Fans have been extremely disappointed with Tottenham’s start to the new season.
It’s been a miserable start to the season for Tottenham Hotspur, sitting bottom of the table with just two goals to their name despite spending close to £400m in the summer.
Roberto De Zerbi has had the entire international break to ponder his team’s problems. The North London club’s desperate striker situation continues to rumble on, with Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush without a goal in the Premier League this season and Richarlison out of the gaffer’s plans.
It has been widely reported that Spurs have already started scouring the market for a new No.9 ahead of the January window to address their issues in front of goal. Scoring goals hasn’t been the only issue; the Roberto De Zerbi-managed side’s defensive unit continues to be shaky. This is regardless of the N17 chiefs bringing in four Premier League-proven defenders.
Tottenham make January transfer plans clear
The signings of Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson on free transfers from Bournemouth and Liverpool, respectively, were wrapped up very quickly, before splashing £52m for the services of Jan Paul van Hecke in July. And on the deadline day, Tottenham surprised their fans by signing Tosin Adarabioyo from bitter rivals Chelsea.
Given Spurs’ failure to address their defensive problems, they have been linked with several defenders in the last couple of weeks. Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae has emerged as a target for the Lilywhites. However, it looks like the club are not planning to sign a defender immediately.
According to Football Insider’s transfer correspondent Pete O’Rourke, Tottenham will not prioritise a new centre-back signing in the January window. This is because De Zerbi trusts in his current options.
“Tottenham have liked Kim Min-Jae in the past, but do they really need him right now or do they need another centre-back? In my opinion, probably not,” Pete O’Rourke exclusively said on the Transfer Insider podcast (h/t Football Insider).
“They bought a few in the summer, with Van Hecke coming in and Senesi as well, so I don’t think it’ll be a top priority for Tottenham to make a move for Kim Min-jae.
“These things might change in the summer, but I don’t think it’s a top priority for Tottenham right now in the January window.”
Focus on fortifying the attack?
Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke have been De Zerbi’s first-choice partnership at the back so far this season. However, the Dutch duo haven’t shown their best form yet and were particularly poor in Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa. Senesi has struggled to make an impact, whereas Tosin is yet to start a Premier League game under De Zerbi.
Despite Spurs’ glaring deficiencies at the back, the Italian tactician is content with the options at his disposal and wants to rely on them for the rest of the season. This is perhaps because his priority lies in recruiting a new striker in the winter window. But it won’t be easy.
The North Londoners sell players in order to fund a move for a top-level striker in January, with the key decision-makers aware they’ll need to balance the books through departures before they can bring in new attacking reinforcements.
