As the clock ticked closer to the 11pm deadline last night, most Spurs fans were hoping one last major arrival would be announced before the close of play.
Last season, Rafael Van der Vaart parachuted into White Hart Lane and many were speculating as to who would be the big name arrival, made possible by a dodgy fax machine, would be.
Kaka was doing the rounds on Twitter while fans were eagerly anticipating the confirmation of Gary Cahill, reported to be having a medical all afternoon yesterday.
Nonetheless, nothing materialised and the clock ticked passed 11pm with little more than a flutter as a majority of deals were wrapped up with time to spare.
Alas, no big name signing by Daniel Levy and co. with Scott Parker proving to be the last signing before January at the earliest.
But should we, as Spurs fans, be happy with the transfers that have been made this summer?
As soon as the season ended, fans were crying out for one thing; a world class striker.
Fernando Llorente, Giuseppe Rossi and Diego Forlan were all linked with a move to North London but nothing more than a dream emerged from all three.
However, Levy still provided us with our man; Emmanuel Adebayor. The Togolese forward (who won’t be away on international football for the African Cup of Nations in January as he has retired from international football) joined on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent move next summer.
Strong, athletic, pacey and knows where the back of the net is ticks all the boxes for a world class forward and the former Arsenal forward packs that in abundance.
Top business by Levy on that one, especially as Manchester City are paying around half of his wages for his stay.
Next is Parker. The former West Ham United captain, and FWA Footballer of the Year, joined yesterday after much deliberation as to whether he would actually leave Upton Park at all this summer.
In Parker, Spurs have a determined midfielder that isn’t afraid to stick his leg in and won’t be afraid to have a go at teammates who aren’t giving there all, which will come in handy when the likes of Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric or Jermain Defoe, to name a few, aren’t trying their hardest on a cold night in Wigan.
For £5m, another excellent bit of business by the chairman, especially with Modric ummming and aaaahing about whether he fancies playing or not, Sandro still sidelined and Huddlestone, thus far, failing to re-capture his form that made him such a force to be reckoned with in the 09/10 season.
Anyway, this brings me onto Brad Friedel. His signings, I have to admit, left me slightly perplexed when it was announced. For one, he’s 40. Granted, he is one of the league’s top keepers but when we have Carlo Cudicini who is 37 and let Stipe Pletikosa go without giving him a real opportunity to test his worth, I thought that signing Friedel was a bit of an odd move by Levy.
My oh my have I been proved wrong. Firmly instilled as the new number 1, the former Villa keeper hasn’t looked at all out of place, despite conceding 8 goals in 2 games. For free as well, we couldn’t have done much better than the American and I have to commend Levy for signing him.
Souleymane Coulibaly was the fourth big name signing made this summer. The 16-year-old arrives with a big reputation having joined on the back of the U-17 World Cup, where he scored 9 goals in 4 goals for the Ivory Coast.
I’ve heard good things about him and from the videos I’ve seen, looks very similar to Samuel Eto’o in his style and eye for goal so definitely one to keep an eye on in the future.
Same goes for our fifth signing Cristian Cabellos. Similar to Coulibaly, I haven’t seen much of him but from what I have read, he has been impressive for the youth team in recent weeks so another to keep an eye on.
Finally, Iago Falque joined from Juventus on loan for the season. Whether the Spanish U-21 international will be looking to push for a place in the senior squad remains to be seen but, as a winger will hopefully provide Lennon with some much needed competition, seeing as the former Leeds United player has gone off the boil in recent months.
While a move for Gary Cahill failed to come to fruition, a successful transfer window by Spurs, especially as the likes of Wilson Palacios, Jamie O’Hara and Robbie Keane have been moved on.
And while I would have liked to have seen Cahill come in before 11pm last night, or even a superstar name join the ranks, it is important not to bring in too many new faces, thus un-balancing the squad with a sudden influx of players.
A week off now to prepare for the Wolves game and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what Adebayor and Parker can do in a Spurs shirt, especially with the former having Gareth Bale, Modric and Lennon to play off and the latter proving the needed grit against a team like Wolves.
