There’s transfer sagas, like the Emerson Royals to AC Milans, or the Harry Kanes to Bayern Munichs; and then there’s an absolute TRANSFER BOMBA like this. With essentially zero leaks or reporting beforehand, Spurs today announced the signing of Burnley winger Wilson Odobert:
We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement for the permanent transfer of Wilson Odobert from Burnley, subject to formalities ✍️
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 16, 2024
Talk about out of the blue! Or the claret and blue, anyway.
This one was so under the radar that I didn’t even have it listed on my Bat Country spreadsheet I use to track rumors and names; Johan Lange obviously likes to move stealthily where possible. The announcement of the signing is funny as well, with a distinct lack of the usual media associated with such a signing. My theory here is that the announcement was rushed in time to get Odobert registered in time for the match against Leicester, but maybe the Spurs Twitter admin just decided to have a sick day today?
More reporting is leaking out as to the details of the deal, but it sounds like it’s a £25 million fee, with £5m of add-ons and a 10% sell-on clause for Burnley. It may sound steep, but honestly it’s the going rate now for talented youth, and Odobert IS talented, with senior minutes at Troyes in Ligue 1, before claiming 3 goals and 2 assists in 25 starts for Burnley in the Premier League last season. That’s honestly pretty impressive for a guy who was 18 when the season started.
Odobert plays mostly on the left but has also spent time on the right and in the middle, as well as up front. And you want dribbles? Odobert will give you dribbles. He loves to take a man on, with great take-on and carry numbers, which is arguably what is missing from Ange Postecoglou’s squad. This is a signing, though, made at least partially on potential – make no mistake, Odobert is NOT the finished product and this is a signing that may not work out.
That’s not to say though that there isn’t a lot to like here. My thinking is when efforts to sign Pedro Neto fell through Lange reviewed the state of the elite winger market and didn’t exactly like what he saw. When you have young wingers like Desire Doue fetching around £50 million, things are just going a bit silly – so Lange instead went for a longer term gamble, betting on youth to provide an option that could reap huge rewards in coming years.
Welcome to the club Wilson – we’re excited to see what you can do!
