Always making waves in the transfer window, Tottenham’s summer has been dominated by fleshing out a thin squad.
Tottenham’s Erik Lamela celebrates scoring their first goal with Harry Kane
Never shying away from a deadline day deal, Spurs were true to form on Wednesday as they wrapped up deals for Marseille forward Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez, before pulling off a huge £30 million swoop for Moussa Sissoko on the final day of the window.
But as it shut, Mauricio Pochettino and Spurs could have done with one or two more additions in a window where other clubs spent massively and could have put the club’s top four credentials under threat.
Ins
Victor Wanyama – Southampton – £11,000,000
Vincent Janssen – AZ Alkmaar – £17,000,000
Juan Pablo Gonzalez Velasco – Brentford – Free
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou – Marseille – Undisclosed
Pau Lopez – Espanyol – Loan
Moussa Sissoko – Newcastle – £30,000,000
Outs
Christopher Paul – Queens Park Rangers – Free transfer
Emmanuel Sonupe – Northampton Town – Free transfer
Armani Daly – N/A – Released
Charlie Hayford – Sheffield Wednesday – Free transfer
Grant Ward – Ipswich Town – Undisclosed
Alex Pritchard – Norwich City – £8,000,000
Dominic Ball – Rotherham United – Undisclosed
DeAndre Yedlin – Newcastle United – £5,000,000
Nacer Chadli – West Bromwich Albion – £13,000,000
Ryan Mason – Hull City – £13,000,000
Clinton N’Jie – Marseille – Loan
Areas addressed
Spurs desperately lacked any sort of firepower aside from Harry Kane last season, but looked to rectify that with the signing of Vincent Janssen from AZ Alkmaar.
Victor Wanyama adds depth to a midfield made lighter with the departure of Ryan Mason, and the Kenyan has already made an impressive start to life at White Hart Lane, while Sissoko’s power will also be a major addition to the Tottenham team.
He and Mousa Dembele are certain to pair up on the Belgian’s return to action from suspension, while Pau Lopez provides back-up to Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm in goal.
Any regrets
This window was the perfect opportunity to stock the wide and striking positions with able bodies and instead Spurs left themselves woefully short.
A lot of fringe players have left North London including Nacer Chadli, but a lack of reinforcements has left the club in short supply of forwards, which derailed their season last year.
Spurs are in danger of failing to learn from their mistakes and leaving themselves with a thread-bare squad to compete in the Champions League as well as the Premier League.
Verdict
Tottenham have failed to take full advantage of the window and while Janssen and Wanyama have proven useful buys, more attacking additions were needed to stock Spurs and prepare themselves for the season ahead.
January will be a second chance to rectify this and although they finished third last season, the amount of money spent by their challengers to strengthen their squads will be cause for alarm.
Grade: B
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