Tottenham to shop at Harrods and avoid Championship transfer if Champions League achieved
Tottenham are likely to avoid a summer transfer for Hull City Jaden Philogene if they reach the Champions League as they will be “shopping at Harrods”, Paul Robinson has said.
It was reported by TEAMtalk (26 February) that Spurs are the favourites to land the 22-year-old wing ace when the summer window opens despite the fact Aston Villa have a buy-back clause inserted.
Should Hull be promoted back to the top flight, there is said to be a clause allowing Villa to sign him for £15million but they will have to match whatever Spurs agree if they remain in the Championship.
Either way, former Spurs goalkeeper Robinson – speaking exclusively to Tottenham News – believes that the strength of their forward line, coupled with the fact they could be playing Champions League football next season, means it could be a non-starter.
“I think he obviously didn’t get games at Aston Villa for a reason, he’s gone to the Championship and it’s difficult,” Robinson said.
“I’ve not seen enough of the player regularly but he’s playing well at Hull in a team that are playing well and looking for the playoffs. But there’s a reason he didn’t break through at Villa.
“Often you see players who don’t succeed at the Premier League level, I’m not saying this is the case with him because I’ve not seen enough of him and I’ve not seen enough game time.
“But players find their level sometimes, so the scouting network have to be very good and very careful that he’s not a player who looks that good in the Championship but actually can’t do it in the Premier League because there’s a reason Villa will have let him go.
“At the same time, players do develop at a different rate, players develop later on, players get better and the more experience he gets in the Championship he may become a better player.
“From a Tottenham point of view, I don’t see him as the next level. If you’re looking at Tottenham’s front line the players they’ve got there now, you look at players like Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, James Maddison, Son Heung-min, Timo Werner, Brennan Johnson – is he an improvement on any of those, would he get in the side ahead of any of those? You’d probably argue not.
“I think from a Tottenham point of view, if you’re wanting to push on and go to that next level, I mean a top-four challenge this season was unexpected but we’re in a top-four challenge and it’s a realistic possibility.
“And if you’re in the Champions League next year, you’re shopping at Harrods, you’re not shopping in the Championship.”
Will Tottenham sign Hull City ace Jaden Philogene?
Philogene has been an excellent performer for Hull this season, scoring eight goals and providing six assists in 23 games for the promotion hopefuls.
Robinson is right that Spurs have some exciting attacking talent already at their disposal but Ange Postecoglou’s remit is clearly to sign young potential and nurture them into top-class players.
So, yes, they might be in the Champions League next season but if Postecoglou thinks he is the right sort of profile for his side then that won’t matter a bit.
Whether they can actually get a deal done remains to be seen due to Villa’s seemingly strong hand in the process but having let him go last September there’s no guarantee they would want to enter the race anyway.
In other Tottenham news, the club have been backed to win the race for one Euro sensation.
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