The Deadline Day ITK Discussion Thread - 1st September

[muppetman]

My feeling is that the team is in a better place than it was 3 months ago.

New manager, new way of playing and some of the players we need to achieve what the manager wants.

The future is bright, despite what all the usual doom and gloom posters would have you think.

Thank fuck it’s over, either way.

 

[peterballb]

Some comments before I am off.

Kane was offered the same pay as Bayern were going to give him - he said no. He was not going to sign a new contract, said so to Ange. So, if we do the impossible, we then get a value for this window.

Just like clearing out players who refuse to go. Well, we just should have sold them anyway. So, another unattainable measure of a window.

I presume we will get huge bonus points next year when Lloris, Dier and Sanchez have all left because their contracts expired? Oh wait, we got rid of Moura whose contract expired. No points for him being "gotten rid of"?

140M net spend (just like in 2022/2023). We did use the Kane monies, and then some.

Yes, Kane salary off the books. 200k/week saved. We used that money (and Winks salary) to put towards Maddison (175k/week), Kulu (110k/week), Porro (85k/week) Vicario (75k/week), Phillips 15k/week - no numbers yet for Van de Ven, Johnson, Solomon or Veliz.

Our gross salary is much higher than last season

Our operating costs are higher than most because of the stadium costs. That factors in things too.

The most recent numbers were from 2021/2022 - from Forbes. We are no longer in Europe - so far less revenue and more salary/more players - not exactly a recipe for great year end numbers when the books on 2023/2024 come around.

Ange's remit is to get us back in Europe.

Squad, IMO, is better. The football looks much better and the PL results (albeit early) are good. Won't get ahead of myself. Need three more points at Burnley and then2 weeks to get some more players up to speed and in better synch.

I remain optimistic about this season. 17 games until the next window and 17 games to play. Fingers crossed injuries and cards stay away from Romero.

 

[KILLA_SIN]

For starters, how much of the Kane money do we have right now? Did Bayern pay in full or are they paying in instalments? And if we spend the money in January, next Summer or some other time, how is Levy a liar? The idea that money coming in must be spent immediately is idiotic in the extreme.

We've spent money on absolute rubbish in the past and there was quite a bit we were being linked with this summer

 

[RJR1949]

Well if they’re public accounts then they must be true. No company ever tries to be ‘creative’ with their accounts do they!? All very trustworthy I’m sure..

I mean, forget the fact that we generate such vast amounts of money every home game, forget that we are the 9th richest.. yes richest club in the world, whilst selling one of our greatest ever players for a huge sum. Being a club with enormous FFP headroom. All these things say money, money, money.

You can’t have it both ways, by pleading poverty but making such vast amounts of money at the same time. Why do people find it hard to add everything together and question what’s actually happening!?

The club lost £149m before tax in the last three years for which accounts are available.

Basically the club is unprofitable unless it is in the Champions League.

 

[Led Revolver]

The club lost £149m before tax in the last three years for which accounts are available.

Basically the club is unprofitable unless it is in the Champions League.

The club did I’m sure.. I wonder if ENIC lost money over the last 3 years.

I don’t know. I’m genuinely interested.

 

[keithtighe93]

My understanding is that with Dier, Hojbjerg, Sanchez, Lloris and Ndombele all still on the wage bill we were restricted and that is why it mattered so much to shift them and why we weren't free to spend what you refer to as the Kane/tv money.
Whether or not I like that or agree with it doesn't matter but I think that's the case.

Honestly mate, we hear this every window for what seems like 5 years now.

It’s beyond tiring. Imagine not being able to sign a third CB because our squad is too bloated. We literally have two centre backs that are serviceable.

We are the 9th richest club on the planet. And we cannot sign a CB even on loan because we can’t shift deadwood.

It makes no sense.

We also sell our best ever player and don’t even get a sniff of a replacement.

What’s going on?!

 

[worcestersauce]

Honestly mate, we hear this every window for what seems like 5 years now.

It’s beyond tiring. Imagine not being able to sign a third CB because our squad is too bloated. We literally have two centre backs that are serviceable.

We are the 9th richest club on the planet. And we cannot sign a CB even on loan because we can’t shift deadwood.

It makes no sense.

We also sell our best ever player and don’t even get a sniff of a replacement.

What’s going on?!

I guess it might be more relevant this year with the new regulations on % wages to revenue ratios.

 

[RJR1949]

The club did I’m sure.. I wonder if ENIC lost money over the last 3 years.

I don’t know. I’m genuinely interested.

ENIC has no interests other than the club. It gets no dividends or interest from the club. Levy takes out a large salary (arguably a couple of million more than he would get if he were not a part owner) but that’s it.

 

[stormfly]

Isn’t the Saudi transfer window open until next week? Maybe they’ll come in for some of our deadwood

 

[pvg]

We are not a rich club, we are a valuable club. All our 'wealth' is tied up IN the club. We post good revenue, but do not turn a profit. Like the old adage: turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

This is modern football. Are any football clubs making a profit now? You can see the crisis hitting clubs in Spain and other European countries. Will the Premier League’s extra TV money keep our heads above the wave? We’ll see.

Other clubs have owners who are willing to invest more of their own money (or sometimes borrow recklessly), but we’ve been very conservative in our spending. Maybe that will help us if that wave does hit. Do we as fans expect owners who spend more of their own money? Shouldn’t those owners invest more, considering the price that they paid for the club and it’s current value? We all want the answers to be ’yes’, but are we entitled to that?

 

[nicdic]

Honestly mate, we hear this every window for what seems like 5 years now.

It’s beyond tiring. Imagine not being able to sign a third CB because our squad is too bloated. We literally have two centre backs that are serviceable.

We are the 9th richest club on the planet. And we cannot sign a CB even on loan because we can’t shift deadwood.

It makes no sense.

We also sell our best ever player and don’t even get a sniff of a replacement.

What’s going on?!

We have a massive problem not being able to shift the unwanted players. Just because it's an ongoing problem doesn't mean it disappears.

We don't need to imagine not being able to sign a player before selling, because we and many other clubs have exactly the same problem every single window. Very few teams can just buy and not worry about the selling. Very very few.

We two clear first choice centre backs, but just because you don't like the others, doesn't mean they are not serviceable. Sanchez and Davies can absolutely do a job filling in, we have a problem if both Cuti and VDV are out for any length of time, but I still think we'd be a better defence than last season because of the midfield in front of them and the system they are playing in.

We were never signing a replacement for Harry Kane. Richarlison was clearly bought last summer as a longer term replacement. Richarlison last year, and Maddison this year are the replacements for Kane. Add to that a system that looks to create a team greater than the sum of it's parts, rather than a team looking to get the best out of Kane, that is how we are trying to replace him. We will see how successful that is. But there were no legitimate options as a replacement this window anyway, so I'm not sure exactly what you wanted or expected.

Ultimately to answer your final question, what is going on, is that you and many other fans are far too hung up on the words of ITKs, the media and your own toxic attitudes towards players.

 

[HildoSpur]

Eze needs to be prime target in January along with a CB

Where does he play for us?

 

[elfy]

Are the match day revenue profits going through the club, or ENIC?

Tying money up in the club.. we’re a football club, the main source of trading is done in the transfer market! Football should be the focus, everything else SHOULD be secondary.

I‘m not saying they‘d have dodgy accounts! Rearranging revenue streams is a thing though.

Either way, HUGE revenue is being made every home match day. It’s indisputable.

”It’s like a pensioner who lives in a £2m house but can’t pay the electric bill”.. yes - yes it is.

There are 2 figures in the accounts to take note of:

profit/loss before player trading; which is the match day revenue, TV money, sponsorship, concerts etc. This always shows a healthy profit.

Then, there is the overall profit/loss which is after player trading which always (since the stadium opened anyway) shows a loss.

What this means is that all the money bought in is spent on transfers, and more.

My point is, it is not that we don't spend. It's that we spend so poorly.

I said it in another thread but Levy would rather spend £200m on 10 average/good players than 2 or 3 truly exceptional ones.

THAT is our problem

 

[rabbikeane]

Stay on the Ange path and continue to invest like this summer, then we're going to have a good time.
Positive window, but not a job completed.

 

[midoNdefoe]

What are the odds on Romero NOT getting a red card or accumulating yellows for a ban?

It’s scary thinking about Romero and Vicky Man de Men being out simultaneously. It’s pretty ridiculous to not bring in another CB, I struggle to see how he’s justifying it to anyone…
Sanchez can step in for the odd game, but an extended run in the team has never ended well

 

[Trix]

We don’t have gaps in the squad. Its just that some fans don’t like certain players who provide the cover.

Well some fans and the manager which is what really matters isn't it?

 

[DarwinSpur]

Sorry but what on earth makes you think dier or Lloris will get offers from better clubs and/or better money in 12 months time?
And if we cancel contracts they can’t be registered until January
Both have left themselves until sept 15th to find a club in turkey or Saudi
Loans were found and the players turned them down.

I never said "I" thought they would get better offers. But what I think or you think is irrelevant.

Apparently Spurs were asking for Dier to sign a contract extension if he went on loan - which clearly defeats the purpose of seeing out your contract to become a free agent. Dier's gone from first choice in a Back 3 to not even making the squad under Ange. I think that's the right call Spurs under Ange but Dier has every right to take back control of his own future by seeing out his contract at Spurs now.

Lloris is baffling to me. I hate to think there's bad blood between him and the Club but if there is I'm not going to fucking add to it and I don't think Spurs fans should either.

 

[13VanDerBale13]

Everyone saying it’s only 17 games, is conveniently forgetting, we have THREE international breaks, in between then.

 

[nicdic]

Well some fans and the manager which is what really matters isn't it?

When has any manager anywhere got all the business they want done, done in a single window without some level of compromise somewhere?

Or when does a manager feel the squad is complete and no longer needs work? They don't right, there are always improvements you can make.

Ange would have liked another centre back, as would we all, but it doesn't make Sanchez and Davies not good enough at all.

 

[wrd]

I think that something people ignore in the pursuit of progress is that, not only do you want effectiveness, you want efficiency.

The efficiency we've accomplished to speed the process up of being at the point of the debate between the manager not getting reinforcements for positions they asked for and that being blown over nonchalantly and he should work with what he has is truly impressive.

Took us 6-8 months with Conte, One window with Ange.

We'll be at the manager's fault for being stubborn by Christmas with any luck.