It's mid-August and the season is about to begin, yet last season's 2nd placed team are yet to add to their squad. This is during a summer when all of Tottenham's rivals have made serious outlays on players. Several have broken their own transfer records. Arsenal broke theirs for Alexandre Lacazette, Chelsea spent £60 million on Alvaro Morata and Liverpool broke the bank to get their hands on Mohamed Salah. Yet Tottenham, fresh off another very successful season have been unwilling, or unable, to bring in reinforcements.
Spurs' needs
There is a strong argument to be made that Tottenham don't need to sign anyone. This side finished last season in imperious form, romping to the finish even once the title was out of reach. In Harry Kane, they possess the most prolific striker in the league. In Heung-Min Son and Dele Alli they have other sources for goals, and their defence was nigh impregnable all year. There aren't many spots that Spurs could afford to improve, even if they wanted to. Even the loss of Kyle Walker to Manchester City was acceptable to fans, considering the strong improvement of Kieran Trippier over the course of last season. In other words, this team is already capable of challenging for the title.
The elephant in the room
Obviously, Tottenham's finances are not at the level of other teams at the top end of the table. Liverpool, City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal and now Everton are all happy to pay massive wages, alongside paying out big-money transfer fees. Due to the eye-watering price of building their new stadium, Spurs are forced to be frugal - even with the glut of television income. It may be that Tottenham simply can't afford to compete for popular players, and are waiting for the market to die down in order to find deals. It is also important to note that the club's academy has an excellent recent record of producing first-team quality players.
Chairman Daniel Levy doesn't believe these massive transfers are sustainable ventures anyway. He said:
"I think we have a duty to manage the club appropriately. I don't think that long term for any club it's sustainable to spend more than you earn. You can have periods where you do but over the long term you can't.
I think that some of the activity that's going on at the moment is just impossible to be sustainable. You know if somebody is spending £200m more than they're earning then eventually it catches up with you. You can't keep doing it."
The summer's not over
This isn't the first time that Daniel Levy has left it until the last minute before completing transfers. Levy is infamous for this kind of brinkmanship, even breaking Tottenham's transfer record last year on the final day of the window. It is a policy that has occasionally failed, meaning Spurs have missed out on players they might have otherwise secured. Fans shouldn't be surprised if Levy is waiting until the end of August before making his move.
Photo by Joschkajaeger
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