Ange Postecoglou names four players he was blocked from signing at Spurs – ‘They’re not a big club’
Ange Postecoglou has revealed that he was blocked from making four signings at Tottenham that would’ve propelled the club onto greater things.
Tottenham have just sacked Thomas Frank, less than eight months after he took over from Postecoglou, who himself was dismissed at the end of last season.
It once again highlights Spurs’ decision to part ways with the Australian, especially given he had just won them their first major trophy in 17 years, beating Manchester United in the Europa League final.
As the fallout from Frank’s departure continues, Postecoglou has now revealed some of the transfer business behind the scenes at the North London club, while he was still in charge.
Ange Postecoglou wanted likes of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi
Postecoglou was appointed as Tottenham manager in the summer of 2023, and had a relatively successful first campaign with the Lilywhites,
Spurs finished fifth in the Premier League, and were just two points away from Aston Villa who held the final Champions League place at the end of the season.
Postecoglou has now revealed how he tried to push Tottenham on in the transfer market that summer, in order to give them a chance of a top four finish in the following campaign.
However, the former Celtic boss was hamstrung by the wage structure at the North London club, which led to him missing out on some of his top targets.
Speaking on Stick to Football on Wednesday, Postecoglou confirmed he tried to sign the likes of Antoine Semenyo, Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo and Marc Guehi ahead of the 2024-25 season, but Tottenham were not a big enough club to sanction those deals.
He said: “When you look at expenditure, especially wages, [Tottenham] are not a big club. I saw that, because when we were trying to sign players, we weren’t in the market for those players.
“At the end of my first year, when we finished fifth, I felt we had to sign Premier League-ready players. But we weren’t in the Champions League, so we didn’t have the money, and ended up signing Dominic Solanke and three teenagers.
“I was looking at Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo at the time and Marc Guehi, because if we’re going to go from fifth to there (Champions League), that’s what the other big clubs will do in that moment.”
Who did Tottenham sign instead?
Tottenham still spent around £150million in the summer of 2024, but as Postecoglou alluded to, three of the four incomings were teenagers.
Solanke came in from Bournemouth for an initial fee of £55m, potentially rising to £65m, with Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert and Lucas Bergvall all also making the move to North London.
Postecoglou reiterated that he believes Gray, Odobert and Bergvall will all develop into great players, but that they weren’t what Spurs needed at the time.
He said: “Those three teenagers were brilliant young players, and I think they’ll be brilliant players for Tottenham, but they’re not going to get you from fifth to fourth or third.”
Despite winning the Europa League at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, Tottenham finished 17th in the Premier League, which ultimately saw Postecoglou dismissed.