Home » Levy Needs to get with the times and cut back on player prospecting

Levy Needs to get with the times and cut back on player prospecting

By The Boy -

The arrival of Jose Mourinho at Tottenham, combined with a bleak economic forecast could be just the right environment to dissuade Daniel Levy from tying up yet more money in buy low and sell high transfer strategies.

As mentioned earlier this morning, Juan Foyth’s time at Spurs is hopefully up. After 3 seasons lurking in the shadows it looks as if Leeds United are poised to nudge the 22-year-old into playing football again.

Now it emerges that Ryan Sessegnon is heavily linked with return to Fulham, in order that he too can be at a club that will offer him some actual game-time.

ALL club’s make mistakes, but in this place we specifically discuss Tottenham Hotspur and the list of ‘punts’ is wearily long.

Georges-Kévin Nkoudou was at Spurs for 3 years and made 11 appearances. DeAndre Yedlin was with us 1 year and made 1 appearance.

Given the extremely likely state of English football’s finances for the short to medium term, all eyes must be on fully functional first teams, and less on player prospecting.

Unless something seismic happens for the boy next season, Gedson Fernandes’ days could also be numbered. Jose Mourinho needs players he can genuinely call upon. Foyth and Sessegnon are a salutary warning to all that The Special One has no time for nice boys.

Tags Juan Foyth NewsNow Ryan Sessegnon
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

48 Comments
newest
oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Steve KillerCushion Williams
Steve KillerCushion Williams
3 years ago
Reply to  mikey hughes

25 mil for a young english player who was championship player of the year when he was just 17… Prem experience at 18.. Jose has said he can be our ashley cole in the future hes just not ready to play at lb yet.. So he’s competing for the wing. He needs some game time, or to go on loan… I would like to see Son come off for ryan alot more when hes not performing… Give the lad a chance.. Alot of people forget the homegrown rule too. We need english in the squad. They are dear to buy and our lads have been wanting out. Sessy was cheap I thought at 25mil, typically because they were relegated again. Levy has always scavenged from the relegated teams for 20 years now.. Spam, Leeds, fulham etc

Steve KillerCushion Williams
Steve KillerCushion Williams
3 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

He was on the wing in a very poor fulham side that got relegated immediately. He always looked their most dangerous player. I don’t think he ever looked out of depth.. The season before that he was only 17 years old and managed to win championship player of the year. Assisting the goal in the play off final to bring them up…. Proven players are needed agreed. But so is young raw homegrown talent. Especially now with the homegrown rule.. Balance is needed… All those ‘proven’ players you mean didn’t start off proven.. They had to prove themselves… I also don’t think we need a ‘change of mindset in management’… We have just changed our manager and coaching team. Maureen has done this before so he knows what he’s doing. I would give the guy a full season with a few of his own signings before questioning his mindset.

Steve KillerCushion Williams
Steve KillerCushion Williams
3 years ago
Reply to  Marbella Spur

Steve Hitchen is chief scout. He hes been credited for helping us sign modric. And also Suerez for liverpool…. But back then he was always working with a sporting director. Damien Comolli.. He then went on to strange roles at qpr and derby, to then come back to us to replace Paul Mitchell back in 2016… I don’t know if he’s any good or not. With Levy pretending to be a sporting director as well as chairman, with our mixed bag of signings, its tough to tell.

England Mike
England Mike
3 years ago

Who actually finds these players in the first place, it’s not mentioned enough of how this club buys cheap relative unknowns, who fail time after time, the only one who has come through is Dele and he looks nothing like what he promised to be. Even now we are told of possible signings such as Eze, and at least he looks as if there is something to work on, as does Lewis from Norwich for me.

Tangangry
Tangangry
3 years ago

Gedson is awful. Looks nervous and way out of his depth.

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago
Reply to  DannyG

Yep, though I still think a £10mil teenage punt every season is a good thing. We need as much quality as we can get in the youth ranks. The youth ranks need to be freshened up too (With quality) on a regulars

David Dillenberg
David Dillenberg
3 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

The type pf players we should be bringing in are proven Messrs Defelaeu and Grealish respectively for starters!

Eddie
Eddie
3 years ago

The Hoijberg deal has gone quiet suddenly.
He’s not the greatest,but is the type of player we should be bringing in.Not young prospects.

Eddie
Eddie
3 years ago

He wasn’t so good for Fulham in the PL,he looked out of his depth.
If Mourinho is able to get us some silverware,it is going to have to be with proven players.
There has to be a change of mind set with management.Sadly unlikely.

Eddie
Eddie
3 years ago
Reply to  Panama Paul

A good analogy.

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
3 years ago
Reply to  mikey hughes

Like an obsessed gambler, Danny seems to be hoping that one day he is going to hit the jackpot with one of his punts and use it to justify everything that has been spunked on dross up until then.

mikey hughes
mikey hughes
3 years ago
Reply to  DannyG

Unfortunately a young player that “is good enough to play in the team” in the PL top 6 don’t come cheap, and come at prices that send Levy running away ASAP.

Panama Paul
Panama Paul
3 years ago
Reply to  Marbella Spur

Exactly. You only have to listen to how Levy thinks our academy is a conveyor belt of 20 – 40 million pound players (all moved on for a hefty profit – if he could get any takers). Has tried to copy Chelsea’s approach, which given the number of players they loan out each year looks more like a money laundering operation than a footballing one.

mikey hughes
mikey hughes
3 years ago

We need to end this cheap punt for the future mullarkey. It’s cost us millions we could have spent on less but top quality PL players. This Levy model has been proven now to be a total failure. Time to move on and do what other top 6 clubs do – only buy proven quality. All the players we seem to go after have nobody else interested in them for obvious reasons. Levy needs to adopt the maxim “you get what you pay for”, and by heck has this been proven to be true with some of the crud he’s bought into the club.

mikey hughes
mikey hughes
3 years ago

Jose doesn’t rate him as a LB more of a left winger. Goodness knows why we bought him and Clarke for £35m – one of Levy’s brain farts I guess. Maybe Poch wanted him. Maybe one day he will shine, but no way on this earth was he worth £25m.

mikey hughes
mikey hughes
3 years ago

Not necessarily, look at Liverpool they haven’t spent that sort of money but have bought wisely and not taken punts on cheap players like Levy is so fond of doing. If you add up the cash Levy has spent on bargain basement flops which run to into at least the teens during his tenure, there was enough money there to have bought a few top quality players that would have won us trophies a la Liverpool.

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago
Reply to  Marbella Spur

Exactly right – it’s very strange. A bit of investment in this window would go a long way. Maybe Levy is telling him he can “do it my way”?

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago
Reply to  Marbella Spur

Exactly right – it’s very strange. A bit of investment in this window would go a long way. Maybe Levy is telling him he can “do it my way”?

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago

Just wanted to echo some of the excellent points made below reagrding buying younger players. There’s nothing wrong with buying cheap – as long as you think that player is good enough to play i the team – or at least as a sub.

The reason why players like Mahrez have had such a meteoric rise is because they had a platform to improve and show their talent. If you don’t have that platform, your value won’t go up. There’s no point in buying prospects who have no chance of the first team, because they won’t be able to show what they can do. If we had bought Mahrez and left if rotting in the reserves, we’d have sold him 2 years later for pennies.

Thinking purely in financial terms, I think of a first team spot as a tool to grow assets’ value. The problem is as a club who is trying to compete at the top of the league, we don’t have the luxury of allowing players who are not ready the time to find their feet and flourish. We need people to hit the ground running, as the competition is tough at the top. This is why Mourinho is ruthless – he has to be. He wants to win, not grow the clubs bank balance.

David Dillenberg
David Dillenberg
3 years ago

Ultimately this club requires a Man City type Sugar Daddy prepared to invest millions in this team. Anybody out there prepared to stump up the dosh!

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago

He’s still a yout. A shy yout. He’s got it in him for the left side. Not many of them about.

Marbella Spur
Marbella Spur
3 years ago
Reply to  RO

Mane was cheap but he went to Liverpool because we wouldn’t pay the wages, now it looks stupid. We also wavered over Mahrez when he initially wanted to leave Leicester but we couldn’t make up our minds. We scouted Maguire at Sheffield Utd and Hull, Maddison at Coventry and Norwich and Brooks at Sheffield Utd but opted not to buy any of them. Who is this down to?

David Dillenberg
David Dillenberg
3 years ago
Reply to  Tappaspur

IMO looking like a rabbit caught in headlights Sess looks out of his depth at this level.

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

Their wage bill is £230m as of last season, which is running them into debt – especially when they are hit harder than most clubs by the drop in match day rev, and they are out of the CL. If Kroenke has no intention of investing heavily (and thus far there is no evidence to suggest he is), they will tread carefully with their wages. Ozil’s also there for another season, sucking £350k pw.

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago

“Wants rid? José rates him.

Eleventstonedidiots
Eleventstonedidiots
3 years ago

What’s the point in loaning Sess if he has no future? He’s our only cover at LB and will need replacing anyway if Mourinho wants rid.

Marbella Spur
Marbella Spur
3 years ago
Reply to  DannyG

Agreed. A clever businessman buys assets cheaply when there is a substantial fall in the underlying market which is what has happened in the transfer market amongst other places. If our owners had balls and foresight, sadly in short supply with Levy, we would be buying heavily discounted players to rebuild an ageing squad for the long term to propel us back into contenders. Unfortunately, we all know it won’t happen, which is a shame given the fact that Joe Lewis has a proven track record for taking risk in falling markets, Bear Stearns comes to mind.

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago

In one hit he does. No one does “one hit” so everyting bless. Levy. Sort out a little sutn sutn

RO
RO
3 years ago
Reply to  Tony Borg

The signings you mention do make you doubt the clubs scouting also. The buying of non-established (cheap) stars isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Not too long ago some fans were asking why we don’t/can’t find the likes of a Kante, Mahrez, even Sterling was picked up cheaply by L’pool. If their cheap Levy will buy them for sure, but some how we’re not finding any gems.

David Dillenberg
David Dillenberg
3 years ago
Reply to  Tappaspur

He cost big monies. Next!

David Dillenberg
David Dillenberg
3 years ago
Reply to  Tony Borg

Demanding change I sense us natives are growing restless!!

Tappaspur
Tappaspur
3 years ago

Bring in my yard yout Leon bailey. Terroriser. Big up Jamaica.

Steve KillerCushion Williams
Steve KillerCushion Williams
3 years ago
Reply to  DannyG

😆 Well when he arrived I had high hopes for the lad.. He cost 4.5 million a season for an 18 month deal. Two seasons. And he cost more than 56 mil to buy. And he was banging on about following in Cristiano Ronaldos footsteps. 🤣 Considering he was Maureens first signing too, I did have high hopes mate…. As people have mentioned on here we definitely bought the wrong Fernandes.

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago
Reply to  Marbella Spur

For clubs backed by people who want to spend the money and have some vision, now is a good time to invest. For most clubs who do not have this luxury, the situation will be different. The bizarre thing is why we are run like the other clubs when we have a billionairre owner. But there is no point in questioning it, we all know it won’t change.

Marbella Spur
Marbella Spur
3 years ago

As you mention, it is not only the cheap players we buy that turn out to be duds, but the expensive ones as well. Only Levy, having spent months negotiating to buy Bruno Fernandes, would turn to a no mark with the same surname. There is no coherent transfer policy at Spurs because Levy cannot handle being advised by professionals who know better.

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago

We we’re never going to sign Gedson on a perm deal were we? He was an easy deal to get another body in. He’s never a starter for us and we’ll be sending him back at the end of his loan.

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

They already have 8-9 CBs on their books. I think they need to shed some of those before signing new ones!

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

Yes I thikn you’re spot on here.

Eddie
Eddie
3 years ago
Reply to  Tony Borg

You’re absolutely right.If Mourinho is to turn our fortunes around he needs experienced ready made PL players now.We don’t have the time to wait and see if players come good or not.
Lewis and Levy won’t go unfortunately.

Steve KillerCushion Williams
Steve KillerCushion Williams
3 years ago
Reply to  Marbella Spur

Gedson Fernandes isn’t cheap though. He is well overpriced like Ndombenchy. If we want him then we pay over 56 million so expect him to go back.. Coutinho is cheaper… And arguably I think we got Sessy cheap for 25 million. Young and english. He was good for fulham on the wing. I would loan him to a lower prem club if he isn’t going to play much this season. Fulham or leeds ideally. Ryan will be worth double that in the future.

Eddie
Eddie
3 years ago
Reply to  Spurs est1882

They allegedly want Lille CB Gabriel as well.I think Coutinho is a loan and Willian free,but their wages will be high.Plus Auba’s new contract 250K/week.It sounds more like press speculation because their money is possibly tighter than ours.Like us,put it out to appease the fans.

Steve KillerCushion Williams
Steve KillerCushion Williams
3 years ago
Reply to  Spurs est1882

Arsenal have always seemed to manage big players, most recently Aubamayang and Pepe weren’t cheap were they. I think if they address their defense then they will suddenly be dangerous again. They will back Arteta now too, he’s already won the fa cup.

Tony Borg
Tony Borg
3 years ago

Daniel Levy buys some really cheap nobody to make it look like we are buying and spending but it’s a false economy as most of them rarely play, Sessegnon, Clarke, Foyth, Fernandez, NKoudou and Yedlin are just the tip of the iceberg. Unless we buy a player that is going to go straight into the team it’s not worth buying them as we aren’t improving, we have to target better players than we already have. LEVY and LEWIS have to GO !!!

Spurs est1882
Spurs est1882
3 years ago
Reply to  DannyG

in the news today, Countinho and Willian.

DannyG
DannyG
3 years ago
Reply to  Spurs est1882

Arsenal? Where did you hear that from? They are in big trouble and are laying off non playing staff. They will scrape by on free transfers and loans. Not sure they will have much success in shifting their unwanted players either.

Marbella Spur
Marbella Spur
3 years ago

The punts you mentioned had one thing in common, they were cheap. Levy treats the transfer market as an extension of a property empire, trying to buy cheap assets to sell them at a profit. Football success has nothing to do with it and is not a priority which is something of a surprise, considering Spurs is a football club. Mourinho will want proven players with a winning mentality,. The problem will as usual come down to money as they cost more than Levy’s dart board throwing technique in Ligue 1. As Spurs est1882 states , the top clubs will find the money to strengthen despite Covid-19. In fact, some already have, particularly Chelsea. This will inevitably be to the detriment of our club as it is much harder to re enter the top four once you have left it, without spending the required amount of money, but this is an anathema to Levy. There is no answer to this dilemma as Levy , ensconced in his own egotistical world, will never change, but let’s look on the bright side, we won’t have to pay Bournemouth compensation for Eddie Howe.

ministers cat
ministers cat
3 years ago

If the idiot insists on his vanity project go and get Eze and call it a day just go after whoever JM wants.
In fact any chance of you concluding the PEH deal your ploy of KWP + £3m seems to have come unstuck

Spurs est1882
Spurs est1882
3 years ago

Arsenal, United and city all looking to spend big, Chelsea I am sure will too. Liverpool likely to find a place to improve. We will be very luck getting top 6 when we seem to be linked with relegated players and ones from Brentford.

Follow Us
Latest Newsletter Posts