Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen believes that the big spending of clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United will not help them mount a title challenge this season. This should come as a surprise for the Tottenham fans who are a little disappointed with the lack of signings.
The Danish playmaker believes that the fabric of a side is not built overnight and splashing cash will not give them an edge. Mauricio Pochettino is yet to dip into the market while Kyle Walker has taken the exit door by moving to Manchester City. As quoted by Metro, he said:
“I don’t think you need to spend to win anything. It’s just a matter of how you see a team, how the players are.
“Only [Kyle] Walker has left in our team and we know what we did last season, so I can’t see why we shouldn’t be able to do hopefully even better than last season. It’s an English thing isn’t it. It’s an English thing where you have to spend money to win something, apparently.
“But also I read something from the gaffer where he said our club is just different compared to other clubs, in that we don’t spend as much money as them. When I came there were seven new players at the same time and you saw how that ended. Now in the last few seasons we haven’t bought as many players and it’s changed around.”
We have already seen our competitors spend heavily in the market. Manchester United splashed the cash on Romelu Lukaku while Chelsea have landed Alvaro Morata in a big money move from Real Madrid. Even Arsenal have spent heavily by signing Alexandre Lacazette.
Eriksen though, has a different view and insists that clubs will have a tough time integrating these players into the first team while Spurs will enjoy the benefits of continuity. The core team of Tottenham which finished runners-up last year remains the same which should give them a leg-up.
There is a huge bid for Eric Dier from Manchester United but the view within White Hart Lane is that the versatile midfielder will not be allowed to leave at any cost. That would leave the side with almost the same squad as last season, which is one of the prime reasons why Eriksen is confident.
Is This View Misplaced?
There are merits and demerits to this argument. With competition moving forward by signing new players, Tottenham should not miss the bus of improving the side and challenging for silverware.
Does that mean you go all out and sign players? We have seen in the past, how this theory is misplaced – look no further than the way we spent Gareth Bale’s money. That should, however, not be a reason for our transfer market inactivity.
There is optimism among the fans that next season, we will be able to challenge for Premier League title, apart from doing well in Europe. For that to materialise, we need a larger quality squad. Eriksen’s view is correct that big money signings will not buy titles but a lack of signings will not take you forward either.
