How much summer movement is expected at Tottenham?

National World - LocalTV

A look ahead to the summer and possible business.

Transcript

00:00Just on the summer, how much movement do you feel there will be out of the club? Obviously

00:07we don't really know the managerial situation. It's probably likely that we can say that

00:10Ange might not be in the dugout come the start of next season. That turnover period of manager

00:18to signings is really, really tight. We've mentioned the young core to the team. Maybe

00:24that could be the saving grace at the start of next season for Spurs. Do you see a lot

00:28of movement in the summer in terms of outgoings? Who could they bring in? What sort of areas

00:34do they need to improve on?

00:36Yes, I think so. There's going to be big question marks over Romero in the future. That's the

00:43big one. Two years left on his deal. Will he engage in tops or sign a new contract?

00:48I hope so because he's a terrific player. I think he's never quite hit the heights consistently

00:53for Spurs, which has been a disappointment. Again, he's suffered with his fitness, so

00:58centre-back is going to be a position we need to look at anyway because we have only got

01:02three natural centre-backs. Ben Davies is coming to the end of his contract. Terrific

01:06servant for Spurs. Will he get another 12 months potentially as a squad player? Again,

01:11he gets a lot of stick, Ben Davies, but there's certainly been worse people and players at

01:15Spurs over that past 10 years. So, centre-back will be really, really interesting and again

01:21a position we need to fill. Will we go back in for Mark Gaye after a failed effort there

01:26come the end of January? This time around, the central midfielder, as I say, Bissouma,

01:31I can't see him being at Spurs next season. I think there's a lot of talk about Benton

01:35Kerr maybe getting another contract. I actually feel sorry for Benton Kerr because he's a

01:40Rolls-Royce of a midfielder on his game. He's obviously had some horrendous injury problems

01:45and now when he plays, he's just woefully exposed as part of the system as we've just

01:50been speaking about. The midfield has been such a wide open space. He's covering the

01:54work of three players, albeit he has lost a bit of form and a little bit of fitness.

01:58You can see the confidence. When I was there a couple of weeks ago, it had just drained

02:02out of him and he's another one who's really suffering on current form. Johnny Cardoso,

02:07this is the American midfielder. We've got the option on from Real Betis. He's doing

02:13very, very well in La Liga this season. £25m buy option, I think, before the end of July

02:19for him. I could see him coming in, which would be a good move, but obviously we don't

02:22want to block the paths of Val and Gray, but we do need some experience in that midfield

02:27and general leadership in terms of the team, particularly in the midfield at the back,

02:32as I say. Then if you look at the front positions, I still think we're short. There's a question

02:36mark over Matthias Tell. He's shown flashes. Again, he's a very, very young man. He's scored

02:43a good goal in the FA Cup against Aston Villa, but has petered out a little bit ever since,

02:47albeit we know the reasons around the team and not playing particularly well at the moment

02:52in the Premier League form, etc. So, do we take the option on him for £50m? That feels

02:57like a little bit of a leap of faith at the moment, to be honest with you. That said,

03:02there's clearly a talented player there. You don't play for Bayern Munich if you're not

03:06a talented player, so that'll be interesting. Then you're looking at potentially the likes

03:10of Brennan Johnson. He's got 14 goals this season, but has been really, really poor,

03:16almost like he doesn't trust his hamstrings after some significant injury problems over

03:21the past eight, nine months. He's always there at the back post to finish off, but his general

03:26play is extremely poor. We've just seen the impact Wilson Odebrecht has had in the Europa

03:33League. So, I'd be a little bit worried if I was Brennan Johnson at the moment. He was

03:36hooked at half-time against Fulham as well, which is never good for your confidence.

03:40And then the striker position, he's got Solanke back in the mix now, really great Solanke.

03:45He's been a very, very good signing for Spurs this season. We've definitely missed him when

03:50he's been out injured. But then there's Richarlison. Do we look to cash in on Richarlison? Again,

03:56you just can't seem to get him on the pitch, which has curtailed his career. When he had

04:01a run last season, he scored, it might have been eight, nine goals, ten goals on the bounce,

04:05and then looked really, really good. But I just wonder whether we could ever get him

04:09back to that level in terms of his fitness, really. So, do we look to move Richarlison

04:13on and fill that striker gap? But I think overall, with the right coach and the right

04:18coaching methods, there's the nucleus there of a really, really strong side. It just needs

04:24augmenting with those key positions I've just outlined and some more leadership in that mix.

04:32And speaking of leaders, is Seung Min Song going to still be at Spurs next season?

04:36No, he's signed the contract extension. But do Spurs look to cash in now? Is it a form

04:43issue? Is it the fact that he's getting on a bit, he's played a lot of football,

04:48still a quality player and he's shown flashes this season. But is the time right for Song

04:53to move on? Should he get a big money offer from the likes of the MLS or Saudi Arabia?

04:59Who knows? But as I say, the squad's not a million miles away. I still strongly believe

05:05that. But the system, the set-up's just not working. And we definitely need some

05:09players to help us there in terms of that augmentation, in terms of leadership and senior pros.

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