Winter Transfer Window Scouting Thread

[dontcallme]

I never understand the mentality of the club with the whole “we can’t have a player as good as Kane because, Kane” idea.

Liverpool have Mane, Firminho, Salah, Jota and Origi.

City had Aguero, Jesus, Foden, Sterling, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva, Mahrez....

United have Ronaldo, Cavani, Pogba, Fernandez, Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood...

We seem to be the only club who won’t buy decent back up or say that decent back up won’t come to us because we already have one player in that position.

Yes, I get that Kane is one of THE best in his position, but we act like we have to have Kane and we can’t look to replace or add to him until the day after he leaves.

Whereas other clubs bring in quality, to back up their already owned quality. Kane showed in the summer he’s not fussed about pissing us off of it suits him, I don’t like the idea that we won’t bring in quality competition in case it pissed HIM off.

The point is more that Kane is a number 9. It's rare to play 2 number 9's together. If we bought Salah, I highly doubt anyone would have a problem with us buying someone who is too good.

Chelsea have a long list of backup number 9's who have struggled to make an impact as they have their main man and the backup cannot play with them so they rarely get to play. We've had similar issues.

I'd love for us to buy Vlahovic but if we can't sell Kane, or don't want to, then asking how they both fit is a very valid question.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Bringing in Vlahovic in January would at least give us the option to sell Kane in the summer. Any striker from overseas will need to time to adapt to the premier league.

There is no way Kane is going in January but I would rather have an alternative quality striker in place before he goes, and have the option to keep both. No serious team only has one good striker, it's madness.

We may pay a premium in January, but on the other hand we are also going to have to pay a premium if we are trying to buy with the Kane money in the bank next summer.

Let's just have two really good strikers and pretend we are a proper club for once.

Lol are Man City not a serious club? Jesus is their only recognised striker...

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

So you're saying he isn't ambitious because he doesn't think he can knock Kane off his perch?

More that if he's ambitous he'll want to go somewhere he's given assurances he will play consistently.

 

[whatislifewithoutspurs]

If Vlahovic came in January and if Kane's club form was still poor, could Harry be the back up striker we are looking for?... Just a thought ?,!!!

Nice one Cyril

 

[spids]

The point is more that Kane is a number 9. It's rare to play 2 number 9's together. If we bought Salah, I highly doubt anyone would have a problem with us buying someone who is too good.

Chelsea have a long list of backup number 9's who have struggled to make an impact as they have their main man and the backup cannot play with them so they rarely get to play. We've had similar issues.

I'd love for us to buy Vlahovic but if we can't sell Kane, or don't want to, then asking how they both fit is a very valid question.

Come on, Kane is as much a 10 as he is a 9. He can play with Vlahovic or Son, it doesn't matter. Also means Son and can play with Vlahovic, or Vlahovic can play with Moura and Bergwijn. Gives us options. And in some games it would be nice to play with two big CFs and go more direct. Mix it up.

 

[dontcallme]

Come on, Kane is as much a 10 as he is a 9. He can play with Vlahovic or Son, it doesn't matter. Also means Son and can play with Vlahovic, or Vlahovic can play with Moura and Bergwijn. Gives us options. And in some games it would be nice to play with two big CFs and go more direct. Mix it up.

Not really. If Kane wants to change his role and play deeper with a straight number 9 then great. But when has Kane ever consistently played with a number 9?

 

[thebenjamin]

I wonder if Conte is looking at Kane these days and thinking he doesn't give the physical presence that he needs up front? He doesn't really work centre backs or run channels. But he is still a terrific player. Maybe he thinks bring in Vlahovic to play the traditional number 9 and free Kane up to playmake and get in space in behind a striker. It does then question what you do with Son, but I guess we want more options and that's the entire point.

 

[spids]

Not really. If Kane wants to change his role and play deeper with a straight number 9 then great. But when has Kane ever consistently played with a number 9?

Mainly as we have never bought one. We've had to play without one whenever Kane has been injured as a result.

 

[McFlash]

So, we need a rebuild and to clear out some of the old, stagnant shite... Yet some people are wanting Jesse fucking Lingard?!

J-Lingz? Really?
Surely we should be aiming higher than that bean head.

 

[McFlash]

Have we ever had another striker to play with Kane?
As far as I can remember, the last actual striker we bought was Bobby Soldado, who Kane usurped.

I'm not even going to consider the Dutch lad with the big arse!

 

[soflapaul]

Kane wants silverware. If Conte comes up with a system that makes the best use of Vlahovic and Kane, i'm sure Kane will buy into it.

 

[djhotspur]

Lol are Man City not a serious club? Jesus is their only recognised striker...

This is their first season like that. Also, it is costing them not having a proper no9.

 

[Singaspursofsixspence]

Have we ever had another striker to play with Kane?
As far as I can remember, the last actual striker we bought was Bobby Soldado, who Kane usurped.

I'm not even going to consider the Dutch lad with the big arse!

Llorente?

 

[Timberwolf]

Agree. Although i'm not even sure it's about our ambition - it's more about Vlahovic's ambition. I'm sure he would rather go to a club where he is a guaranteed starter - that's just not gonna happen at spurs while Kane is around.

I could see him staying at Fiorentina until the summer and then moving to a club where he comes in as the main guy. He could even go to Dortmund as a Haaland replacement. Or if Kane still pushes for a move with 2 years left on his contract, then maybe Levy lets him leave and Vlahovic joins.

I just don't see a scenario where we have a 80m player as a benchwarmer. As much as I always read 'but we have plenty of matches to go around'. Things never work that way as managers will try and keep a consistent lineup, which is always going to include Kane.

I think the key difference under Conte is that he may well move to a 3-5-2 in which we would have 2 strikers. No other Spurs manager in recent memory has played with 2 up top, hence the eternal 'Kane backup' conundrum whereby nobody decent wants to come as they know they won't get a game.

Under Conte, however, it's not really sustainable to play 3-5-2 all season with only Kane and Son as the striking options. OK maybe Lucas and/or Dele could do a job there, but essentially Kane and Son are the only true first team forwards at the club and we'd certainly need a 3rd to make that formation work long term.

Vlahovic is more quick and physical than Kane, so could make a good partner for him, but would also complement Son nicely as a more natural target man. Over the course of a season the 3 of them would all get tons of gametime and it would actually give us a healthy degree of rotation. Son could also work as a wingback in certain matches, and it's not unthinkable that we'd play all 3 in a 3-4-3 on occasion.

The question is, can we sell that idea to Vlahovic, or will be want to be a guaranteed first name on the teamsheet for every single match? I can certainly see why he might have doubts as outlined in your post.

...or maybe we'd buy him with a plan to sell Kane shortly after?

 

[Cochise]

If we go 352, then having three top players in Kane, Son and Vlahovic makes perfect sense.

 

[King of the Lane]

It is a shame that Chelsea have a buy back option for Tino Livramento. He has been fantastic this season and would be good competition for Royal.

 

[McFlash]

Llorente?

Blimey, can't believe I forgot about Nando!

 

[dontcallme]

Mainly as we have never bought one. We've had to play without one whenever Kane has been injured as a result.

We bought backups like Llorente and Janssen. There's a good reason we haven't bought a top quality number 9 to join Kane.

 

[wiggo24]

If we go 352, then having three top players in Kane, Son and Vlahovic makes perfect sense.

Yeah I agree that it doesn't look very Tottenham to spend £50m+ on a player who might not be a guaranteed starter every game but this is just how the top clubs behave.

There are probably 9/10 clubs in world football more attractive than us right now when you include finances, lifestyle etc. At each of those clubs he'll run into the same problems anyway - if he went to Bayern he'd be competing against Lewa, at Juve he'd be up against Morata/Dybala/Chiesa etc, at City he'd be up against Jesus and a bunch of false 9s.

Kane and Son sounds good on paper but in reality we'll have over 50 games per season and if Conte moves to a 2 then realistically whoever is 3rd choice forward is going to feature in a LOT of those games. Add the fact that Kane and Son are both reaching their peak ages and (in the case of Kane) are susecptible to injury, it suddenly doesn't seem so fanciful. It's certainly more logical than spunking another £20m on a cheap option to be Kane's backup who never plays because the manager doesn't trust him.

 

[wiggo24]

We bought backups like Llorente and Janssen. There's a good reason we haven't bought a top quality number 9 to join Kane.

Could also argue that the fact we have been bringing in mediocre striker backups (who haven't played because they're simply too much of a step down from Kane's level) should teach us that spending bigger money once on a more talented young player could reap rewards in the long run.