Sandro a No-Go
While Tottenham’s young charges pootle around the city streets of Barcelona on their collapsible bicycles, looking very much like Mike Wheeler and his gang from Stranger Things— here at home, fans are bracing for the final week of the transfer window.
Just five days until the January market closes for another year and boy, the speculation is rampant…
*checks meaning of the word rampant *
No, my mistake. That should read: non-existent.
Spurs’ solitary piece of permanent business this month has been the £4.5m sale of Tom Carroll to Swansea City— an unusually reduced price for someone of Carroll’s talent and Levy’s commercial cunning.
With a dearth of movement in the market, then, it seems understandable that some media vehicles might see the benefit of blowing new life into old gossip.
Sandro Ramírez to Tottenham was an idea circulated in the summer. Now, presumably, unconvinced that a club of sound mind would want to embark on another half-season with just Vincent Janssen as their back-up striker, the assumption is that Spurs’ need is greater than ever.
Investment is the only alternative.
Sandro certainly looks a player. The former Barcelona forward has found something of a scoring touch at Málaga this season; his goal tally clocking in at a more than reasonable 9 in 16. In La Liga alone, he’s just one behind Antoine Griezmann with 7.
Sadly, for anyone optimistic about the chances of a deal actually being brokered, the outlook is bleak. Señor Spanish Football and Crusher of Dreams, Guillem Balague, announced this week that Tottenham wouldn’t be approaching the Spaniard in January. They don’t want him, he said, in as unambiguous terms as you could hope for.
Young, gifted, reared amongst the finest Catalan stock; these are attributes that don’t come cheap, and on that premise alone, it’s hard to pick fault in Balague’s comments.
Tottenham are not spending big this window. Sorry.
On a more upbeat note. Ryan Mason is in much healthier shape this week, after his NSFW meeting of heads with Gary Cahill last Sunday. The word is that he’s conscious, talking and — crucially — showing no signs of any long-term brain trauma. They make ‘em out of hardy stuff in Enfield, it seems. Here’s the boss, speaking before his planned hospital visit:
“He grew up here at Tottenham – he is a person that we love. I am in contact with his family and I know he is making some progress.”
Good stuff all round.
