It’s the 8th of August and there is still no player on the In list for Spurs. Now Kieran Trippier got injured and there is general panic because the only fit senior player who can play right back is Eric Dier. And if Wanyama isn’t fit until Sunday, Kyle Walker-Peters might have to make his Spurs debut on the first day of the season.
Now, it’s not like Tottenham didn’t have enough time to act after Walker was sold and should have probably sorted something out before moving him on to Manchester City. But this isn’t going to be about the need to sign some players because that much is obvious. This is going to be about how much Spurs need someone and who they need.
The big gaping hole in the first XI is the Right (Wing) Back. I did a piece about possible replacements for Walker before but it’s quite outdated by now so you should check out what The Spurs Scout suggested in that matter.
There have been reports suggesting that CCV might make the step to the senior team this year so it’s possible that he could be CB four or five next season which would mean that there isn’t a big need to sign someone there if Wimmer stays. But there is a big need to sign someone who can be a long term replacement for Dembele. Dembele is getting older and he can’t play 180 minutes every week. Ideally, someone for that position should have already been signed. But as we know Levy, he will wait until the last day to sign Ross Barkley because it means that Everton might drop their valuation to 20m instead of 25-30m.
From an economic standpoint that makes some sense but not from a footballing standpoint. So far the only late Pochtettino-signing that has actually turned out to be a good player is Son. Some of the others were Moussa Sissoko, Benjamin Stambouli and Federico Fazio.
There is also a need to have a backup for Eriksen that isn’t Lamela. As much as I personally like Lamela, his fitness status is dubious and it’s unclear if he’ll ever get back to his 15/16 self. Max Meyer is a name that was around a lot in early July and hasn’t been around lately but it might be the best possible option.
And even if you solve all of those problems there is still the Winger conundrum. Poch has been wanting a real winger for quite some time now but again it doesn’t look like he’s getting him. The club took a punt on N’Koudou last season and with the market heating up even more this season it looks like the club isn’t prepared to take that risk again.
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