Spurs More Appealing to Players than Chelsea?

[TottenhamMattSpur]

www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11018700/tottenham-may-be-a-more-appealing-prospect-than-chelsea-say-sunday-supplement-guests

Tottenham may be becoming a more appealing proposition than Chelsea for players after Fernando Llorente chose a move to Mauricio Pochettino's side, according to Dominic Fifield on the Sunday Supplement.

Llorente chose a Deadline Day move to Spurs over Stamford Bridge, despite Chelsea boss Antonio Conte pushing to sign the striker who played under him at Juventus.

And the Sunday Supplement guests suggested the move, alongside Chelsea's other struggles in the transfer market this summer, indicated a potential shift of balance in London.

"The one that really surprised me was Llorente, because he's worked with Conte before," said the Guardian's London football correspondent Fifield. "I would have thought he'd get more games at Chelsea than he would at Spurs, and sometimes as first choice in certain fixtures.
"Yet somehow they didn't manage to get him."

While the Daily Mirror'sfootball writer Darren Lewis added: "It's also saying something that, back in the day, Chelsea were nicking Spurs players, not the other way around.

"Now it's Spurs pinching a player and presenting a proposal to a player that seems more attractive than what is on offer at Stamford Bridge.

"It was also fascinating to see [Romelu] Lukaku go to Manchester United instead of Chelsea, when the feeling at Chelsea was that he had unfinished business there. It looked like a shoo-in for him to go back.


"And it fascinates me that Chelsea would invest so much into developing youth players and yet they're all having to seek their footballing fortunes elsewhere.

"[Ruben] Loftus-Cheek should be in that squad, but instead they're trying to sign Ross Barkley. How does that work? [Nathanial] Chalobah has to go to Watford to play first-team football."

Fifield added that tension will remain at Stamford Bridge this season after Conte's unsatisfactory summer.

"I think the hierarchy will look back and think: 'We've not had a bad window'. They've spent £180m and recouped a fair chunk, and their squad is perhaps marginally stronger than in May," he said.

"But I think Conte wanted it to be a lot stronger and he'll be disappointed that they haven't got a Virgil van Dijk or a Lukaku in. Alex Sandro as well. He wanted all these players, and that level of tension that's been there all summer will continue to simmer."

 

[NinjaTuna]

Think a lot of it comes down to the team/family atmosphere at the club atm

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Think a lot of it comes down to the team/family atmosphere at the club atm

I think players are realising Chelsea just want to buy all the players their rivals want before chewing them up and spitting them out when their career has been ruined.
They've been doing it very systematically for years.

 

[hellava_tough]

I think it all depends on the player and how they see themselves fitting into Chelsea's squad

The super-star signings like Morata who are on big, big money and will be in the first XI will choose Chelsea over us

But young players and squad players are more likely to think long and hard about what they actually want from their careers; especially seeing how footballers' careers are relatively short-lived

All in all, Chelsea's failure to bring through youth players, despite the fact that they have (and have had) some of the best under 21 players in Europe, is the real travesty

 

[stevespurs]

Llorente chose Poch over Conte. Barkley may possibly be doing the same.

We do have a likeable bloke in charge. I quite like him too...not a man crush or anything like that. But if Poch was the leader of a cult, I'd be in like flynn

 

[G Ron]

I caught about 10 minutes of yesterday's show and one of the journos was saying that Barkley's move was all about the money and that "money talks" when asked if he thought Spurs had scuppered the Chelsea deal for him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was only a fortnight ago they were all talking about players at Spurs being unhappy with the low salaries and lack of transfer activity post the Rose interview.

In short, that show is merely a platform for a bunch of journos to spout more BS when in reality they know very little.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

I caught about 10 minutes of yesterday's show and one of the journos was saying that Barkley's move was all about the money and that "money talks" when asked if he thought Spurs had scuppered the Chelsea deal for him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was only a fortnight ago they were all talking about players at Spurs being unhappy with the low salaries and lack of transfer activity post the Rose interview.

In short, that show is merely a platform for a bunch of journos to spout more BS when in reality they know very little.

On the whole I don't disagree.
But this topic is relevant. There has to come a point whereby young players see Chelsea for what they really are. Ruthless and careless. A poison chalice that doesn't have the slightest interest in whether a player develops. Selfish to the point of killing a young man's career just so their rivals can't have him.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

After reading that, I'm trying to think which Spurs players Chelsea were nicking backing in the day? Has any Spurs player left for Chelsea since Micky Hazard (who only left because he couldn't get ahead of Hoddle and Ardiles)?

 

[worcestersauce]

Make no mistake, money still talks, the problem Chelsea has at the moment is that more clubs have the money now so they have competition at the top price end.
On the other hand it is no coincidence that of the four players that rejected them this window two were English players at a crossroads in their career so money wasn't their main concern, one had been burned by them before but went to Man Utd for shed loads of money and the fourth is thirty two year old with a touch of class but who wouldn't have got a possible three year deal at Chelsea.
That said, the fact that two of them seem to have preferred us over them is evidence of a massive step forward for us.

 

[eppingyid]

I caught about 10 minutes of yesterday's show and one of the journos was saying that Barkley's move was all about the money and that "money talks" when asked if he thought Spurs had scuppered the Chelsea deal for him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was only a fortnight ago they were all talking about players at Spurs being unhappy with the low salaries and lack of transfer activity post the Rose interview.

In short, that show is merely a platform for a bunch of journos to spout more BS when in reality they know very little.

Yeah i saw that bit about the wages and barkley. Im sure there are many reasons why he'd pick poch and spurs over chelsea but im pretty sure money wont be one of them

 

[eViL]

After reading that, I'm trying to think which Spurs players Chelsea were nicking backing in the day? Has any Spurs player left for Chelsea since Micky Hazard (who only left because he couldn't get ahead of Hoddle and Ardiles)?

I think they're leaning along the Willian and Eden Hazard stories.

Chelsea have lost some punching power with the shift in how much money clubs have available to them now, that's for sure; and whether they like it or not, the still aren't Manchester United, Real Madrid or Barcelona in terms of History and Reputation. Both Chelsea and Man City's recent successes are propped up with Oil Money, not money generated by popularity or a history of success.

The type of players we go for tend to be the 'football first' types these days and when you look at things like Training Facilities, the new Stadium and the Manager's growing reputation for improving players; the truly professional players surely see us as a hugely attractive proposition.

 

[nferno]

Everytime those guys speak sense I disregard what they've said because they say something stupid following that like Barkley wants us over them because of money, or "back in the day" Chelsea nicked players off us and not the other way round.

 

[etchedchaos]

The influx of cash has actually made it so that players not on the top tier wage levels are actually paying attention to the actions of clubs when they make their decision. Because the Chavs have shown a propensity to chew-up and spit out their players or the sheer abundance of youth products they have out on loan and never use. Players who aren't going to get 200k+ a week are looking at them and seeing them for what they really are now there's much better options out there.

Especially when players look at the Chavs and how they go about things and then take a look at Spurs in comparison; the antithesis of the Chavs. They see Poch, our youth movement and a great dressing room and that's a project players want to be a part of, it's a great team, with a great manager, isn't abusing players or the youth system and has a huge capacity to improve.

 

[Insomnia]

After reading that, I'm trying to think which Spurs players Chelsea were nicking backing in the day? Has any Spurs player left for Chelsea since Micky Hazard (who only left because he couldn't get ahead of Hoddle and Ardiles)?

I've met Micky Hazard & he's a top bloke. He never wanted to leave Tottenham, he loved us & still does.On his first match at Stamford Bridge someone in the home crowd shouted at him while he was taking a throw in, he shouted "Fuck off back to Tottenham you yid" Micky turned round and said to him "I wish I could" Wankers from top to bottom at that club.

 

[Khilari]

I'm confused. I understood that Chelsea couldn't agree a few with Swansea.

We nipped in, bid accepted, player signed.

Is this correct? Or did Chelsea have a bid accepted then Llorente chose us?

There are clearly bits of a football transfer I don't get. How could Chelsea not have agreed a fee, but we could? Also the panel made decent points in that he was more likely to get game time there than with us and he had previously played under Conte. All sounded like he was Chelsea bound.

 

[SpursTillIDie1882]

There are some players especially the youngers one want to play, chelsea they dont really ever get that chance, looking atvtheir record last few years buy young best unproven talent then have 50 of them loaned out. People who want cash will gonthere, however unless your a mega millions signing your prob not gonna play.

 

[yido_number1]

I doubt he actually chose us over them. Even so there is a lot going on behind the scenes at Chavski and clearly Conte is not happy with the board. Any player will spot this and think twice about signing then a new coach coming in. Pretty sure Poch will have given Llorente some guarantees about playing time and speaking the same language must be a big plus.

If Barkley choses us over them that will be a big coo!

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Bloody typical, we are more attractive when it's 47yo Llorente and injured Ross Barkley who can't play for 3 months anyway, but when they were more attractive it was Eden Hazard and Willian.

 

[Hercules]

Watch in the next 10-12 months
You will see the very clear player choice shift between chavs, gypsies and us. I believe the field will be very clear for us. And we certainly won't be outdone on wages.

Before anyone gives an optimistic, or negative ratings. There are concrete things I cannot reveal that will come out in the media by January I would guess. Put it this way; we are over-subscribed in interest and choices. Paying off the stadium will be academic as things stand right now. Lucrative investments pending?

 

[Marty]

Watch in the next 10-12 months
You will see the very clear player choice shift between chavs, gypsies and us. I believe the field will be very clear for us. And we certainly won't be outdone on wages.

Before anyone gives an optimistic, or negative ratings. There are concrete things I cannot reveal that will come out in the media by January I would guess. Put it this way; we are over-subscribed in interest and choices. Paying off the stadium will be academic as things stand right now. Lucrative investments pending?

I really, really, really want to believe that and I hope this particular boat doesn't get rocked (I.e. we do something rash about Poch) should we have a tougher season than expected.