Spurs Transfer Round-Up
While a good portion of the squad toil away on the underside of World, here back at home, Spurs’ industrious transfer elves are busy working their magic. Greasing up the cogs, making the calls, trying to breathe new life into some slow-moving deals. That’s the dream, anyway.
Curious Georges
Georges Kevin N’Koudou breezed through a medical at Hotspur Way last week, according to those ubiquitous Sky Sports sources. A fee, too, was agreed between Spurs and Marseille— just shy of £11m— and it looks like the thing will be rubber-stamped within a matter of days.
The hold up, it seems, is that Marseille want Clinton N’Jie included as part of the deal, most likely as a loan with a compulsory purchase clause tied-in. For that to materialise, though, young Clinton needs a French visa. As ever, it’s admin that’s slowed the wheels of progress.
The Expendables
Elsewhere, Mauricio Pochettino has quite candidly detailed the personnel whom he’ll have little use for this season.
According to www.bethut.co.uk, a three-man shortlist consisting of Federico Fazio, Alex Pritchard and Nabil Bentaleb. They are not in my plans and they know, the Argentine coach told the media pit on Monday, with the kind of matter-of-factness you can’t help but admire.
Fazio will most likely return to Spain, to contribute another solid 10 minutes to Seville’s latest Europa League triumph. But they’re in the Champions League, I hear you say. They were last year, too.
Meanwhile, Bentaleb has been linked with a move to European royalty, Benfica, who find their midfield reserves a little depleted after selling Renato Sanches to Bayern.
That might appear to be in the same airspace as exchanging Antonio Valencia for Cristiano Ronaldo, in terms of downgrades, but it does appear to be a good fit for the talented Algerian. A loan deal might suit all parties; particularly Bentaleb who needs to defibrillate his flat-lining career.
Finally, a contender for the least surprising rumour of the summer: Alex Pritchard could be off to Swansea for around £8m. That just feels right, doesn’t it?
Keep watching the skies!
