Tottenham Hotspur may not have signed a striker on Deadline Day, but it hasn’t stopped manager Jose Mourinho from talking up his chairman Daniel Levy to the press.
What’s he said?
The Portuguese chief was left waxing lyrical about Levy’s involvement in Spurs’ key transfer dealings of Christian Eriksen, who left for Inter Milan in a £16.9m deal, and Steven Bergwijn, who joined the north Londoners in a £27m move from PSV.
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Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, Mourinho said the following:
“Christian would always give us some of his talent until the end of the season. He is a good professional, respect to the club, respect to the dressing room, if he stayed here I think he would always give us something,” he said.
“However Mr Levy managed to get an important transfer fee that was used to buy a 21-year-old player like Steven Bergwijn. So Mr Levy did fantastic for the club.”
“Fantastic deal for a player that is free in a few months and again that money was reinvested in the purchase of Steven Bergwijn which again he’s young, yes he’s young, but it’s a player with now five and a half years of contract with us and a player with fantastic conditions to be very good for us so I think the Christian situation was very well managed by Mr Levy.”
Jose Mourinho, Spurs manager.
Questionable verdict
Spurs’ transfer window was certainly a tale of two halves. Incomings in the form of Gedson Fernandes (loan) and Bergwijn were encouraging moves in positions that needed strengthening and in making Giovani Lo Celso’s deal permanent from Real Betis, they have Eriksen’s replacement primed and ready to go.
However, failure to strengthen in the striking department could be bordering on an error of seismic proportions – a little tongue in cheek, perhaps, but they really did need to find a viable alternative to lead the line in Harry Kane’s prolonged absence.
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His 11 goals in the Premier League have been key to them sitting in and around the top-six mix, but his likely backups – Lucas Moura and Heung-min Son – have only combined for one fewer goal between them, per WhoScored.
Next up would be a relatively unexposed teenager in Troy Parrott.
It’s not a good look for a side that, you’d imagine, have a desire to be in the Champions League next season. Their chances of doing exactly that must be wearing thin the longer Kane is sat on the sidelines.