It’s that time again. We’ve survived another season of mockery, highs, lows and could have been’s. Just when you thought it was safe to go out not having to worry about football, the transfer talk begins. Not so bad if you’re a Grimsby fan or the like, but unfortunately we’re Spurs fans and this means a period consigned to reading the Sun’s gossip column as we are linked with every person to have ever kicked a football whilst our best players all seem set to leave. Here, I have studied the transfer targets we have been most strongly linked with and provided my insight into each.
Jan Vertonghen (Ajax) – At 6”3, 25 and with 36 Belgian caps under his belt, Vertonghen looks a very strong player and the type we need to attract if we are to push for Champions League football. A member of the upcoming Belgians that includes the likes of Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku, he operates at CB for Ajax and can also play in the CDM role as he does with Belgium.
Daniel Levy is reportedly in talks with his agent over a potential move with the player himself stating Spurs as his preference, a statement made all the better as Arsenal too were heavily linked with him. Vertonghen came through the prestigious Ajax academy alongside the likes of Rafael Van der Vaart, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Luis Suarez and ex-Spur Mido. He now captains the Dutch outfit where this year he picked up the Dutch player of the year award as well as winning the Eredvisie title for the second successive season.
Surprisingly his goal tally is also considerably high (23 goals in 156 games for Ajax), a player capable of finishing both with his head as well as a stunning left foot giving him the ability to strike free kicks reminiscent of Brazil great Roberto Carlos, an attribute valuable to any club. Although we have kept our highest number of clean sheets in some 25 years, there have been periods with both Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson injured, whilst William Gallas and Ledley King at the back that have look less than stable and for £10 million this certainly looks like a good deal.
Loic Remy (Marseille) – Remy is often likened to Thierry Henry however, watching Remy as a Spurs fan you can’t help but think he is the result of a Jermain Defoe/Emmanuel Adebayor crossbreed. He’s quite tall, very good technically, very quick and decent in the air. Although he brings over many of the good characteristics he’s also very inconsistent like Defoe and Adebayor.
Worryingly, he does suffer from a minor heart defect that nearly cost him his move to Marseille and could potentially re-appear at any point despite consultation from heart specialists, although I don’t know how serious this is. His goal tally is decent averaging one in two for Marseille, and has won 17 caps for the French national side, scoring four goals in the process.
Although Remy looks like a good, solid signing and an improvement on the goal scoring machine Roman Pavlyuchenko that cost us somewhere in the region of £10million, I’d for some strange reason rather Adebayor again….
Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City) – When we first signed him on loan from city I was in a state of disbelief. The man that had caused us so much pain and despair was now going to don a Spurs shirt? However all was forgiven when he netted against Wolves in his first match before following this up with a brace in the 4-0 win over Liverpool, he has been a stunning addition to our side.
He does lack the clinical finish a player like Manchester United front-man Wayne Rooney would provide, so I do feel we need another world class striker if we are to push for top four next year, but his positional play brings something to the side as he drops back to assist the midfield, and on the wings to cover for Gareth Bale or Aaron Lennon, compared to the more single-minded Defoe who’s just heads down and shoot every time he gets the ball.
His attitude also seems to bring a positive influence to the team as he’s always smiling and laughing; a real character by the looks of things and a favourite amongst the players in training. Obviously his wages are a stumbling block with him at city getting £170,000 a week and our wage cap sitting at the £70000 mark however he seems genuinely committed to the club having tweeted something in the week about looking to wrap up a deal, furthermore unlike Remy we already know he’s suited to English football.
Junior Hoilett (Blackburn Rovers) – I’m not too keen on this deal even though it may be a free. As inconsistent and hopeless as Lennon can be sometimes, I don’t think Hoilett would add anything to our game that Lennon doesn’t. Although he has looked a promising player and has contributed some vital goals to Blackburn this season the fact that they got relegated means his efforts were in vain.
When Blackburn played Spurs at White Hart Lane, they managed a resounding zero shots on goal the whole match to the extent I might have still felt confident of a win had Gomes’ grandmother been in goal. Although only 22, I feel the prospects at our youth academy like Andros Townsend and Tom Carroll would be more suited to our play, and this is definitely not the player that you look at a team sheet and would have you quaking in your boots as the likes of Bale and Rafael Van der Vaart do. Sorry Junior, but please no.
Arouna Kone (Levante) – What I feel I have presented on this list is this; players that could take Spurs to a new level in competing for the Champions League and players that would bring us back to the ages of Gary Doherty, Sean Davis and Bobby Zamora gracing the pitch at White Hart Lane.
I’ve tried to create a balanced argument for all players on this list, however I’ve looked at him and to be honest his scoring rate looks about as threatening as my Nans kitten. In 40 appearances for La Liga outfit Sevilla, he netted just the once.
Despite scoring a more reasonable 15 goals in 34 games for Levante, themselves securing a remarkable top six finish and being an Ivory Coast international, I am going to stick my neck out and say I honestly have enough faith in Levy in that the closest we will come to this player is if I decide to play Levante on FIFA. I didn’t think there was such think as a downgrade to Pavlyuchenko but this man just might be it.
