Tottenham Hotspur DOF Fabio Paratici faces an extremely challenging summer transfer window
Tottenham Hotspur Director of Football, Fabio Paratici faces a pivotal summer as the club look to push on in their evolution under Antonio Conte. With UEFA Champions League football secured, focus will now shift to recruitment.
The pragmatic 46-year-old Italian is renowned for his ruthless approach to business and running a football club. The Italian’s way of doing things hasn’t spared even Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who is not known to budge.
Take for example the double acquisition of Tanguy Ndombele (£55.3 million) from Olympique Lyonnais and Giovanni Lo Celso (£55 million) from Real Betis for a combined value of 108.3 million pounds in the summer of 2019.
Ndombele and Lo Celso were sent on loan, with no assurance of a comeback to Hotspur Way. Levy’s willingness to loan out the very expensive pair last summer was a show of immense faith in Paratici’s vision for the club.
Balancing the books
It will be interesting to see if the chairman is going to allow Paratici to be just as ruthless this summer. 13 fringe players have been officially released already, with more set to follow including some big names from the first team.
The situation is even made more challenging by the fact that a majority of these surplus players will be very hard to move on.
Except for maybe Steven Bergwijn, who could regenerate the value paid for him due to his red-hot form for the Netherlands. Ajax Amsterdam are in pole position for the services of the Dutchman.
Academy graduate Harry Winks is expected to push for a summer move in a bid for more regular first-team football. Spurs will also welcome offers for Davinson Sanchez, Sergio Reguilon, Emerson Royal and Joe Rodon.
However, recouping what they paid for the entire defensive unit is going to be very challenging. Sanchez cost £42 million, both Emerson and Reguilon for north of £25 million pounds each, while Rodon was signed for £11 million.
Lo Celso has garnered significant interest after impressing on loan at Villareal, where he helped his team to a Champions League semi-final. Although, recouping what Spurs spent on him is going to be difficult.
This is where the Paratici code comes into effect, as it did last season. Spurs paid off the final year of Serge Aurier’s contract last year after failing to find a suitor for the Ivorian. Dele Alli was allowed to join Everton in January on an initial free transfer but with clauses which if met, could take the fee to £40m. That however does seems unlikely.
Paratici’s approach to cutting losses in this manner while making room for new players that suit Antonio Conte’s style is crucial to both his and the Spurs manager’s vision.
More Tottenham Hotspur News
- International round-up: Tottenham duo of Joe Rodon and Ben Davies instrumental in securing “historic” World Cup qualification for Wales
- Tottenham Hotspur have entered the race to sign England star Raheem Sterling
- Tottenham Hotspur are interested in Yannick Carrasco but faces huge competition
Tottenham also plan on bringing in big names. Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni, Red Bull Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus are just a few of a plethora of names linked to the North London club this summer.
Such deals would require shrewd negotiations and a significant inflow of cash from player sales to balance the books. For this complex “balancing act”, there is no one better than Paratici.
