A good start, now we need a few more

They say it’s always quiet ones. Hopefully this is the case with Spurs, and after securing Ben Davies and Michel Vorm we are going to start securing a few more squiggles on the dotted line in the coming weeks.

Daniel Levy at the end of last season echoed what the majority of fans actually agree on, and that is no squad overhaul is required, and rather that key positions are addressed with some real quality. We are currently fairly unbalanced in terms of real quality in a lot of areas of the starting XI and very weak in a few others, therefore this approach is definitely a no-brainer.

With a new left back in place, I think we need to start looking for a centre half to partner Jan Vertonghen, and also a left winger. Possibly a centre forward too, providing we can offload Emmanuel Adebayor. Hugo Lloris signing a new long term deal was a huge coup for us, and hopefully with Jan committing in the near future we can really look forward to an exciting season.

The centre half problem

Michael Dawson. One of the most discussed players in the team amongst fans. Our skipper. Gives his all in every game, heart on his sleeve old fashioned centre half. Loyal, and has served the club well. But the game has moved on, and in the modern game of football, if you are to break into the top 4 you have to be ruthless. And unfortunately Michael just isn’t good enough to merit a starting place in a team with serious ambitions.

[linequote]With a new left back in place, I think we need to start looking for a centre half to partner Jan Vertonghen, and also a left winger[/linequote]

You only have to look at the teams who are apparently interested in him: Hull, QPR, Crystal Palace. All have turned their noses up at Levy wanting £5million+ for the chap. Early links with Héctor Moreno and Dejan Lovren have now died down due to a leg break and an astronomical asking price; so it will be interesting to see developments in this area.

Not too much to shout about in terms of a left winger other than a couple of “wonderkids”, however a few solid whispers we are front of queue for Antoine Griezmann, however apparently a £24m bid is required for his services, and with Bayern, Monaco and PSG also interested this one seems a tad far-fetched. Jay Rodriquez has also been linked, and sources suggest he would be very keen on a move; however another long term injury may hamper our chances here.

Strikers

In terms of Strikers, three names are continually cropping up: Loic Remy (£11million), Romelu Lukaku (£20million+), Wilfred Bony (£20million+). I am, and have been for many years, a huge fan of Lukaku. I would be over the moon if we signed him, a proven Premier League goalscorer for two seasons at two different types of clubs. Still somewhat of a rough diamond that Poch could potentially work his magic on, however our poor relations with the Chelski lot could hamper this, and the huge transfer fee doesn’t help.

[linequote]I’m also quietly confident about our Erik Lamela, he is also practically a new signing for this season[/linequote]

Same goes for Bony, it is a huge fee Swansea apparently want. Therefore out of the three it would seem Remy is probably more likely to happen. Not a bad signing at all, but nothing to get the fans talking. A bit of a meh signing. Hopefully if we do get the Frenchman in, I’d hope he’d prove me wrong. The last rumour to surface this morning was one Morgan Schneiderlin. You hear the groan of “not another centre midfielder” and one would imagine that at least one or two current centre midfielders would be moved on to make way for Morgan if this was true. He has persistently linked with The Arse since the start the summer, but this could be more a case of lazy journalism.

It seems there are a few irons in the fire, and if you run through the names that are popping out of the journalists’ hat, they all seem to have Premier League experience. I’m also quietly confident about our Erik Lamela, he is also practically a new signing for this season. Things seem to have calmed down after the whirlwind of Sherwood, and with everyone pulling in the same direction, fans included, lets hope for a successful season enjoying the liquid football the Lilywhites have to offer!