest side in the race.

It seems like a lot of our current transfer targets are also strongly linked to teams like Leipzig and Atalanta, who are some of the shrewdest transfer operators in Europe. Really positive sign IMO.

 

[spursfan77]

It seems like a lot of our current transfer targets are also strongly linked to teams like Leipzig and Atalanta, who are some of the shrewdest transfer operators in Europe. Really positive sign IMO.

I agree, it is good news. But we have to move some on too. That will be our usual problem I suspect.

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

We are going to be left with the vast majority of our deadwood aren't we? How depressing.

This is it, I made this point a while ago, it's going to be very difficult to shift some of our players. In a normal transfer window, players like lamela (to Italy), Sissoko and aurier (at 10m is a bargain) would be easier to shift. But clubs don't have the money.

The wages alone are too high to be considered by most clubs. More likely we will see loan agreements or even swaps.

We have a bloated squad and we will be lucky to get a combined 30m for those three players.

We might be able to sell winks and dier for reasonable fees but then we get into the homegrown debacle and it would seriously limit our ability to sign players.

It's notable that there hasn't been too many strong links for outgoings so far.

 

[spursfan77]

This is it, I made this point a while ago, it's going to be very difficult to shift some of our players. In a normal transfer window, players like lamela (to Italy), Sissoko and aurier (at 10m is a bargain) would be easier to shift. But clubs don't have the money.

The wages alone are too high to be considered by most clubs. More likely we will see loan agreements or even swaps.

We have a bloated squad and we will be lucky to get a combined 30m for those three players.

We might be able to sell winks and dier for reasonable fees but then we get into the homegrown debacle and it would seriously limit our ability to sign players.

It's notable that there hasn't been too many strong links for outgoings so far.

I don’t think they are even worth £30 million all together. Would Lamela even pass a medical anywhere else? At sissoko’s age is he worth even £2 million, I’m not sure? Aurier at £10m is a bargain though definitely.

 

[YB123]

I don’t think they are even worth £30 million all together. Would Lamela even pass a medical anywhere else? At sissoko’s age is he worth even £2 million, I’m not sure? Aurier at £10m is a bargain though definitely.

Aurier and Lamela you will fetch 10m each, Sissoko not much, Winks with the HG still gets you towards 20m. Sanchez and Dier 15/20m.

 

[EQP]

We're going to have to rely on outgoing loan deals with options/obligation to buy similar to how we setup the Foyth deal with Villarreal for some of the deadwood.

 

[Timberwolf]

God I miss the days of Roy Keane at Sunderland, when we could package together 3 of our deadwood into one convenient sale.

 

[spursfan77]

Aurier and Lamela you will fetch 10m each, Sissoko not much, Winks with the HG still gets you towards 20m. Sanchez and Dier 15/20m.

Nobody is paying us £10 million for lamela, no chance.

I didn't see him mention winks previously. I agree on Winks, £20m minimum actually.

 

[dontcallme]

Nobody is paying us £10 million for lamela, no chance.

I didn't see him mention winks previously. I agree on Winks, £20m minimum actually.

Lamela is highly rated in Italy and Roma fans genuinely seem to love him. Jose rated him and liked his attitude. There's definitely a chance of us getting £10m for him. But as he is in the last year of his contract we'll need more than one team interested.

 

[curlacious]

Interesting that after all that talk of Rangnick wanting a head coach role and being a hugely desirable appointment he ends up as footballing director at Lokomotiv Moscow.

I’m happy with Paratici, but it’ll be good to see how Rangnick does.

 

[talbot64]

Lamela is highly rated in Italy and Roma fans genuinely seem to love him. Jose rated him and liked his attitude. There's definitely a chance of us getting £10m for him. But as he is in the last year of his contract we'll need more than one team interested.

to be honest if we don’t get £10m for him, it would make more sense to spin up a new 3 year or even run down this contract as we won’t replace him for less than that.

Lamela is not a prem league starter but plenty useful for bringing on for 20 minutes to inject energy, also more than talented enough to start the carabao and conference league

we shouldn’t underestimate him or his value

 

[dontcallme]

to be honest if we don’t get £10m for him, it would make more sense to spin up a new 3 year or even run down this contract as we won’t replace him for less than that.

Lamela is not a prem league starter but plenty useful for bringing on for 20 minutes to inject energy, also more than talented enough to start the carabao and conference league

we shouldn’t underestimate him or his value

I like Lamela but I feel like his time here is done. I remember reading about how ambitious he was and how he wanted to reach the top.

He was 19 when making his Argentina debut, being a regular for River Plate as a teenager and becoming an automatic starter for Roma so quickly showed he had the potential.

I'd hate to see him just become a squad player.

 

[dtxspurs]

I like Lamela but I feel like his time here is done. I remember reading about how ambitious he was and how he wanted to reach the top.

He was 19 when making his Argentina debut, being a regular for River Plate as a teenager and becoming an automatic starter for Roma so quickly showed he had the potential.

I'd hate to see him just become a squad player.

What do you think has already happened to him?

 

[dontcallme]

What do you think has already happened to him?

I worded my post a bit badly. I think he's a squad player at us partly due to injuries, having to be managed in a way not to get future injuries and he hasn't performed to a level to become a main player for us.

I think he wants to be a main man in the team. He won't get that with us. It just seems it best for him to move on for all parties.

 

[yankspurs]

I worded my post a bit badly. I think he's a squad player at us partly due to injuries, having to be managed in a way not to get future injuries and he hasn't performed to a level to become a main player for us.

I think he wants to be a main man in the team. He won't get that with us. It just seems it best for him to move on for all parties.

It is best he moves on. But the guy is Spurs through & through, which counts for something. He’s also the only shithouse we have which would need replacing & then some.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

It is best he moves on. But the guy is Spurs through & through, which counts for something. He’s also the only shithouse we have which would need replacing & then some.

I believe we both said last season, if only half of our squad had his attitude & desire to play for our club, we'd have been in a far better place than we ended up.

I know I'm very much a minority but I love the lad.

 

[yankspurs]

I believe we both said last season, if only half of our squad had his attitude & desire to play for our club, we'd have been in a far better place than we ended up.

I know I'm very much a minority but I love the lad.

Yep. Its been every season though. He has often the only player on the pitch giving a shit, even during our best seasons with Poch. If half our players cared as much as him, we’d have won the league one of those years. We’d have ended up top 4 last year. But all too often, everyone else looks like they’d rather be on the beach.

 

[dontcallme]

Yep. Its been every season though. He has often the only player on the pitch giving a shit, even during our best seasons with Poch. If half our players cared as much as him, we’d have won the league one of those years. We’d have ended up top 4 last year. But all too often, everyone else looks like they’d rather be on the beach.

Disagree. As much as I like Lamela's attitude, during the Poch years our players worked extremely hard and clearly gave a shit.