Jamie O’Hara believes Fabio Paratici’s recruitment has left a lot to be desired at Tottenham Hotspur, questioning the signings of Premier League newcomers Cristian Romero, Emerson Royal and Bryan Gil in conversation with talkSPORT (1 November, 9.50am).
After helping guide Juventus to nine Serie A titles in just 11 years, there was understandable optimism when a man who lured Paul Pogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Federico Chiesa to Turin was unveiled as Tottenham’s new managing director over the summer.
Who knows, Paratici’s imports could still come good in the gleaming white of Spurs.
As it stands, however, the jury is very much out, veering potentially towards a ‘guilty’ verdict.
Ragdolled by Michail Antonio last week and given the runaround by Manchester United’s grandfatherly frontline this, combative centre-half Romero is yet to justify his £47 million price-tag.
Emerson Royal is still to prove that he is a major upgrade on the likes of Serge Aurier and Matt Doherty while, thus far, Sevilla appear to have got the better of a player-plus-cash swap deal which saw Bryan Gil and Erik Lamela swap places.
“I look at the recruitment and, for me, is it good enough? I look the players they’ve brought in; Romero, you paid £50 million for him. Is he any better than what he had before, in terms of (Toby) Alderweireld and (Jan) Vertonghen? No,” O’Hara fumed following Saturday’s 3-0 thumping against United; Nuno Espirito Santo’s last stand.
For context, Alderweireld and Vertonghen departed for a combined fee of just £3 million.
“We brought Royal in. Is he better than what we had before? There’s question marks,” O’Hara added.
“Bryan Gil has come in. He’s a young lad. Is he better than what we had with Lamela? Maybe not. And (Giovani) Lo Celso, he’s not on Eriksen’s level.
“The recruitment from the new guy (Paratici) and from Daniel Levy, I still don’t think it’s good enough. Plus, you’ve still got players in Eric Dier who played under Pochettino!”
There is an argument to be made that, of the 23 players Spurs have signed since the summer of 2017, only two can be considered to something close to an unqualified success; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Lucas Moura.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, talks are underway regarding a deal that will see former Chelsea, Inter Milan and Juventus coach Antonio Conte reunite with Paratici in North London.
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