Tim Sherwood has claimed that he would buy Southampton duo, Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse for Tottenham, as he told Premier League Productions (10/02/22 at 12:20 pm).
But the former Spurs boss thinks that the Spurs fans would be ‘screaming’ if they were brought to north London, unlike their deadline day signings, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
The Juventus duo were the only ones who were signed up by the club during the January transfer window.
Whilst Antonio Conte’s men came up against Ward-Prowse and Romeu in midweek when they were beaten by the Saints.
Ward-Prowse provided two assists during the game, as the South Coast club came from 2-1 down after 70 minutes to record a 3-2 win.
Sherwood thinks that Romeu ‘controlled the game’ and he’s someone who his former side should have pushed for instead during the January transfer window.
“I always, from knowing the chairman, he gives them what they want,” said Sherwood. “He will say, ‘if you can’t get the number one target, where is your two and three?’ And I will try and do them.
“He spent half a billion in five years. That’s investment in my eyes. It’s not about how much you spend, it’s about what you are bringing in. And their recruitment has been very, very poor.
“Look at Romeu in midfield. He controlled the game for Southampton. If Spurs were to sign him, then the fans would be screaming. They would be saying ‘we’re not having him’.
“Ward-Prowse even. Is he sexy enough? You sign two guys from Italy, because we don’t know too much about them and they are from ‘Juventus’. The perception is that they must be fantastic players. I know who I would rather have. Them two Southampton boys.”
It’s early days to judge Bentancur and Kulusevski yet, but Conte needs to be backed in his thinking.
Throughout his career, he has proven that he can eek out every bit of quality from a player, regardless of how they are perceived.
The Spurs faithful will be hoping he doesn’t just do the same with the new boys on the block, but those that have struggled under previous managers at Spurs.
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