I don’t like updates. In fact, one could describe me as someone who is inherently suspicious of updates.
There’s a great line in Layer Cake. and it’s essentially true.
Jimmy Price: Details, details. Things to do. Things to get done. Don’t bother me with details, just tell me when they’re done. Who said that, son?
XXXX : Winston Churchill?
Jimmy Price: Close. No, I said it. James Lionel Price.
So when Daniel Levy made an elaborate show of organising transfer finds (terms and conditions apply) my first thought was ‘why do we need to know this?’ I appreciate that businesses seek to be transparent with shareholders, and football clubs are particularly cautious about upsetting the mob. Yet the chairman’s letter was particularly opaque in respect of just how much cash money was available this summer.
Indeed, there is a case to be made that keeping one’s cards close to one’s chest in this space is the shrewdest move, so why manufacture a situation which… ah, so there we have it. The purpose of the letter to the fans was to overtly smother claims, in advance, that Conte hadn’t been backed.
Moreover, there’s the matter of who Levy is prepared to sell and at what price. Harry Winks at £25million looks beyond ambitious.
Yet this could well be the least of his worries, as Tanguy Ndombele is set to return from Lyon, with a ‘return to sender’ sticker slapped upon his furrowed brow. The word from France is that the loan spell didn’t set anyone’s pulses racing. That’s another £200,000 a week that needs to be found – or in very simple language, another £1million chipped off Levy’s £150million, every 5 weeks.
This window will require far more than the threat of creative accountancy.
In the words of Duke, from the same film:
Oh, you give a f**kin’ aspirin a headache, pal!
Levy should buy a chicken shop near Hotspur Way .. ..get some money back of the moody git
Perhaps season ticket sales are slow……
Winks has value to his mum but not as a professional footballer in the Premier League.
There are two ways of looking at all of this information. Spurs have players on their books that are no longer needed. Some of these players have some potential worth / value to other clubs. Spurs need for new players is clearly urgent.
My view is that the current owners sell to buy / limited investment in the playing squad has probably led to low ball offers from buying clubs for the likes of Rodon, Lo Celso, Bergwijn, Sanchez, Reguillon, Royal and others in previous windows. The buying clubs may suspect that Spurs could be tempted into accepting low offers to placate Conte so he has at least some money to spend. Levy will not allow his ‘stock’ to be sold off on the cheap; hence the investment. It’s a sprat to catch a mackerel and spun to generate interest in season tickets etc.
Stevie Burgers is my benchmark player for this viewpoint. He could be worth 40 – 50 million if he bags 15 goals next season. Selling him for 20 million could end up making Spurs look really stupid. Now Spurs have Champions League football Bergwijn could easily be given more game time in easier looking Premier League fixtures that precede Champions League fixtures. This would actually protect Son, Kane and Kulusevski from injury.
I think ENIC have put the money up for Conte so we don’t have to sell off squad players on the cheap. When I heard that Ajax had offered 15 million for Bergwijn my thoughts were that it would be better to retain him. Levy will attempt to rinse the maximum value he can from Conte’s unwanted squad players.
You know it makes sense.
With Dembele sold mid-season. Even a few games from him could have made a difference, especially the big one that season…..
Not good enough for us, it really says it all that after Dembele and Wanyama left that the central midfield reigns were handed to Winks and Sissoko. There was simply nobody else at the club to play there.
Like HH has alluded to, why does this need to be such a public announcement? It’s fairly standard stuff for a business this size, and it isn’t even a huge figure in football terms these days, where one half decent top level player will set you back over £50m.
So getting the fireworks and bunting out smacks of desperation. Levy is trying to offset this perception of ENIC as tightwads that aren’t ambitious on the pitch with stuff like this. Probably because it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming damaging from a PR perspective, and therefore to profits ultimately.,,
Perisic to come in on a free for two years. 33, left wingback. Which should spell the end for Reggie…
Lo Celso seems to have done enough to get sold, and Winksy has value – conte always speaks highly. of him, and he’s an England international! To be fair he may even do well in some mid table team.
Tanguy is indeed the elephant in the room though – they’re gonna have their work cut out even finding another loan, let alone a sale, and Conte will refuse to take him back.
kulu not buying till next summer I’ll be sceptical of levy till it’s done but appears like he is trying to do right thing 150mil new capital injection champs league prize money and player sales he should be able to balance the books and spend *should
Romero payments are to be staggered over several years, so it won’t all be spent this summer.
A great effort by Conte to galvanise a tired squad to extend itself to get 4th: belief, solid organisation and sheer wilfulness have a lot going for them.
As a result Levy is supposedly prepared to push the boat out to the tune of @ £150 million, but what does that mean? Is that a “core” £150 Mill…… does it become £170mill if we shift Winks for £20Mill – or does it shrink to £130 mill with Winks’ £20 mill making the £150mill?
Either way, the sum we are prepared to spend has to result in us actually buying what we want. Conte may think he’s heading down to the shops with £150 mill in his pocket with an expectation of buying £150 mill’s worth of players, but we know Levy and Levy will be looking to get £200 mills worth for his £150 mill spend.
He’s already spruiking Winks at £25mill and if we want Bastoni or Pau Torres he’ll want that £50-60 mill player at £35 mill and will haggle till well into the season assuming the player is not picked up with a straight offer of £50 mill by another side looking to rebuild: ManU, Arse, Cheatski…..or he’s not simply told to FO.
Then there’s the wages….
Levy: “So how much do you want?”
Player: “£200 grand a week please”
Levy: “£150 grand a week? What do you need £100 grand a week for?”
The same game being played where Levy spends the summer kicking tyres but doesn’t deliver (for all the usual penny-pinching reasons) will see Conte tell him (and us) where to go…….
I suggest we manage our expectations, it doesn’t matter how much the budget is: if it doesn’t get you the players you want/need, the number is meaningless….
It’s ok though, as we will make that back by owning his image rights. Ronald McDonald is battering Levy’s door down
He’s going to make Dele look like a Harrods Sale bargain by the end of his contract.
That would be our best ever transfer window. One we could build from.
Winks is the epitome of naff all, Easty!
No – he thought it was a bargain, hence the quick conclusion. Levy is a sporting imbecile.
The remaining funds will offset the losses on Wobblybelly. Fantastic ‘war chest’ innit…
Apparently Romero and Kulu will cost a combined 85m euros.
Could see a part cash and player swap including winks.
*Potential war chest.
Tottenham are going to have to cover 10 to 15m of any deal for NDombele, how its given to the player is anyone’s choice. There maybe a bit of negotiation regarding wages like the lad did in the last window.
Can see another Dele styled deal to get it over the line.
So does Levy…
25m buys you naff all these days. 25m is the 8m of four years ago…
Romero yet to be paid for but happening imminently, so that’s a third of the ‘war chest’ gone already, on a player already at the club. Plus there’s still the luxury hotel to build. That £150m has got some work to do!!🤔 😂
Everyone suspected Wobblybelly would be back at Hotspur way for pre-season. Another subsidised loan to Fenebache or something of that ilk might be the outcome as Conte will not be happy if he’s there stinking the place out…
Conte: I need someone like Perisic on the leftwing.
Paratici: How about Perisic himself?
Conte: Get it done.
This is very true but will also hit us in the pocket as we need to up our home grown numbers ourselves.
Tongee reminds me of a much more expensive Dele.
What’s all this rubbish gossip on the BREAKING NEWS on SSN. Are we Really close to signing Ivan Perisic?
I hope so, but the talk is 2 big Italian club want him.
Maybe the pull of Conte & memories of last year’ title is strong.
homegrown add 20-30% yup
Now if he were to have an accident and break both his legs could we write him off as an insurance loss?
Relax shipmates according to Einstein there is no problem (been a bit quiet lately haven’t you pal).
In fairness to Levy, as far as Ndombele is concerned, he paid top dollar & bought early in the window – something most fans slate him for NOT doing. Get rid whatever the hit is – he’s toxic.
Don’t be surprised if Winky does in fact fetch at least 25m. Leeds just signed Brenden Aaronson, an American Jack Clarke, for 25m. And Winks is homegrown, which appeals to the Newcastles and Villas of the world flushed with cash.
There seems to be a wave of ‘breaking news’ reports in the last couple of hours saying Conte has decided to remain on at Tottenham. Despite having a contract until the end of next season, he seemingly wanted to ensure the club’s ambitions were aligned to his before continuing.
So are we to believe there was no doubt he was going to stay, or was the situation as many of us suspected to be completely dependent on a commitment to bring in the right payers?
No doubt, we’ll hear more about how much of that reported 150m will be spent on players he actually wants, assuming Levy doesn’t balk at the prices and head for the cheaper alternative list again.
Yes. All 5 Million Quid, plus add ons.
The public can request this information in the UK so it’s easily found out. Same as MPs or anyone in sport or anyone who works and pays tax…. Tanguy signed a contract for 5 years. He earns an annual salary of 10.4 million. A base salary of 10.4 million while carrying a cap hit of 10.4million. This works out at 200k a week, no more no less. No bonus for performances. He gets the same if he’s injured or on the bench.
ENIC may have made £150m available but I do hope that any sales will be added to the transfer budget? The sales of Ndombele, LoCelso, Gil, Bergwijn, Doherty, Winks, Sanchez and Emerson along with maybe one or two more could bring in a hefty amount.
Will that all be given to Conte to bring in who he wants???
I find discussion of contracts and finances amusing. All the commentators speak as if they know all the details and they rarely do. So Tanguy gets £200k a week every week. Who knows the truth and what the terms are? Does he get team bonuses if he’s on loan, doubt it. Is that a flat sum or variable according to performance?
I’ll leave Daniel to figure it all out and if Antonio is happy I don’t do maths.
A disastrous purchase and the best outcome at this point is another loan. I can see no way anyone will buy him with £200k per week wages to support. If any single signing should have had Hitchin ‘shot from guns’ it is this monstrous ‘faux pas’, closely followed by Lo Celso.
He has to go.. Problem is the 200k a week contract. He has to agree to go and who will pay him that? Clubs will offer him half that… If the man is more interested in money than playing football then he’ll be happy to stay sat on the bench.. I’ve been calling him out along with Cowspurs from the start, but he fooled many who kept believing he would become world class because he has a few tricks in his locker and a nice touch… He never had the mentality or the minerals to be a top player. Hitchen and Botch wanting to pay so much for him and to him was a huge part in both their demises.
Levy has to cut the losses on this disaster of a transfer, whatever someone offers for this waster should be taken, he won’t of course but whatever, he has to be moved on .