View: Tottenham must start to clear some players from their books before Friday
Hotspur Way might just be the busiest that it has ever been and Tottenham need to start taking some losses and begin clearing some players out in order to reduce their wage bill.
Spurs currently have an unmanageable amount of players. While they have got off to a fantastic start on the pitch, with new head coach Ange Postecoglou guiding them to an unbeaten start during their first three Premier League matches, there remains a big mess off of it.
Plenty of unwanted players on high wages haven’t even been able to make the bench so far this season, that is how bloated the squad currently is. Big earner Hugo Lloris, club record-signing Tanguy Ndombele and Sergio Reguilon are just some examples of high-profile players who haven’t made any matchday squads this season.
It leaves the club with plenty of money being burned on the wages of players who are clearly not and likely never will be, in Postecoglou’s plans. This is in part an issue created by the board, due to a period of poor recruitment and a lack of strategy. And now, Tottenham must bite the bullet and accept some financial losses to make back some money in the long run.
One example shows that they are so far not willing to do this. As reported online by French publication L’Equipe (29 August), Rennes had made a £7.7million offer for out-of-favour defender Davinson Sanchez. However, on the same day, Sky Sports News reported in their live transfer centre (5:04 pm) that Spurs had rejected the bid, with the Ligue 1 outfit now deciding whether or not to submit another offer, which could end up being extremely costly.
Another example of a player very clearly not in the manager’s plans is Eric Dier and as reported by the Daily Mail (29 August), he is set to be left out of the matchday squad against Fulham in the Carabao Cup, so that Postecoglou can reinforce to his higher-ups that the defender is unwanted.
It comes amid interest in the 29-year-old from Bayern Munich, where he could be set to link up with Harry Kane. If any offer were to come in, Daniel Levy must listen to the signal from his manager and sell the defender.
Losses will be taken on some of the players. Fees in excess of £40million and £60million were paid for the likes of Sanchez and Ndombele, and the North London club will not get anywhere near this type of money for any of their fringe players.
And while this might seem like a loss for the club’s chairman due to his immense pride, he is going to have to swallow that pride and do what must be done. Getting rid of these players now for whatever money they can get will prevent more being lost on wages as those same players sit in the reserves over the next few years.
So far the only unwanted players who have been moved on this summer are Harry Winks and Joe Rodon. More must be done, whatever the cost.
In other Tottenham news, take a look at a predicted XI for the Carabao Cup clash against Fulham.