verlaine1979

No one has shown a convincing connection between Gao and LD have they? More likely an instance of foreign Chinese assets (football clubs) either being obliged or feeling obliged to help other Chinese companies gain market exposure.

Eh, didn't we just hint that we were switching to an under-26 recruitment policy? I'm sure there'll be exceptions to that occasionally if we want to add a bit of experience and leadership to the squad, but I doubt we'll make one for someone who has averaged only 10 games a season throughout his career on a minutes-played basis.

Maybe RH thinks he's found another Keita, who was part twinkle-toes, part destroyer for Leipzig.

Would be great if that's where we end up, but I fear it'll be more like £5m + KWP.

Think Spurs will probably beat us down into taking about $15m for him, which is the lowest he could go for without us completely losing face. And you could argue that prorated over a standard four year contract, that's the equivalent of valuing him at £60m, which is probably actually a bit over the odds for what he brings.

Do people really still not understand that clubs can't just sell players without their agreement?

Two year-long cruciate ligament injuries and a recent knee surgery.

Hopefully RH's reputation in Germany, particularly around bringing through young players, might give us an edge in recruitment.

Adams looks a lot more alive in the box after a few games, but his one-footedness is a concern. I know 99% of players have a dominant foot, but he seems absolutely allergic to touching the ball with his left.

Absolutely - you don't let players get down to only a year left on their contracts and then try and hardball who they can sign for. At the very least, it would absolutely kill our reputation as a reasonable stepping stone club for talented young players.

Lol.

Eze looks quick, strong and seems to strike the ball incredibly cleanly. Rare to get two of those together, let alone all three. Hope we're sniffing about if he's on sale this summer.

Possibly, though the Spurs board don't seem to have had keeping managers happy high on their list of priorities in previous windows. Levy just seems to have a mantra of always underpay and always oversell, and if either of those can't be achieved, he gets out of the market.

Think they'll both convert him into a bog standard defensive midfielder and try and get him to cut out the long range passing and shooting. He's got the energy and commitment to press and harry for 90 minutes, and if they can get him to lay the ball off simply to the likes of Gomes or Alli, he might do a job for them.

Hoj probably reasoning that the best way to get Spurs to come to the table is to show that they don't hold all the cards in his career.

Too many players in this squad who really, really can't finish.

Did anyone actually scout Vest, or did they just look at a chart with his height on it and nothing else?

We don't have the money for that. Our business model is to shop abroad and then sell on to bigger clubs. If we've screwed up recently it's been in favoring quality over quantity. Picking up players from Juventus, Bayern and elsewhere in the German league has meant paying more and not spreading our bets. We need to scout more widely and be more active looking for multiple young prospects at around the £5m mark, in addition to trying to recruit first-teamers. It's like venture capital - one Van Dijk pays for all the Juanmis and much more.

Quina at Watford looked like a promising young attacking midfielder in a few cameos last season. Would probably be a cheap addition to our attacking midfield options, with lots of potential upside depending on how he develops.

Hoj terrible. That no-pressure pass in injury time straight to a defender with the whole team ahead of him sums up his level. Just not reliable enough on the ball to interest possession-based teams. Will be very lucky if Spurs take him off us for decent money. Adams - again, his technique just isn't there, and on the evidence of the past few games, neither is the anticipation. Would gladly sell for a small loss and recruit someone else. Obafemi - first touch in the first half was as bad as I've seen. Similarly to Adams he doesn't have great technique, but he's quicker on the run and a bit sharper in the box. Fine to keep him as a sub. Smallbone - went missing first half, but actually played some decent intricate stuff from the right in the second once he had KWP getting closer to him. Can thread a pass pretty accurately with either foot and puts in a very good cross, but he's not a right winger. Vokins wasn't particularly adventurous first half, but he's clearly got decent technique.

Why have you cherry picked a single season to justify your 2012-2016 comparison? On current league goals/appearances, Armstrong is averaging a goal every 7 games and an assist every 11 games, while Davis averaged a goal every 16 games and an assist every 10 games. Davis also had the benefit of playing in a much better side.

Well, they're similar aside from Armstrong's goals and assists...

Adams' finish against City looking a bit of an outlier in terms of technique. He just doesn't generally strike the ball very well.

Why do you think that? Adams has put himself about plenty, but hasn't really shown the quality to link up meaningfully with the rest of the attack. That's basically exactly what Long offers.

Not a lot of ideas up front, and when we do have a bright idea, the execution has been rubbish (after the goal, which was a lovely cross).