What could have been...
The deadline came and went with no activity taking place at White Hart Lane, but will Spurs’ inaction come back to bite them?
We’ve picked out a number of realistic targets who would have given Mauricio Pochettino a better array of options in his squad for the new season.
Abdoulaye Doucoure (Watford)
It was a surprise that Watford didn’t have a harder time warning off suitors for Doucoure, who excelled in the Premier League last term and was linked with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham for much of the season.
Seven goals made him the Hornets’ top scorer and saw him take home the club’s player-of-the-season award, but rather than bidding Vicarage Road goodbye, he committed with a five-year deal.
It’s possible that the Premier League’s top clubs are waiting to see if the 25-year-old Frenchman will replicate his form again this time around, but Spurs are likely to be at the front of the queue if he does. Whether they’ll have been priced out by then is another matter.
Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan)
Throughout the summer Spurs were linked with the €40m-rated Croatia midfielder, but nothing concrete materialised. A shame: the Inter enforcer – and World Cup finalist – is an excellent ball-carrier who could’ve strengthened a central midfield that currently includes 31-year-old Mousa Dembele (previously linked with a departure) and the injury-prone Victor Wanyama.
Only this month, Gazzetta dello Sport sung Brozovic’s praises, hailing him as “a sort of security for Inter in front of the defence, protecting the central defenders… as if he had never done anything else in his life.” Nine assists in Serie A last season is evidence of a creative side to his game too.
Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax)
Tottenham must have accepted that they’ll lose Alderweireld in the next year, as Pochettino’s reluctance to pick the Belgian suggests. Instead the Argentine prefers a pair of former Ajax stoppers - Davinson Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen.
Next on the list could be the Dutch side’s 19-year-old defender De Ligt, who fits the bill to be Alderweireld’s long-term successor. A first-team regular in Amsterdam since February last year, the centre-back helped Ajax to the Europa League final in his first full season – alongside Sanchez – and has now tied down a starting role for the Netherlands as well.
A January move would make a lot of sense, giving the youngster half a season to adjust.
Moussa Dembele (Celtic)
After a long, hard summer at the World Cup, Harry Kane returned to Spurs and played the full match on the opening day against Newcastle. There is no doubting Kane’s model professionalism, but the 25-year-old will sometimes require a break to avoid injury issues – last term he missed just two games across the Premier League and Champions League.
Celtic striker Dembele, a proven goalscorer with Champions League pedigree and an eye on the English top-flight already, could’ve been a wise option at a decent price. With Son Heung-min heading to Asia this season – not once, but twice – Tottenham could be reliant on Fernando Llorente for goals. Not ideal when the Spaniard doesn’t seem to have gained Pochettino’s trust.
Jack Grealish (Aston Villa)
The saga of the summer, Grealish appeared to be Spurs’ number one target, and the club were confident that a cut-price deal could be reached thanks to Villa’s apparent financial turmoil.
But Steve Bruce’s side were saved by new ownership that the Tottenham hierarchy presumably hadn’t seen coming. Deadline day loomed and, despite a £25m bid being tabled (and allegedly agreed before Villa’s new owners pulled the plug), Grealish stayed put at his hometown club.
But what would have happened if Tottenham made their move earlier while the Birmingham outfit were in a financial mess? It’s hard to imagine they would’ve been in a position to say no to that kind of bid at that point. Too slow.
Anthony Martial (Manchester United)
Ambitious, but not impossible: after all, Spurs did have Toby Alderweireld to use as a bargaining chip in potential negotiations with United. The Red Devils are clearly not keen on letting the forward go, particularly to a top-four rival and certainly not without a large fee in return.
Which seems unlikely at this point. United spent around £60m for a 19-year-old Martial three years ago, and though they now want a profit on their investment, it seems a case of wrong place, wrong time for all parties as it stands.
Martial can’t get in the team under Jose Mourinho, sitting behind Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Rashford in the pecking order. He’d have found a perfect home at White Hart Lane where more regular game time and Champions League football are on offer – if Daniel Levy had been pushed harder.
Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)
More of a wild card, this one. The American teenager has built up a loyal fanbase in Dortmund, and in the States he’s become the face of a new US revolution following the national team's failure to reach Russia 2018.
Odd, then, that Levy didn’t jump at the chance to bring in the rising star before he moves into a different price band. Pulisic currently has great talent but perhaps not a consistent end product (five goals, seven assists in 27 Bundesliga starts last season).
You feel, though, that with the youngster’s potential and current level of ability, Pochettino could take him to the next level in North London.
Jean Michael Seri (Fulham)
At a time when consistent, creative central midfielders are a rarity in the market, Seri stood out as an intelligent signing for Fulham this summer. Barcelona agreed a deal for the Ivory Coast international a year ago, but it collapsed late on, and with the Catalan giants showing no sign of coming back for him this summer, the Cottagers swooped in for £25m.
Spurs seemed intent to lose their most creative central midfielder in Mousa Dembele, and although Seri wouldn't have been a carbon copy replacement, the cultured 27-year-old would have certainly bolstered Mauricio Pochettino’s midfield options to challenge on all fronts – at an attractive price too.
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Zaha split opinion among Tottenham fans about whether he was a good fit for Pochettino’s squad, or if he’d merit a starting spot. But for a Spurs team accused of lacking intensity last season, the adaptable Ivory Coast international would have been a helpful addition – proven in the Premier League, still only 25 and versatile enough to cover a variety of roles effectively.
He eventually committed his future to Palace with a hefty new deal, but Zaha will eventually desire the Champions League and Spurs seem a good club to match his ambitions. In the eyes of most fans, this summer was where the marquee signing needed to be made. Zaha should’ve been it.
