A speculative piece in the less than rock solid ooh aah Daily Star this morning says Hugo Lloris is valued at £30million by Spurs.
The figure certainly sounds about right.
Lloris has about 4 years left on his contract and he only cost £10million, so the deal would offer what has become THFC’s usual rate of return for players that they sell on.
What is perhaps more interesting in the Star’s articles, is the footnote line about Gareth Bale’s anticipated movements.
But the Daily Star Sunday understands that another factor in snapping up Depay was that United accepted that Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale would still be out of reach this summer.”
The Telegraph‘s Si Hughes gives us his balanced take on Harry Kane and many things Spurs, as the season grinds to a halt.
Hughes points out that whilst Kane has indeed papered over the cracks this term, it is likely to still leave us some 10 points shy of contention for the Champions League; staring at another slog in the Europa.
Our solitary one clean sheet in 13 games is highlighted, and Hughes suggests that Pochettino’s comments on the players being tired reflects the coach’s believe he doesn’t have enough players.
It was after the beating at Manchester United that I pointed out I thought our lot looked leggy, as early as just 20 minutes in.
Perhaps Mauricio is guilty of burning the candle at both ends?
An inability to rotate effectively and a limited pool of ‘trusted’ players to chose from has left us sending out a fatigued version of the manager’s best picks.
On the subject of fatigue, The Guardian are carrying spine chilling quotes from both Poch and the boy Kane, on the subject of the Europa League.
Kane says:
The Europa League is another chance to win a trophy, which is something we have made it clear that we want to do. We will try and win the last two matches to qualify. We will be taking that competition seriously.
If you want to go and win the Champions League you have to play a lot of games. Europa League is no different. It will give us a bit more experience in Europe and help us push on to the Champions League. Everyone wants to be involved.”
I here what Kaneinho is saying, but he’s kidding himself.
The vital element missing from the Europa, is that the Champions League has pizzaz.
Lights, cameras, action, big match fever.
The adrenaline produced by the box office feel of the of the occasion actually helps lift players over the fatigue wall.
The same cannot be said of playing the Kurdistan Comets in front of 3 men and a dog at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, after a 2000 mile flight.
Champions League football is the ultimate status symbol for your jobbing millionaire footballer. The Europa League is more on a par with a Community Service order.
London24 report that we’re a likely destination for a Ligue 1 player called Claudio Beauvue.
Mr Niceview is 27 years old, and responsible for 15 goals in 34 league games so far this season, 21 in total.
Guingamp president Bertrand Desplat said:
It seems that this is the will of Claudio to go to England. Hull and Tottenham have already expressed interest.”
The Coupe de France winner’s stock could be on the rise, as Claudio has scored more goals this season than he has in his last 3 combined; at £6M he might represent some value.
Knowing our luck, he probably been identified with something terminal that won’t show up on a medical, and will arrive at The Lane with just 3 months to live.
