In recent weeks, and especially in the defeat to Wolves over the weekend, Tottenham Hotspur’s lack of attacking impetus has been laid bare for all to see. Against a side that were sitting with a deep back five, holding their shape, and disrupting midfield buildup, Spurs were lacking attackers willing to take on defenders, drag the defense out of shape, and show vision to unlock space. So, what’s the fix you ask?
How about some new signings?
Enter Fabrizio Romano. The Italian journalist (can I call him that?) was recently interviewed on CaughtOffside’s The Debrief, where he talked about Tottenham’s summer transfer plans. It appears that an elite winger is a high priority for Spurs, with the two names mentioned being Barcelona winger Raphinha and Wolves’ knight-in-shining-armor from the weekend’s aforementioned fixture: Pedro Neto.
Both names are exciting options for Spurs, and could really elevate the Lilywhites’ firepower. Raphinha, in particular, is more of the finished product, with Romano noting we have outstanding interest from his time at Leeds. He’s been pretty damn good at Barcelona, with 22 G+A across two seasons, and any sale to Spurs would depend on whether the Blaugrana would sanction a sale. I like to poke fun at Barcelona’s finances, and that could certainly be a driver for putting Raphinha on the market; but they also seem to somehow retain players even though they appear to be unable to afford the wages and continue to make signings even with sanctions from La Liga looming over them. It’s therefore far from a certainty that Barca would be willing to part with the Brazilian.
As to Neto, Spurs have a funny habit of pursuing players that play well against them (see: Moussa Sissoko), but this isn’t necessarily the case here; in fact, there’s been rumors abounding for a while now that Spurs are interested in the Portuguese forward. Romano confirms these, also indicating he’s a player the Tottenham back office have liked for some time. Neto is one who Wolves would possibly let go for the right price, but he is the more risky proposition from Spurs’ perspective: he’s young and his ceiling is possibly higher than Raphinha’s, but he’s not as good right now and has a somewhat concerning injury history. As we all (unfortunately) saw on Saturday, however, he can make opposition defenses look silly and a system like Ange Postecoglou’s could really unleash him as a player.
Either way, these two links are encouraging in terms of Ange being backed as he continues the Great Tottenham Rebuild. I’m sure more names will leak out the closer we get to summer, but at this stage, nothing is advanced with any transfer (well, duh). I’m sure Spurs will be keen to observe how both players perform through the rest of the season while their scouting team is scouring the leagues for more attacking talent. Nobody move.